MAN WANTED FOR “STEALING CHURCH MONEY”: WE JOIN THE MANHUNT
We saw something on social media the other day that left us thinking hard about what is really happening to society. A man with some serious responsibility in a major church in Freetown was declared wanted for allegedly STEALING church money. We haven’t heard from the so-called wanted man and we are probably not going to hear anything from that end but we think this is an intriguing story that we should bring to this little corner of the paper.
This story reminds us about the guy who went to steal from a mosque somewhere around Juba. He was arrested by God. Apparently after a clock he tried to get out by forcing his head through window bars. He would realize shortly after that the rest of his body couldn’t go through and that he wouldn’t be able to take his head out in the way it went in. Trapped within the bars, worshippers found him praying for a miracle. He became an instant hit on social media.
Now in this new case we are dealing with somebody who, according to the public notice, had some authority in the church administration, not the most important person but someone significant enough to be near church funds. We now join the search for this guy.
1. Depending on the amount of money he allegedly stole, we are heading to our border with Guinea to find out if he has already crossed over. At that point it would be a case for Interpol. Many have been brought back from that country recently so why not.
2. We are checking up his normal hangouts and asking questions around his friends in the church. Something may come up.
3. We will soon apply to get his phone records. He must be talking to some people.
4. Anyway, after a few weeks if we don’t catch the guy we may ask the church to take this affair to the Lord in prayer.
QUESTIONS AROUND THE MINERAL WEALTH FUND NEEDS ANSWERS
The government is facing a storm of criticism from Civil Society Organizations over the way they have approached the creation of the so-called Mineral Wealth Fun. This is the fund that should help us realize a bit more from the riches God Almighty put in this land. Many Sierra Leoneans always talk openly about how rich we are and the fact that we are not benefitting as much as we should. So this is not a bad effort on the part of the government.
CSOs that we have spoken to say they have no objection to the creation of the fund but they think the government ought to have discussed matters with them in particular, especially those working in the extractive sector and indeed the wider community of Sierra Leoneans. They disagree with many of the provisions in the agreement with the company that is looking to run the fund, the man that is likely to be in charge and a few more things.
At this stage we are kindly asking the government to go into talks with the CSOs. It’s very important to keep the people on side in such matters. There is no point trying to serve the people when they believe the approach is wrong. The whole idea will descend into a farce. We are reading around a few documents and in the coming days, depending on what the government does with the issue, we should be able to educate our people on the issues.
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!
ANOTHER RAINY SEASON: SAME STORY IN FREETOWN
It’s August again and we are in the high point of the annual rainy season facing the same challenges year on year. Homes, in fact whole communities are being flooded out in Freetown in particular, affecting mostly people on the edge of survival. Cities around Sierra Leone are also facing an increase in armed robberies as criminals take advantage of the heavy rains to distress people.
The mayor of Freetown has put a lot of women on the streets with brooms to clean up but the kind of brooms we see are just fit for domestic use. The must be changed immediately. We love their rain gears anyway.
Once again we have to call the mayor’s attention to mounds of rubbish being piled up in street corners where none existed recently. What’s going on? The mayor needs more personnel for her so-called Flood Mitigation drive. Clearing the clogged up drainage system is not a job for half a dozen or so people.
The mayor appears to be ignoring our persistent call for companies selling soft drinks to and water in single use plastic to be made to pay part of their huge profits towards cleaning after them. We cannot continue like this.
As far as armed robbers are concerned it is up to the police to deal with them. That means robust patrols in vulnerable communities, making use of high quality intelligence.
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