WHY IS EDSA COMPLAINING ALL OVER THE PLACE?
We have just read another lengthy press release from EDSA. There’s nothing wrong with the electricity supply agency communicating with us but we think we should at this point say something about this particular one. In fact, we want to tell EDSA to do the job they were created for and stop complaining over challenges they can deal with. Every institution has challenges to address and if they behave like EDSA by churning out press release after press release, the good people of Sierra Leone would have nothing else to read but dozens of such statements daily.
EDSA is complaining about people tampering with their installations to do two things – steal electricity and sabotage the network mostly for political reasons. Here’s what we think about these issues:
1. ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS – We believe those engaged in this practice are current and former EDSA workers. Our justification is that these are the people who understand the system. They are easily drawn into the many informal settlements around Freetown to perform such illegal activity for a few Leones. Also on this question of illegal connections, there are big institutions – business houses that are doing everything to avoid paying for the service.
EDSA should set up an intelligence unit to constantly monitor such illegal activity and all people like us want to read is that those involved and their accomplices inside EDSA have been arrested, fined and jailed. We don’t want to read press release after press release from EDSA complaining about things they can do easily.
As for those sabotaging the system for political reasons we blame EDSA for failing to protect their expensive installations. If they have to approach the government for soldiers to be deployed for that purpose, they should do that and not waste a single minute. This is peace time so we should find something for our soldiers to do.
CORRUPTION STINKS AT BARCELONA FOOTBALL CLUB
If Barcelona Football Club is found guilty of making corrupt payments to former referee José María Enríquez Negreira to help them deal with present referees during matches, they should be stripped of all their titles and demoted to the third tier of Spanish with no possibility for promotion for three years. We agree with this presumption of innocence but we note that Barcelona FC have not denied making the payments. Their line is that they paid the organization for ADVICE. Imagine that rubbish.
We have to say this: In those years when Barcelona FC dominated the league, they played amazing football. They dominated and won matches and their style of play was copied by clubs outside Spain. So why would they need some old referee to ADVISE them on how to deal with current referees? Why would any club in the world need to be told how to handle a referee other than just playing by the rules and respecting the decisions the match officials make on the field of play?
We believe Barcelona entered into that arrangement to influence those little decisions that normally prove crucial on a match day – a free kick, an offside, even with VAR, avoiding a sending off after a bad tackle. Those are the decisions that change matches. That’s what we believe Barcelona has been influencing with those payments. This thing about them taking ADVICE from some old referee is rubbish. We believe they will be found guilty. We are just reminded that NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD.
IS AUGUST 10 INQUIRY DEAD OR GRINDING ON SLOWLY?
We’ve been waiting patiently for the AUGUST 10 committee to present i’s report to the people of this country to see what new information they have for us. We know the committee has been going around the country interviewing people and taking down copious notes but in the last month or so things have gone quiet to the extent that even those occasional few lines on Facebook on the work of the Committee are no more. Is anything the matter?
We know that many of those who instigated or directly took part in the disturbances have been tried, freed or jailed but there are still more questions to answer. What happened on AUGUST 10 2022 was well planned, financed and executed on our streets. Six police officers were killed. Some of the people who took part in those disturbances were killed along with innocent ones who found themselves in the wrong places. Now, we are interested in particularly those who FINANCED and COORDINATED the mass killing of our people. We believe some of them are still bent on causing more mayhem in this country for political gain.
So we are waiting to hear from the Committee. Please we don’t want people telling us there’s no money to do the job. This Committee is so important to the peace and stability of this country that we should provide all the resources needed for them to complete their job. We are waiting.
PROFESSOR FOREIGN MINISTER ARE SIERRA LEONEANS SAFE IN TUNISIA?
A few countries in our neighborhood have been evacuating their people from the pressure cooker called Tunisia. We know about the Republic of Guinea and Ivory Coast taking dozens of their people. Some of these people were students invited to that country by the government. All this while, they’ve lived a normal life, mixing freely with the people of that country while getting an education. They woke up one morning facing threats and raw violence unleashed by their friends and neighbors.
The immediate trigger for this is that their dictatorial president made a public address in which he described BLACK AFRICANS like us living or passing through his country, as part of a conspiracy to change the demographic structure of his country. How he came to that conclusion is something we are trying to investigate because the new dictator in North Africa did NOT provide any evidence.
On our side, we’ve waited for Professor Foreign Minister to tell us about the status of our brothers and sisters in that pressure cooker now that other countries are evacuating their nationals. In his usual way of doing things, Professor Foreign Minister has not said a word. We saw a press statement from our embassy located miles away in Egypt saying nothing. Professor Foreign Minister always wants to engage the media on his terms. He doesn’t want to answer uncomfortable questions. That’s not how governance works sir.
We will keep pushing until the foreign ministry in Freetown says something about our people in Tunisia. Maybe we should have asked Guinea to drag some of our people home. Please talk to us Professor Foreign Minister.
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