BOOMING FACE MASK TRADE AT COVID - 19 CHECKPOINTS
Those young people selling face masks near CPVID-19 enforcement checkpoints are doing good business. These are checkpoints that soldiers and police officers set up in different parts of the city without warning and so many people are easily trapped. Next time you drive around Freetown and you experience stubborn traffic particularly in the west of the city, it’s not your normal traffic on Kissy road, it’s a COVID-19 checkpoint and the officers have a take-no-prisoner attitude in dealing with people.
We have seen the security officers at work at these makeshift checkpoints and we can confirm that they can be really tough in handling matters and it’s always the best thing to mask-up outdoors or at least carry a mask around to avoid embarrassment. Actually one mask cost a pittance but there are times when, out of choice people move around with only their transport fare so when they are trapped at these checkpoints they go through an uncomfortable period waiting for fellow travellers to oblige a few Leones to bail them out.
Here’s something we mentioned at the outset – young people selling facemasks are always around these checkpoints doing brisk business. This is what we think is happening:
1. There is a strong relationship between the people selling the masks and the officers operating the checkpoints. They may in fact be relatives or business partners because the officers know that many Sierra Leoneans are always caught off-guard at COVID-19 checkpoints because complacency has very badly affected the fight against COVID-19 and there are people who simply still believe the whole thing is a hoax.
2. It could also be that these young mask sellers are powerful business people with strong networks to enable them to locate COVID-19 checkpoints across Freetown no matter where they pop up sporadically. That looks a little difficult to believe but let’s just put it down as a possibility. In both circumstances money is being made and people are being embarrassed so always move around with your mask.
INVESTIGATING THE FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OVER LAC: HOW FAR ARE WE?
It’s been a few weeks now since Principal sacked Anthony Brewah as Attorney General following what we as ordinary citizens believe was a colossal error of judgment for the role Brewah’s to have played a role in the release of a convicted murderer against the disapproval of key members of the Prerogative of Mercy committee which he was asked to chair in the absence of the Vice President. As if that was not enough, he was seen being meek and gentle with the convicted murderer in his country home more than a hundred miles outside Freetown.
He must have been disappointed that he has been sacked twice by the same man in the life of ONE parliament but the political consequences of keeping him in post would have been disastrous for Principal. Public outcry was assuming a kind of crescendo that no government could cope with except the one in NORTH KOREA.
The nation was promised a swift inquiry into the whole affair leading to Principal being deceived into releasing a murderer from jail when most countries would make such a man ineligible for parole. We now want to know when this inquiry would begin and what the terms of reference would be. We asked for a judicial inquiry that would open the possibility of people being prosecuted and thrown into the same prison from which LAC was removed.
Once again, Principal must not convince himself that people have moved on from this. People know that LAC left the prison because certain procedures were breached and he was NOT given the correct picture. They also know that LAC is possibly out of this country and is NOT remorseful at all. He is showing off his cash and telling us to get out of his way and ALLOW HIM TO ENJOY HIMSELF.
The people of Sierra Leone are waiting for two things right now: A public inquiry into what happened when the MERCY COMMITTEE met and approved the release of LAC and the re-arrest of that fugitive. He must return to his cell at Pademba road.
MOVING PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES FROM THE STADIUM IS A PROBLEM
There was no confirmation as we went to press last night but we are speaking to people who should know and they tell us that at least FOUR clubs in the Sierra Leone Premier League are moving their home matches to the northern town of Makeni because the national stadium is closing down for something like two years for comprehensive repairs by a Chinese team.
This is the most troubled national league we have witnessed in recent times. There is very little or no money to fund the league, the clubs don't have any idea about the value of the prize they are playing for or whether there is a prize after all. The league has been postponed again and again and even now there is nobody to speak with any certainty about the league resuming this weekend. So moving the big clubs from Freetown is just one of the issues, the main one is for the league to RESUME. As far as we know that is still in the air.
In line with the planned re-location, we don’t know how much enthusiasm there is for a football league there is in Makeni apart from matches involving the local team WUSUM STARS. Playing in an empty stadium is a nightmare for even the big clubs in the league considering the money associated with running clubs and preparing them for matches like moving players from Freetown, putting them up in guesthouses for days and all that.
By the way, the first people that we should throw out of the stadium are those inside the hostel and the offices around the main bowl who are using those facilities free of charge. Let them leave immediately. We also call on the authority to clear that illegal garage and car sales point from the bus halt entrance. That whole area is part of the stadium and we certainly hate what we see there at the moment.
Please, next time we invite a Chinese construction company to Freetown on stadium matters it MUST be to crush what we have now to build a brand new one.
MAYOR IS TRYING TO IGNORE US ON FSSG QUESTION?
We know our mayor is very busy with the Public Accounts Committee of parliament and to some extent the Anti-Corruption Commission. We also know that her break dance outside parliament the other day was a ploy to cover up the strain of being questioned by those two powerful bodies frequently.
We don’t intend to add to what she is going through right now. That's why we are only asking for small things that she can deliver with the wave of her right hand. We are in fact scandalized by the fact that she has allowed conditions around the Freetown Secondary School for Girls to deteriorate so rapidly without taking decisive action. We have also NOT heard much of an outcry from the teachers and pupils and indeed the board of that school.
Along the school fence on the Hannah Benka-Coker street end is a complete disgrace. As a newspaper we should normally attach a picture to this write up to properly illustrate why we are so disgusted about the mess out there but the last time we tried to take a picture of the place one of our reporters was attacked. All journalists are told to get but don’t become the story. We may now have to hire a drone to get the job done from a distance if the mayor tries to ignore us again.
We should let the mayor know that this is a campaign we are prepared to sustain until that mess is cleared so if she is holding back to harvest cheap votes, she must be prepared to be thrown out of office. This is her city and she can’t hide behind the central government to avoid doing something about FSSG.
The entire fence area running up to Tolongbo office is occupied by a chaotic mix of people selling food to our children, a so-called youth parliament, Okada and Kekeh boys, an amateur vulcanizing place and at least FOUR cesspit vehicles. Is the mayor telling us she has never seen that mess? Her party office is just next door so we will not accept any such escape route. The school authorities should also tell us why they allowed what essentially was a mini-market selling food to the students to become what we have just described above. Are they telling us that this situation has no effect on the learning atmosphere and outcomes at FSSG?
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