SIERRA LEONE TAKES OVER UN SECURITY COUNCIL FOR AUGUST 2024
Let’s all congratulate ourselves as Sierra Leoneans for once. Our country is today a major player on the global stage. We know how the UN works and where the real power is but for the next four weeks politicians and journalists around the world are going to be talking and writing about our country. That’s something to celebrate. We have already seen the usual partisan political comments intended to diminish what we have achieved collectively. Our brothers and sisters who are going along that line either hate Principal or his government, the country or they just enjoy being on the other side of things. They have already provided enough negative material for those who are going to be reading a bit more about Sierra Leone during this period. Maybe we should hold back and see August out.
We have taken over when things are boiling over in many parts of the world – from the Sahel to the Middle East. These are critical times in the world and on this side we can only wish our government well. We urge them to keep a steady head and not get drawn into the deep end of SUPER POWER politics in all trouble spots including Ukraine. We are a small country and we have to survive when we leave the Security Council. Good Luck Sierra Leone!
WHAT IS OUR DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION DOING IN BECE EXAM HALLS?
The deputy minister of Basic Education has been going from one BECE examination hall to another. Her media handlers are telling us that she is making sure that things are going well with the process so far and we should all be congratulating each other.
We have to disappoint Madam Minister because we are among the many Sierra Leoneans who are totally not impressed with this unnecessary ministerial exuberance displayed only during public examination. We are not joking at all. We think we have a good idea why Madam Minister is doing this.
1. She is basically looking for some publicity at a time when thousands of households are focused on their children as they take one of the most important examinations along the academic journey. It’s about pictures on social media.
2. Some deputy ministers have virtually nothing to do in their offices. In fact, in most cases there is actually no need for deputy ministers but we are realistic enough to understand that the big man has to look for jobs for friends and party pikin dem. It could well be that her boss at MBSSE is not delegating responsibilities so Madam Minister has to look for something to do.
3. Sitting in an empty office all day can be extremely difficult. Social media comments here and there can help but after a while, it gets a little boring. So our minister definitely needs to step out with so-called bloggers in tow to distract those young minds struggling to pass their exams.
4. Can we know the cost of such unnecessary movement on the taxpayer? Does a politician really have to be on the ground to ensure the smooth conduct of exams? Is WAEC not the body in charge? We have NEVER seen the head of WAEC on the front line.
5. We love Madam Minister and we have nothing against her. In fact this inspection thing didn’t start with her. All we are saying to her is that she should spend our time and money doing more productive work. We can help with pictures of certain schools throughout the country just to make the point that a ministerial visit is required to deal with the issues confronting those schools.
6. Next we will turn to that minister who was cleaning the State House the other day instead of Connaught Hospital. As soon as talk of a government reshuffle enters the media and Ataya Base conversations, ministers begin to behave as if a general election was around the corner.
IS THIS ANOTHER DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN?
We invite anybody reading this paper right now to take a look at this picture and see why we are asking the question above. We are slowly recovering from a recent disaster in which a house collapsed somewhere near SS Camp in Freetown, killing some innocent children. We still don’t have the full details on how a disaster like that was allowed to exist in the full knowledge of the authorities without any action being taken to deal with it. By the way we were told by those who should know that the owner of the house was warned about the coming disaster but they treated things in the Freetown way.
We took this picture less than 24 hours ago along the Hillside by-pass road. If the authorities have not moved to clear that place, here is the final opportunity to do so. We don’t want to wake up one morning to news about another mudslide in this city. Rushing emergency services and spending hours and hours on social media explaining why this or that disaster happened is not what we expect from the authorities. We need action to prevent disasters. For example:
1. Take partisan politics out of something as important as urban planning. Governments, past and present, know that people are building all over the place without the necessary papers but they allow them to do so to get cheap votes. This must stop now.
2. There are known corrupt individuals in the Ministry of Lands that are selling land and issuing building permits who should have been sacked and prosecuted years ago but they are still in office. The only reason they have such cover is that those who should act against them benefit from the deals.
3. We are entering the wettest month of the rainy season in Sierra Leone and already there are dire warnings that we should expect more than what we have just witnessed in July. Only the hand of God can save some lives in this city. It’s that serious. We want parliament to act in a bi-partisan way to deal with this problem.
NO ORGANIZATION IS AS CONFUSED AS THE SLFA UNDER BRIMA
Sometimes we try so hard to get good news out of the SLFA but we find it almost impossible because the few good things going on there are always quickly overshadowed by a string of needless blunders that tell an intriguing story about the kind of administration we have at Kingtom. At this point we should be congratulating them for concluding the Premier League despite all the challenges but while we believe the PLB under Victor Lewis did their best, the wider SLFA was all over the place again this season.
Replays arising out of unnecessarily late and inexplicable decisions taken by judicial bodies set up by Daddy Brima are taking place weeks after the league is supposed to have ended. In fact an awards ceremony is taking place on the day of one such replay. It’s just possible that the settled highest goal scorer position that we have congratulated someone for may end up with another guy. Daddy Brima enjoys attending international conferences all over the world but he probably hasn’t checked to see which other SLFA has been locked out of their own headquarters by a court order.
This guy came to power by default and found the issue of that fake match fixing nonsense on his desk. During that honeymoon period, those Sierra Leoneans whose career and family life were destroyed gave him an opportunity to resolve the issue but he went to sleep. In fact he issued a statement further upholding the fake verdict against the players. Now he finds himself in a mess of his own making. We are getting word that the High Court may be compelled to reinstate the lock down because Brima only made a ridiculous offer to the affected players. Meanwhile more lawsuits are coming along.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (05/08/24)
