PRINCIPAL PLEASE CREATE A MINISTRY FOR LAW AND ORDER
On behalf the decent and hardworking people of Sierra Leone we call on Principal to hurriedly create a MINISTRY for LAW and ORDER. Whether he does that as part of a wider reshuffle of government or not is not our primary concern. We’ve been hearing a lot about a coming reshuffle but while he thinks about that Principal must make a big statement about his commitment to end lawlessness in this country by creating this ministry right now.
Principal, you must have been hearing a lot about acts of lawlessness and soon people will begin to blame you for failing to take action when criminals are flagrantly encroaching on their civil liberties. It may surprise you to know that there are parts of Freetown now that gangs have taken over. They are NO GO areas at certain times of the day. Principal, you cannot allow that to happen on you watch.
Here’s our idea of what our proposed ministry will look like.
1. First of all re-structure what we now call MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS. Create a department to handle immigration, NCRA and that drug agency with a Director General in charge. The new LAW and ORDER ministry will take the police and other security units and concentrate on them.
2. We have a lot of questions for the man now running the current Internal Affairs ministry. Our questions are about specific incidents in which we believe he failed to prove himself ready for the job. Remember what happened to Justice Biobele and John Tambi within just a few days of each other?
3. The new ministry will be very well funded to recruit the best people and train them so well that there will be very little or no complaints about police tactics against peaceful Sierra Leoneans.
4. The day the new minister takes office there will be a meeting in the criminal underworld. At the end of that meeting some of those criminals in attendance will resign and become normal people again.
5. The new ministry will build another so-called maximum security prison. We will bang criminals up there for long periods and make our streets safe again.
GENTO-STYLE ROAD CONSTRUCTION IS PROBLEMATIC
We are definitely not the only ones concerned about the quality of the roads being constructed by Gento Group in the Freetown area. We are not even sure anything will be done about the issue we are about to raise right now but we are totally happy to put it on record.
Now drive from Wilberforce area right up to Limkokwing University and get a feel of how bumpy a road that was built only a few years ago has become. Check out the roundabout at Hill Station and feel what we are talking about, checkout the stretch from Old School junction to Limkokwing University – it’s simply a mess. The good people of Sierra Leone did not get value for money along that road.
We make bold to tell Gento Group that we will not accept that kind of work along King Herman road and the township road at Waterloo where they are doing some work now. We subscribe to the idea of having Sierra Leoneans execute such contracts but if after a few months the road will deteriorate to this extent then let’s have foreigners who really care about their corporate image. Why is there no such mess on the Regent to Grafton road?
WHY HAS THE GREAT YOUYI BUILDING BECOME A CAR SALES POINT?
We hold Agbangba Jazz personally responsible for the mess we now have inside the compound of one of the most important buildings in this country. Youyi Building holds many government ministries and agencies but what is happening there now leaves us with the impression that those who should, absolutely don’t care about the way people are treating a very serious government facility.
Apart from people parking rotten vehicles in some corners of the compound we have seen evidence that people have turned the area bordering on China House into a car sales point. They appear to be moving from other parts of the city with their cars to trade inside Youyi Building compound. The Ministry of Works and Technical Maintenance is responsible for this facility and they should never tell us they have no idea what’s happening out there. We don’t run the place but by keen observation, we found it out.
We have also seen the intensification of local cookery selling around the place. We know the staff would want to have lunch but why not organize the people in such a way that they all fit in the designated canteen space at the ground floor of the building? Surely that would address the hygiene concerns we now have and make the whole business a little respectable.
One more task for Agbangba Jazz, after cleaning up Youyi Building: he should clear all those vagrants who gate-crash programs at Miatta Conference center for food and drinks. It’s an age-old problem that the New Direction MUST deal with NOW.
We will not allow Agbangba Jazz to pretend our concern is Alice in Wonderland stuff.
ROAD ACCIDENTS CLAIMING LIVES TOO FREQUENTLY THESE DAYS
It maybe social media sensation but we have to register serious concern over the number of road accidents occurring on the main highway between Freetown and Bo. We believe some of those deaths are avoidable. There are a few things we must do and do well.
1. The SLRSA cannot tell us that all the vehicles they license and put on the road are road worthy. We will soon begin to call for them to be made culpable for such accidents because some drivers and their vehicles carrying SLRSA papers are not fit to be on the roads.
2. We know there are new guys now at SLRSA but they are definitely not that new. They have recruited a new group of road safety officers who we now see all over Freetown. Why not use them alongside the police to organize highway patrols to check reckless driving which is common on the highways.
3. The numerous police checkpoints along the road have simply become extortion points. It’s done openly. It’s almost as if the thing is approved by police HQ because no matter how many times people speak or write about it, things remain the same. Please let’s not have cause to deploy the ACC to those places.
4. We call on the police and SLRSA to publish their reports on some of the most horrific accidents so we know what really happened. It’s not enough to announce an investigation and then go to sleep. We want to know the outcome.
5. Please move your road safety campaigns from TV and radio studios into the communities and on the highways. Please also teach people along the roads what to do when an accident occurs. Tell them it’s disrespectful to take and distribute on social media those gory pictures of the dead and dying people and then stealing from the dead.
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