INSTITUTIONAL REACTIONS TO EUROPEAN UNION REPORT
The EU is not one of those ordinary institutions that Sierra Leone can decide to ignore. They do a lot for this country in terms of budgetary support and building vital infrastructure like roads and bridges. That explains why many Sierra Leoneans were so concerned by statements made by a recent Mission they fielded to this country to see how far things have gone with the implementation of recommendations they made after elections in this country going back more than a decade and renewed after the 2018 elections.
So the EU says they were told there was now less trust in the judiciary, NEC and the PPRC. They didn’t say who told them. That would have helped us clearly understand things from their perspective. They didn’t also tell us what was said by other people in relation to the trust question. At this stage we are talking about people outside the institutions fingered in the report. Those that have problems with the report think the EU listened to only one section of society that told them things.
However, the report proceeded to say this:
‘The Mission findings are that these institutions’ reputations are less trusted than is needed. But further, our assessment is that there are real grounds for concern in the ways in which these have administered recent bye-elections’.
What was this real issue with the bye-elections in Koinadugu? As far as we know, the opposition kept hold of the district with a handsome majority and narrowly lost a council seat. Is that the problem?
Yes, there were familiar cries of political intimidation and the involvement of political heavy weights from the main parties and collation of results was moved to Freetown under strict observation. Is that the other issue?
Anyway, we understand Tolongbo is in court over the council seat in Koinadugu. Let justice be done there.
We don’t know the methodology the EU Mission used but we are hearing now from the three main bodies attacked that many of the issues in the report were never raised with them during or before this report was made public. Is that true?
Is it also true that the consultants who worked with the EU Mission are diehard Tolongbo people? We saw some pictures on social media and comments in that direction. Alpha Kanu, the spokesman of Tolongbo told us a few years ago that if your mother’s rival was to mark your examination script you will NEVER pass. Should those complaining about the conclusive statements made by the EU Mission also now have ‘REAL GROUNDS FOR CONCERN’ that the local consultants were not properly vetted to remove any doubts of political bias?
AUDITOR GENERAL IS SUSPENDED AND TRIBUNAL COMING
The Auditor General is out of office for now. Principal ordered her to step aside and face a tribunal on matters dealing with professionalism in that very important institution. All over social media people are talking about the issue. Press releases are flying all over the place – some condemning the move, others asking for clarification, yet others asking for the tribunal to start work now and let the case against Lara the Auditor be made. Lara says her hands are clean and she was ready to answer questions.
Already, there are suggestions that Principal is trying to influence the coming report from the government auditors because it’s not looking good for his administration. That report is due in parliament in the coming weeks. Journalists are busy digging to discover whatever smoking gun the government may have. Here’s what we think. Please feel free to disagree with us.
1. The 2020 report is already done and there is no chance of it being significantly altered before it is due in parliament. We have already seen something like that on social media. That Lara would produce such a report and not have a copy somewhere in the cloud is not even up for consideration. So what’s the point of risking a leaked report being put into public hands together with what, as has been suggested now, may have been watered down?
2. The decision was always going to cause the kind of reaction we are witnessing now. For Principal to go ahead with it suggests he has compelling reasons to. Again, we will only complete this assessment when we get the report from the tribunal that we understand should start work soon.
3. People can continue issuing press releases or using other means to communicate their positions for and against the suspension but the best thing to do now is to urge that the tribunal begins work immediately and that their raw report be made public.
GROWING LAWLESSNESS IN SIERRA LEONE PREMIER LEAGUE
We have been told by our usually reliable sources that after the match between Mount Aureol SLIFA and East End Lions just over a week ago, some fans of East End Lions found their way into their team’s dressing room and attacked their players. According to our sources, at least one player was injured. We find it very strange that fans can actually manage to enter the dressing rooms for hostile or friendly reasons.
We believe that slowly but surely the PLB is losing control of this league and hooligans are about to destroy the game. Soon, many fans will be completely put off and would have no alternative but to withdraw from matches.
We can understand when passions fly out of control on the sidelines from time to time but the wounding of an Assistant Referee by fans of Bo Rangers at the stadium in Freetown, the wounding of a Bo Rangers player in Portloko by fans of the victorious team, the verbal assault on an Assistant Referee by Technical officials of East End Tigers and now this attack on East End Lions players by their own fans in their dressing room, sends a very bad signal about our commitment to clean football and our general comportment in sporting activities.
The PLB cannot pretend they are not aware. Their disciplinary committee can fine them and take other actions. They have been doing that and violence has only grown in the game. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
Our Premier League Board has lost control of the presidential pavilion; they have no say in the number of security personnel deployed for matches, many times the Red Cross which provides first aid services is never around. That’s so because the PLB has abandoned its responsibility to the clubs. The common denominator between the participating clubs and the PLB is that they both want money more than they care about the welfare of their players and football fans.
MEANWHILE HERE COMES ANOTHER ATTO MENSAH
When Sierra Leone players line up in Cameroon to start the AfCON campaign there could be a somewhat strange name and face at the heart of our midfield. We say strange only in terms of him being Ghanaian.
With the help of the Johansen hostages at our SLFA, the guy who now plays club football with FC Johansen in the Sierra Leone Premier League, the tall, skillful but increasingly temperamental Ghanaian is on the verge of switching his nationality so he can put on the GREEN, WHITE and BLUE. If he succeeds he will follow the footsteps of his countryman Atto Mensah who played here in the 80s and made his way into our national team. He is still loved in this country, even by supporters of clubs who wouldn’t touch his former team East End Lions with a 10 feet barge pole.
It’s fair to say that Samuel Bekeo of FC Johansen is definitely NOT Atto Mensah – he is not as skilled as Atto, he is not playing for one of the big clubs, his comportment on the field is not as sportsmanly as Atto, he is playing at a time when there are half a dozen Sierra Leoneans who can comfortably hold the position on the field he is trying to occupy and there is a groundswell of opposition to his inclusion because many Sierra Leoneans could clearly see that this is more about the future ambitions of FC Johansen and the young Ghanaian not a desperate move to help the national team.
We are watching the situation develop.
Copyright © Politico Online 15/11/21
