A SECURITY UPDATE TO GET SIERRA LEONEANS THINKING
As soon as we saw the flyer announcing a security update from C. Bah, we knew something big was just around the corner. The fact that C. Bah was going to deliver this update himself in the prime news of the state broadcaster, absolutely raised the stakes even higher. When the update finally came, it really lived up to its billing.
In this job we are trained to treat information – especially that coming from the government with some amount of suspicion. We are doing that right now especially given the seriousness of what C. Bah told the nation. We have a lot of questions to ask, so we urge the minister to call a news conference immediately to put some flesh on the bones of this SECURITY UPDATE.
For example, why didn’t the update come from the police? Our other question would touch on the people now detained, their motives, how they managed to bring the dangerous materials into Sierra Leone, do they have partners at our ports of entry and what were they trying to blow up with those cylinders. With those detonators allegedly discovered, are we entering a situation where roadside bombs would hit and destroy high value targets like any ISIS operation?
We congratulate our security forces for tracking down and arresting people allegedly trying to disturb our peace but what is really going on? Why is all this happening in Sierra Leone?
Arresting these people and their dangerous weapons of mass destruction, including drugs worth nearly ONE HUNDRED MILLION US DOLLARS is good but what does the government think the BIG PICTURE is? It’s really not a stretch to imagine that we will wake up one morning to news of a big target being destroyed somewhere in Sierra Leone with a roadside bomb.
RWANDA MIGRANT DEAL: KAGAME WILL NOT REIMBURSE UK
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called his predecessor’s Rwanda migrant plan “an expensive gimmick” and vowed to scrap it on entering 10 Downing Street. Sir Keir believes that there is a better and less expensive way of stopping people making the dangerous journey across the English Channel from France to claim asylum in England.
Thousands of men women and children from mostly troubled areas of the world have been landing on the other side of the Channel from France in the hope of making a good life in England. Stopping those small boats was a big issue in the last election. Rishi Sunak is gone from 10 Downing Street and Sir Keir must now deal with what he called “an expensive gimmick” but before all that he has the small matter of getting back some of the money the previous government pumped into the scheme. Why not?
Now, we are reading from credible news channels that the dictator of Rwanda has told the UK that monies already paid into his treasury will not be sent back to the UK. We understand why Rwanda wants to keep the cash but if the job was not done before the contract was cancelled, at least some of the money should be returned. We haven’t seen the fine details of the agreement but we think it’s just the normal way to behave. The trouble is, when it comes to Kagame, nothing can be taken for granted. Here’s what we think should happen:
1. Kagame should deduct all expenses on the construction of dwelling houses meant to house the human cargo and refund the rest.
2. He should put the few people already in Rwanda as part of the scheme on a plane back to the UK. Sir Keir should deal with his own problem at home.
3. Kagame must now look for money to make up for the shortfall in his budget because he had already factored cash from this migrant scheme into his country's budget. How sad.
MEANWHILE IN RWANDA, ANOTHER FAKE ELECTION LOADING
The people of Rwanda are going to the polls today to re-elect Paul Kagame. The guy will surely win that election by more than 90% of the vote. Between 1994 and 2000, he served as Vice President. Two decades later, he is set for another FIVE years.
We can all now just say he is the PRESIDENT FOR LIFE. The election is another elaborate ritual aimed at ticking boxes to gain acceptance in the global community of democratic nations. Somehow, Kagame gets away with all of that while other nations with far less infractions are treated like naughty kids in a primary school.
What is the point of having an election when the most important challengers are excluded using some obnoxious law, in jail or exile? In fact, some are simply so scared that they have buried their political ambitions waiting for Kagame to die.
This guy may have done extremely well in ending the genocide in that country but the way he is dominating politics – every aspect of life in Rwanda could be a path to another destructive conflict the day he leaves the scene.
We pray for the peace of Rwanda and their neighbors, particularly Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN and all major Human Rights organizations are clear that Kagame is neck deep in the destructive war in Eastern DR Congo in which thousands have been killed and displaced. He denies that but nobody expects him to accept responsibility and ask God for mercy. Time will tell.
1. The destruction of Eastern D R Congo started long before Russia went into Ukraine but all the big guys are doing is issue report after report saying the same thing while African people suffer. All attention is on Ukraine. We know why.
2. Mineral-rich D R Congo is being plundered to the benefit of western corporations. Western companies are busy selling arms and ammunition to both the government and the dozens of criminal groups operating there, especially M23.
3. Meanwhile the African Union is busy holding meetings in Ethiopia to talk, talk and talk. D R Congo only gets a line in some of their bland communiqués. Come on Africa!
ARE WE REALLY BEING TOLD THE LUNGI GIRL CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD?
We’ve been following a story on social media about a girl in Lungi that is holding herself out as somebody who is coming from the dead. It’s the sort of story that gets many people talking on social media. As far as we are concerned, this is just the kind of story that people tell over the fireplace in rural Sierra Leone after a heavy meal in the immediate days following a good harvest. We don’t believe a thing the girl said.
Now there are claims coming from other parts of the country from people telling us that they have also gone through the same experience.
All we can say now to our social media bloggers is that they should allow us to deal with serious matters otherwise they should create special accounts for those kinds of bizarre stories and never attempt to pass them off as real issues. We have very important matters to deal with in this country. Please!
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