POOR QUALITY EGGS IN OUR MARKET, WE MUST ACT
When the price of an egg came down to 1,000 Leones from 1,500 Leones, people thought it was just the usual shift in the price of commodities based on market factors. Well reports have surfaced that the eggs that were going for that price, were not good enough. The taste is unreal and the smell itself questionable. We need to first ask, how did the bad product get into this country in the first place? Our land borders are supposed to be closed to curb the coronavirus pandemic and if those eggs passed through one of those entry points, then it’s scary, as one could imagine what else could have been allowed in. If on the other hand they came through our seaport, then some people there corruptly let the eggs through and never followed the mandatory health and safety checks.
There are some guys down at the Quay with files who will insist on importers showing certificates for bales of used clothing and yet we see expired foodstuffs flooding the market.
People are not afraid to dump garbage in this country because they know readily available accomplices are always out there to aid them in their dirty trade. We are very much concerned over this latest egg scare. Bad eggs can cause Salmonella which can lead to fever, vomiting and diarrhea. We may never know the number of people that could have been affected by this already especially in a country with a small percentage of people going to hospital.
We know our Poultry farmers here can’t match the demand of consumers, for they struggle a lot in keeping their business running. The poultry feed and day-old chicks are quite expensive and there are hardly reliable hatcheries here, with many local farmers having to go to neighboring Guinea to buy and transport the chicks to this country. But that should not in any way get unscrupulous people to dump into the market food that is unfit for human consumption. We need the authorities to step up.
LEAKED AUDIO ABOUT ENHANCED VEHICLE CHECKS
An audio was recently making the rounds on social media in which a woman police officer was heard warning a so-called big man about a planned operation, essentially the enhanced checking of vehicles across the country for everything – defective lights, lack of reflectors, correct vehicle licenses and the rest. According to that audio, the operation was planned for Monday 8th March but was moved to the next day because that Monday was a public holiday in Sierra Leone. The speaker in the clip said the orders for the operation came from STATE HOUSE.
We then observed that on Tuesday 9th March, an operation of that description did go ahead and many vehicles were off the road causing enormous trouble for commuters. Now, here’s what we have to say about the leaked audio in particular and the question of whether this was an operation ordered by State House.
1. We want to call on IG Sovula to identify and sack the police officer who sent that social media post. She is just the kind of person we don’t need in our police force. IG Sovula, do you now understand why very serious operational plans easily become topics for gossip in all ATAYA BASES in Sierra Leone. The level of indiscipline in your so-called force for good is unbelievable.
2. IG Sovula, do you also now understand when many wanted people easily escape justice? As soon as your officers are put on alert to execute a warrant on high value criminal, one of them will call that criminal or his associates to warn them of the move. These kinds of people are found in many places and are difficult to pin down but by some luck we have this in our grasp. Let’s sack her now.
3. The most ridiculous aspect of what she said was that the orders for the operation came from State House. If the police and the SLRSA are going to wait for State House to tell them to carry out what should ideally be routine checks, then IG Sovula and the man at SLRSA should simply resign and go home. Some people in this country are so used to King Messi’s Supreme Executive Authority that they think every action is sanctioned from State House. They will soon start asking for orders from State House to eat their own food at home.
AND HOW DID THE CHECK ITSELF GO?
We were out on the streets on Tuesday of this week, particularly at major transportation hubs and we could clearly see that many of those the police wanted to arrest and charge simply stayed away from the roads after listening to the audio which was apparently leaked by the person to which it was originally sent. That person probably sent it to other friends to warm them ahead and they too passed it on and on and the thing went viral. So if we now assess the outcome of Tuesday’s operation we will find out that it was only a partial success and the only reason for it being partial is that a police officer leaked the operational details to somebody she regularly receives money and other favors from. It may look far-fetched but what stops this kind of police officer from leaking the most important state secret for a few US dollars.
Most commuters we spoke to on Tuesday totally understand why the police embarked on the enhanced checks. This country has witnessed many easily preventable car crashes. The most recent claimed the lives of NINE young footballers who had a whole future ahead of them. We are still waiting for the police to release their finding but we will not be surprised to hear that one or both of the vehicles and their drivers involved in that head on collision were not properly on the road. That includes no insurance cover for those killed or maimed forever.
IG Sovula served as head of traffic on his way to his current top job so he should have a clear idea about the state of things in that branch of his office. This operation should be done frequently and except in extreme cases, defaulters should not be charged to court. Let them pay good money into our treasury or have their licenses withdrawn. Let’s not pack cases in the courts and turn the whole operation into a money making exercise for lawyers.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 15/05/21
