CORRUPTION SCANDAL ROCKS EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENT
It is almost like one of those movies about corruption in an African country that we are used to now. Yes, it is about corruption but the allegations are centered on the heart of European politics – the parliament of the European Union. A handful of arrests have been made, MEPs stripped of their privileges and, according to reports, a sack full of raw cash found in a hotel room.
Maybe we should send Ben Keifala and his SCORPIONS into Brussels to help investigate, arrest and prosecute any member of the European Parliament found to have received favors to influence their actions in that parliament. We think our SCORPIONS are capable of cleaning the place because they are neutral and would want to show how good they are at what they do. Ordinary European citizens will appreciate our contribution to ending corruption in that very powerful institution.
The international news says the Gulf state of Qatar allegedly pushed some cash and other favors in that parliament to influence certain decisions of the body. We still don’t know what Qatar was allegedly looking for from the Europeans. They have denied it, inevitably, but the investigations continue.
Anyway, we can say the following for now:
1. All people in big positions around the world should be very careful dealing with Qatari officials because after all the allegations of corruption around their hosting of the World Cup and now this one in EU parliament, even having tea with them in a roadside restaurant would cause eyebrows to be raised about corruption.
2. We usually talk about corrupt African politicians. Our politicians have just received a nice Christmas present with this corruption wahala in the EU parliament. Now they can point to this body and say corruption exists everywhere so it’s no big deal.
3. The Europeans are moving aggressively to deal with the latest corruption allegation. We can learn something from that at least. King Messi told us many years ago that there are NO SACRED COWS in his anti-corruption war. It turned out he had many SACRED COWS.
INDONESIA SEX BAN RATTLES CERTAIN PEOPLE
Frankly, we thought this law was already in place before now with Indonesia being the nation with the most Muslims on planet earth. The fact that the story made it to the headlines in the world’s major media organizations speaks of how bold the decision is and how powerful the government is on the ground. We are told that the law applies to FOREIGNERS as well and people can be jailed for up to ONE YEAR. Wow!
The law which was unanimously passed by parliament also bans cohabitation. That’s what we call TAP TO ME in good old Sierra Leone. Other noteworthy provisions would punish people for insulting the president or saying things contrary to the national ideology. We have just picked out a few of the issues we can quickly lay hands on and it’s up to other people interested beyond this point to look for the devil in the details.
We call on the foreign ministry of Sierra Leone to put out a travel advisory for our people going to Indonesia to study, as tourists or to work. Here’s our modest contribution to that effort.
1. This country should REJECT all scholarships offered by the government and people of Indonesia. We neither have enough money to hire lawyers to defend our students nor do we have that much international clout to threaten Indonesia.
2. Government officials traveling to that country for meetings should be provided with extra money to take their wives along if they are to stay beyond THREE DAYS. We know what we are talking about. Those Sierra Leoneans who MUST go there because of work should drop this habit of insulting leaders daily. That’s a favorite pastime for many Sierra Leoneans. The Indonesians are having none of that.
3. Sierra Leoneans should avoid the resort of BALI as a tourist destination. Just stay away because by the time the court declares you innocent, you would have spent SIX months in a foreign jail.
4. We don’t yet have all the facts but please don’t take issue with us if we suggest that a powerful religious lobby may have threatened politicians into creating this law. It's a win for both sides – the religious people get what they want, despite the obvious fact that tourist dollars would dry up soon and the politicians would remain in office.
5. The world should now keep an eye on Indonesia’s version of RELIGIOUS POLICE as they go about enforcing this law. We hope EGREGIOUS FRANCIS treats our contribution with the seriousness it deserves.
DECEMBER IS HERE AGAIN WITH THOSE AWARDS
The AWARDS season is underway in Sierra Leone once again. Social media platforms are awash with people receiving awards of all types from all kinds of organizations. Some of the awarding organizations, we only hear about them at Christmas as they creep out of their holes to issue awards. Crucially, they only award people in big offices of state and in the corporate world. Are these bodies really telling us that only people in such offices deserve such awards? We also note that all their awardees are based in Freetown. Are there no worthy Sierra Leoneans outside this place called Freetown?
Somebody in authority should do something about this clearly unusual, even unacceptable behavior.
1. These awards have no value and should not be recognized. People are free to do what they want to do because we live in a democracy but this is getting on the nerves of our people and all questionable awarding bodies should be told to desist immediately.
2. Those ministers and heads of government agencies that are busy receiving these awards should stop wasting their time. Yes, we see nice pictures of these awards being presented on social media but they count for nothing.
3. We can’t prove allegations that some ministers and agency bosses are using our money to fund these awards. We hope there is no truth in these allegations because we are ready to fight for and recover every cent whenever we prove wrong doing. This must stop now.
MAYOR KEMOKAI OF FREETOWN HAS NO CONTROL OVER STREET BEGGING
In her early days in office our Smiling Mayor Kemokai tried to do something about the hundreds of beggars on our streets especially those near the Cotton Tree in central Freetown. That project showed a few signs of success but quickly went into oblivion. Four years on, Smiling Mayor Kemokai has completely lost control of whatever she initiated – the people are still around the Cotton Tree, in fact their numbers have increased.
Today we want to shine the light of Kissy Road, to the east of our great city. We are talking about the area just after the junction of Mountain Cut heading to Bombay Street. This place is now flooded with street beggars who most times relieve themselves in the gutter nearby. So it started with a few people and our Mayor took no action, we now have a small colony of beggars doing everything on that main link between central and eastern Freetown.
The blind beggars who are normally known to hang around that place as they search for food have now been overthrown by able-bodied men and women that should be doing something with their hands to put food on their table and they have children that should be in school with them. Where is Mayor Kemokai in all this?
Our Smiling Mayor goes around the world talking about her so-called TRANSFORM FREETOWN project. On the eve of facing the voters once again, she has encouraged a breeding ground for disease in the heart of Freetown. Smiling Mayor Kemokai’s transformation is taking place on social media with her target being a section of the diaspora community of which she is an integral part.
We live the reality of the Freetown she has created over the last four years. The good people of Freetown will reward her in June 2023.
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