GOOD MORNING ACC: WHAT ABOUT JENDEMA AND LUNGI AIRPORT?
The ACC is doing a great job. We join many other Sierra Leoneans who share this view. Those who believe the contrary are free to do so. In the end we will use the outcome of ACC operations to convince them that without ACC our country would sink into the cesspit of corruption and die. That said we want to ask questions about two cases the ACC has been investigating for a few months. We just don’t want them to forget about those cases or drop them without telling us what actually happened.
JENDEMA – Two health personnel at our immigration point on the border with Liberia were arrested by the ACC following a social media report by two travel writers who passed through the country. They alleged that money was extorted from them even when they had their correct travel documents. As the report went viral, the ACC moved in and detained the workers and in their usual way, the ACC announced an urgent investigation.
LUNGI AIRPORT – In this case two airport workers were arrested for allegedly receiving visa-on-arrival fees without putting the money into government coffers. Again there were cries throughout the country that a system put in place by the new government to make it easy for people to travel to Sierra Leone for all sorts of reasons including tourism was being corrupted by a few greedy people. There were calls for action and the ACC moved in. Here again they announced a thorough investigation.
In both cases, the good people of Sierra Leone would like to know why these people are still not before a judge. We are not lawyers but we believe that prosecuting these people is not the most difficult job in the world. Why have things gone so quiet since these people were arrested and introduced to us on social media?
We know the ACC has a lot of work to do but we also know the ACC understands how much a speedy conclusion of these cases would impact the attitude of immigration and police personnel on our borders. We are waiting.
THE FLOUNDERING FIGHT AGAINST RAPE AND OTHER SEX CRIMES
We are taking this issue on here today because we fear that slowly but surely it seems law enforcement people are not doing their part in this national fight against rape and other sex crimes. In trying to defeat this menace we have gone through a state of emergency and a nationwide travel by Queen Fatima proclaiming HANDS OFF OUR GIRLS.
A few months back an alleged rape matter was reported to the Grafton Police. We are holding back the full details for now but one key point is that the alleged rape victim is a hearing-impaired THIRTEEN-year-old girl. Surely she is one of millions Queen Fatima is fighting to protect against predatory men. Cut a long story short, Grafton Police told us the files had been lodged with the office of the DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (DPP). This was more than two months ago. We don’t know if that’s their way of kicking the issue into the long grass or not.
How long does it take the office of the DPP to give an opinion on a matter like that? Please keep in mind that it also took the police more than two months after interviewing all those concerned to even get the forensic report from Rainbo Center – all of that causing huge frustration for the parents of the alleged victim. Those parents grew up being told JUSTICE DELAYED is JUSTICE DENIED.
There is an open road we are refusing to go down right now. That road takes us to the suggestion, the belief among the family members of this child that every effort was being made to, as they say in Sierra Leone, KILL THE CASE. We will be back with this matter in a bit more detail.
We serve notice however, that in this particular matter JUSTICE WILL BE DONE. As a newspaper serving the best interest of the good people of Sierra Leone, we will make sure JUSTICE IS DONE.
DON’T ALLOW SLFA STAFF TEACH YOUR CHILDREN HOW TO COUNT
When the SLFA Queen leaves Kingtom in the coming weeks she will be remembered for many things. We will outline them at a time of our choosing but the method of counting votes at the last extraordinary congress in Kenema will certainly be on that list of things by which our lady will be remembered.
So let’s try and reconstruct the scene: a motion is moved by somebody about something. Then all those in favor are asked to vote and some hands go up. We could see and feel that some of those hands had to go up against the conviction of their owners but some water had probably flowed under the bridge the night before, making it impossible for people to keep their hand where they wanted it. At one point somebody shouted the name of a certain delegate across the room warning him to stop MESSING UP. MESSING UP in this sense actually meant you have not voted the way you promised.
Now it was time to count. 1 -2 – 5 – 9 – 15 – 20 – 27 and then came the cry, THE MOTION IS CARRIED. What? Stunned delegates who had the numbers to counter and defeat this motion even with this strange count were seen in little corners wondering what was really at stake at a football association to warrant people to behave in this way. The whole thing was hotly disputed in the hall but the organizers pressed on with little difficulty. We have no doubt they had a sound sleep that night. It is very important to keep our jobs but it is also very important to stand for the truth.
All the trouble in the SLFA started when the civil servants in that organization decided to do anything, including rigging procedures, to deny Rodney Michael and everyone else but their choice the presidency. They are on it again and Rodney Michael seems to be the target once more. We believe many will resign if Rodney Micheal arrives for work as president sometime in April.
The fixers in the SLFA were reasonably satisfied after the Kenema convention and are looking to score another goal in Makeni. The only trouble is that this time round Sierra Leoneans know a bit more about the processes and will be monitoring.
The person who will be proclaimed as SLFA president will have to beat his opponents in the ballot box. NO MORE DISQUALIFATIONS in trickery styles.
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