GENTO STEPS INTO THE FREETOWN CITY COUNCIL RING
The man with the many Freetown road construction contracts has told the good people of Freetown that he intends to put his name forward to become MAYOR of Freetown. Gento says he wants to do away with politicians who LIE to the people to gain high office from our politics.
Gento is no stranger to the media because he is either being attacked for doing shoddy work on our roads or he is doing some charity work in one deprived corner of Freetown or the other. We don’t know whether he really thought about this move or he’s been pushed into it by people in the ruling party who think he is what they need to take Freetown away from Tolongbo. Since the return of local government in 2004, Freetown has been in Tolongbo hands and they always poll well in this city but is Gento the man to achieve what looks impossible?
Our sources tell us that Mayor Kemokai is looking to be running mate to one of the many Tolongbo presidential hopefuls preparing for the struggle within their party before facing the good people of Sierra Leone. So she may not be on the local council ballot, otherwise she will be the person battling to stop Gento making history.
Taking Freetown from Tolongbo is a difficult task but as good residents of the city we want Gento to do the following things to convince us he is ready for the job.
1. Gento can use the vast array of road construction equipment he has and your personnel to CLEAN FREETOWN. It’s as if Mayor Kemokai has given up on this place. Garbage is piling up in many street corners even with the best efforts of private sector people like CLEAN SALONE. So Gento must flex his muscles in that area to announce his arrival.
2. There are some streets in Freetown that remind us of the days when the road to Kailahun town was like a death trap. We urge Gento to fix a few of them. Just a few because we know it’s expensive.
3. Gento should commit to dismissing that so-called Mayor's DELIVERY UNIT and pledge never to pack our council with his friends on big salaries while marginalizing the original and equally competent FCC staff.
4. We like mini leagues because they help bring young players into our premier league and the national squad so we expect Gento to spread his cash across the capital, not just at COFA. It’s very important.
5. Finally Gento should first get the party symbol over Victor Reider and then take at least 15% of the Tolongbo votes of 2018 to add to what the Green Movement will surely get in Freetown to stand any realistic chance. Our eyes are wide open.
WALLS COLLAPSING AND KILLING PEOPLE
More Sierra Leoneans died a few days ago when walls collapsed in heavy rain and killed them in their homes. We normally describe such happenings as acts of God and in some cases we would invite religious leaders to pray for good luck so God can avert any such disaster in future. The next rainy season the same ritual is repeated as more lives are lost.
We know that in many cases our interaction with the environment results in some of these disasters and it’s not as if people don’t always know what would happen when we decide to build houses in prohibited areas, openly flouting planning regulations. There is also the situation in which house owners are warned by their tenants or building inspectors about the condition of wall fences or even the dwelling houses but the reality is that complaining too much might simply push a landlord to issue a quit notice. That’s the main reason tenants don’t assert their rights in dealing with house owners.
Many tenants are like slaves instead of enjoying their stay after paying through their noses for sub-standard housing units in Freetown in particular.
When all is said and done we need to get certain things right:
1. We should never just issue building permits and forget about what comes next. It is almost always the case that people would simply ignore the details of their permit and build what they feel like building. Building inspectors do their job from Youyi Building. That’s a joke.
2. There are many people putting up structures in some of the most dangerous places in Freetown without building permits. In some cases corrupt land officials provide them fake documents. We should simply be strong to set good examples by demolishing those buildings promptly.
3. All political parties in Sierra Leone should come together and fight the menace of land grabbing, violation of planning permits and other predatory tactics. It makes no sense to say one thing in public and then seek to exploit the weakness of the ordinary people for political gain by telling them to stay put in the most dangerous places in Freetown because a particular government hates them. That tactic may bring a few votes but the truth will eventually come out.
REGISTERING AND COMPLAINING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
It is beginning to look like some people just enjoy complaining daily, particularly on social media. Sierra Leoneans are known to enjoy complaining about everything – well frankly there are many things to complain about in this land that we love. We know that. However there is a big difference between blaming all your worries on everybody else while excusing yourself. In Sierra Leone, every problem is for the government to solve.
When it comes to the ongoing voter education, the complaints are all over the place. It’s a fact and ECSL admits that they experienced a lot of challenges with their machines especially in the early days of the registration exercise. As far as we know, many of those challenges have been addressed and the process is grinding on but slowly indeed.
We believe that at the end of the day the eligible voters of the country will get their names on that register. Whether they end up voting in 2023 is another matter altogether.
1. ECSL has to do whatever they can to speed up the process. It’s not fair to ask people who depend on what they collect on the streets daily to spend FOUR straignt hours in a queue trying to register.
2. People have to stop this habit of attempting to register children and causing confusion at the centers. They are busy turning young minds into criminals for their own political objectives. It is very wrong.
3. Political parties have to walk this fine line between bribing people to register and FACILITATING the process by getting the people out to register. Some of our people are in fact now using this exercise to extort money from politicians. What a way to survive.
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