LIBERIAN PROTEST ORGANIZER KICKED OUT AT LAST
So we have skillfully dispatched our Liberian diplomatic albatross that landed here a few days ago. This guy whose only job it seems is organizing protest against the government of George Weah of Liberia was picked up by immigration officers here and detained possibly for questioning on matters not unconnected with his activities in the neighboring republic. There was even talk around that Weah’s government had asked for his extradition because Liberian police wanted to talk to him about his obsession with organizing protests and calling for Weah to leave office.
The New Direction did not tell us in a very clear way why they picked up Henry Costa, fuelling speculation that the Liberian authorities asked us to arrest and extradite him to face potentially serious charges and possibly years behind bars at Belle Yallah prison.
A handful of our own Civil Society Organizations quickly released a joint statement calling on the government to release Costa. That is nothing strange anyway. In fact we are surprised that only about half a dozen such groups signed up.
Costa should be in the United States now reviewing the events of the last few weeks and planning his next action against the government of George Weah. Frankly that’s his business but we have to put certain things on record right now so that we will be able to refer to this day in case we have cause to, at any time in the future.
1. The stability of Sierra Leone is inextricably linked to the stability of Liberia and Guinea. We know this too well with our experience fighting civil wars in the 90s and the recent Ebola outbreak. We cannot pretend we don’t know the issues Weah is dealing with in Liberia.
2. Charles Taylor passed through Sierra Leone and we now know he solicited help from our leaders at the time to fight Samuel Doe. He was also detained here and then released. He would hurt this country in unimaginable ways several years later. Today he is in jail because of what he did to Sierra Leone. So Civil Society or not, we don’t want to be drawn into Costa’s attempt to bring down Weah halfway through his democratic mandate.
3. We now need to hear the full story from our government. In fact the MINISTER of FOREIGN AFFAIRS should make a statement to parliament on the Costa affair. No more complacency.
JJ SAFFA MEANT WELL BUT HE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO US ON LIMKOKWING
Whether we like it or not this government has put itself into a fine mess of its own making over the issues at Limkokwing University. The other day our brothers and sisters in that place were out on the streets demonstrating because the government had not paid college fees for them as promised. They pulled back after a brief and unnecessary clash with the police. All of this was clearly avoidable if JJ Saffa had listened to us and many other journalists who warned him to scrap whatever deal Minkailu Bah – the worst education minister in the history of this country struck with the Malaysian outfit.
Why JJ Saffa accepted that bad deal, even in a partial way, beats our imagination. Maybe he was blackmailed by the possibility of thousands of our young brothers and sisters being thrown out of college. Bad as that may have been it would have saved this government all the trouble they are now dealing with. We still believe it’s not too late to do something decisive about Limkokwing. And this is why:
1. It makes no sense to spend so much money on a private university while state universities are in decay and students are being thrown out of class. The yearly fee for ONE student at that college is equivalent to that paid by SEVEN students doing general degree courses in state universities.
2. We don’t even know if the Malaysians are paying rent for the government building they have occupied. Why are they so lucky? What is so special about the courses being taught at Limkokwing?
3. How come other private universities like UNIMAK with a proven track record of good performance were not considered by Minkailu Bah who was a real political mistake in that education ministry.
4. JJ Saffa may continue his unpopular funding of that university with our money but until he matches that spending to that for state institutions we are going to continue complaining about this hurtful two-tier system of funding higher education.
5. Please let’s move fast with the Commission of Inquiry so that we get Minkailu Bah to come to terms with his mess at Limkokwing. Why didn’t he give such attention to FBC where he has since returned to work and live?
SOME BOARDS NOT FULLY CONSTITUTED TWO YEARS INTO NEW DIRECTION
It is difficult - almost impossible to believe that nearly two years into the New Direction Administration an organization as important as the Anti-Corruption Commission still does not have a functioning Advisory Board as provided by law. We can confirm that only two members of that board, one of them from the media are in place. Is the New Direction telling us they have taken their eyes off this most important ball? Principal always talks highly about the work of the ACC while pledging to do more to further improve their ability to fight corruption. But as your humble fellow Sierra Leonean citizens sir, we feel compelled to ask this question: how does your commitment to sharpening the teeth of the ACC square out with the commission not having its full complement of Advisory Board members in almost two years of your administration?
Here’s what the ACC A says about the process of selecting the Board members as recorded in part III Section 22 (2).
The members of the advisory board of corruption shall be appointed from among persons representing civil society, professional bodies, religious organizations, educational institutions, chieftaincy and the media, having relevant experience and of conspicuous probity.
Can anybody please tell us what is really difficult about doing this selection even on the first day of the New Direction? In fact as a government elected principally to fight corruption, how come they’ve allowed this opening to continue this long? If after reading this comment the Secretary to the President writes a letter to all the organizations mentioned above asking for their nominees, he will be sure of getting replies in less than THIRTY –SIX hours. So what’s really going on?
We know the ACC Advisory Board is not as lucrative as some others that Green Boys have been fighting over but in the overall interest of our collective fight against corruption, we NEED the full board NOW. And we NEED the ACC to make their Advisory Board members look like serious people with a job to do for which they should be adequately compensated.
SALONE PREMIER LEAGUE GAINING MOMENTUM BUT…
Interest is growing in the Sierra Leone Premier league once again after an unusually slow start given the power of the last league. The PLB team with Lawyer Allieu Vandy Koroma as head is proving certain people wrong. That’s really good news.
We also note that the presidential pavilion which contrary to all expectations was a free-for-all place is gradually being brought back to what it should be. We mean all those who are not accredited by the PLB in one way or the other are now required to pay the stipulated fee to enter the presidential stand.
The PLB should now try and get money from the government. Part of the reason this is proving so difficult is that the SLFA actually turned down government money given to them to host the last FA cup last year citing political interference. How come they now want government money for the current league from the same government? The queen has really messed thing up in that little corner of Kingtom. Most people associated with the game can’t wait for April to rid our football of this management style.
We want the government to fund the PLB and their league because we trust the leader of the current PLB. Our only concern is that MP who is on that board should leave. He should go and continue serving in the parliamentary oversight committee on sports.
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