Cabinet Ministers denied Entry to SLPP NEC Meeting
The ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) held its National Executive Council or NEC meeting in Bo City over the weekend. Well as could be expected, Principal was there and all the senior officials of the party. The event was given an unprecedented level of security and the media was totally shut out. That does not in any way suggest our newspaper was not oblivious to happenings around where the deliberations were being held. We keep saying that the Sierra Leonean has an irritating and shocking apathy when it comes to honouring time, irrespective of the importance of their appointment or engagement. At the Wizard Complex on Dambala road in Bo where the event was being held, three Cabinet Ministers showed up late and like the Biblical foolish virgins, the door was completely shut at them!
The stern looking security details would not let them in at all. Principal, as we all know, is as alert as a bird in spring when it comes to timeliness. He busted lethargic Civil Servants at the Youyi building that houses Ministerial Offices, just weeks after assuming power, and did the same at Cottage Hospital. That alone was enough to let his senior officials know his aversion to lateness.
This time in Bo, the Ministers showed up when the sessions were well and truly underway. One could imagine the embarrassment splashed all over their faces as the security personnel told them they won’t be let in! Principal was already there and fully absorbing what was going on in the hall. Somebody occupying Public Office is expected to be a pacesetter that people can look up to, but displaying such apathy to time can give a rather bad image of not just yourself but the very institution you belong to. Some of our Public Officials do not respect appointments; you honour their appointment, you would be left sitting in their waiting room for hours, completely ignoring just how relevant to you the time that was being wasted by them. Over the years, Diplomats and other Western visitors have bitterly complained over the way our Public Officials respond to appointments. The Bo incident was just a demonstration that Old Habits Die Hard.
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