THREE MINISTRIES AWARDED BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?
The other day Principal publicly singled out three ministries in his government for praise for doing an exemplary job for the good people of Sierra Leone. We agree with his conclusion that the ministries of Basic Education, Finance and Health, taking in NaCOVERC were the best performing. We congratulate those three ministries and wish them well in 2021.
So now we want to ask the inevitable question about the others. How did they perform? We would also want to know how the office of the Senior Prefect went about assessing the ministries and agencies. We believe the good people of Sierra Leone deserve to know how this was done. We heard from impeccable sources that one of the ministries in the other category failed woefully. They scored ZERO. No delivery. Is that true Mr. Senior Prefect? Why can’t the office of Senior Prefect release the full details of this ranking?
From the look of things, that document is likely to remain in some dark corner in the office of Senior Prefect. Be that as it may, we want to see action against the worst performing ministries and agencies otherwise this is all just the same talk and very little or no action. Those who passed have been publicly acknowledged, those who failed should be sacked or publicly reprimanded. We know the ministries of Lands and Higher Education were scrubbed clean by Principal before this ranking so we don’t consider them part of the actions we are talking about for now.
LEAKED AUDIO SHAMES JOHANSEN’S SLFA
It was only when the chairman of the Electoral Committee of the SLFA told parliament that he was a NOVICE in football that the real damage that a leaked audio from a key member of Queen Johansen’s camp is likely to cause to what is left of the credibility of the SLFA dawned upon us. Here was this guy who is charged with the responsibility to certify candidates for the coming SLFA elections telling the world he knew nothing about football.
In truth people don’t have to have played the game at the highest level or administered the English FA to lead that committee but to be a NOVICE and agree to take on the responsibility of the chairman of the ELECTORAL COMMITTEE leaves us wondering what this guy was thinking when Queen Johansen called him for the job. The plot thickened when a leaked audio with the unmistakable voice of VICTOR LEWIS of the Queen Johansen campaign could be clearly heard telling somebody we suspect to be a senior member of one of these committees how to proceed with their planned disqualification of all opposing candidates so that the Queen and her buddies would be re-elected unopposed.
The other person in the leaked audio could be heard saying at the end of Victor’s directives: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE WILL WORK ON IT. What is he going to work on? We are waiting to see the result of that briefing from VICTOR LEWIS. We made it clear from the outset that the undemocratic nonsense of 2013 will not be accepted this year. We are getting there.
If after SEVEN YEARS in office with all the largesse going round the Queen is not confident enough to stand in front of her own delegates and win their votes, the good people of this country are ready to prove to her that, as Joe Hills says WICKEDNESS WILL PREVAIL BUT ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE. This day was surely going to come. Queen Johansen will lose to any of the candidates vying for that position. She knows that. Her team knows that.
PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS AUSTIN DEMBY AS HEALTH MINISTER
Our health care system is now in the hands of Austin Demby, a Sierra Leonean who has made a name for himself in the Great United States. He takes over at a critical time: the world is dealing with the COVID – 19 pandemic and for Sierra Leone the health care system needs a lot of improvement. The challenges are many in that sector. We have no doubt that the new man has enough experience and contacts to shake things up but as the Speaker of Parliament told him at the confirmation, he is up against powerful forces in that ministry. The Speaker urged him to fight back. Fight he must. Otherwise he will soon be on a plane bound for the US a disappointed or even a defeated man.
We don’t claim to know all the problems in the health sector but we certainly know that hospital management is a big problem. Just because somebody is a medical doctor with a thousand years of work experience at say Connaught hospital does not make that person a good manager. Our hospitals need good managers.
This also speaks clearly about doctors who should be in our hospitals but are usually found at Youyi Building coordinating the many projects in that ministry. They also spend a lot of time in their private surgeries.
Also those little charges for this and that in our hospitals are making the place scary for the ordinary people.
We have not said anything about the nurses on the frontline and that’s not because there is nothing to say. We are convinced that once a proper management system is in place the other issues down the road will be taken care of.
Austin Demby has no time to waste. He should avoid those many unproductive meetings, roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty.
SO MUSA TOMBO IS BACK HOME FROM NORWAY
When we first read a brief report on social media that our man MUSA TOMBO was returning home after less than a month in Norway we thought it was one of those little social media jokes around the East End Lions man and his attempts to enter the lucrative European league market. The next 48 hours following that initial report was all about the possible reasons from MUSA TOMBO’s second home coming. It was a mixture of fun, prayers and utter cynicism about the whole affair.
All we know so far is what some journalists who’ve met him since his return have told us. We have no reason to doubt their accounts but the whole thing looks scary. We are trying to process this recurring issue around the following considerations.
1. It could well be that, as widely speculated, MUSA TOMBO is facing the wrath of his village people out there in Tombo. Those who believe that the village people are so powerful that they can be in their rooms in that village in rural Freetown and influence how somebody behaves thousands of miles away from home have told us MUSA TOMBO should hold his village people responsible.
2. If this is what it is, then MUSA TOMBO should first of all drop the name of that village from the NAME column of all his official documents. In fact he should do an affidavit telling the whole world that TOMBO was no longer part of his name. His new name will be MUSA NOAH KAMARA.
3. He will then go down to Tombo for the last time and buy FIVE Bulls and make a big feast. He should feed the whole village and drop all claims to any property belong to his family out there.
4. Those who see this MUSA TOMBO saga in purely football terms suspect that the real issue with this man is that he has consistently failed the required technical assessments in Europe, causing him to lose those contracts. Scoring goals from time to time at the national stadium is not the same as playing professional football in Europe.
5. We don’t know if this is possible but MUSA TOMBO needs a whole team of people to manage his affairs and guide what is left of his football career. This is the guy who left Sweden saying he wanted to be home to play for the national team. A few days before a crucial warm up match, he tells his manager he lost his uncle and would like to be out of the trip. In the evening of the day of the match, MUSA TOMBO is found playing in a small time league in Wellington. How can anybody explain that? Village People?
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