THE DRAW IS DONE SO LET’S DO THIS LEONE STARS
For many Sierra Leoneans qualifying for AfCON alone is enough for now because we’ve been away from the tournament for TWENTY FIVE YEARS. For many others getting through the group stage will be fantastic beyond that the world should allow Sierra Leoneans to dream big. We can’t even begin to imagine the trophy landing at Lungi International Airport considering how we welcomed the team home after qualifying for AfCON over the Republic of Benin.
The draws have been completed and we will be up against Algeria, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea in the group stages. We will not attempt any analysis for now because there are no small teams in AfCON and we should NOT underestimate any country. We believe those managing Leone Stars are clearly aware of what we want from this competition and we will settle for nothing less.
We now want to see a program of training and friendly matches between now and December because we will land in Yaoundé in January. The recent training mission in Bo and Kenema is a good confidence building start. Where next?
Please don’t bring Musa Tombo or his guardian angel into this. We have a lot of work to do and time is not on our side. No further distractions. Let's move with those who are ready to play by the rules.
ATTORNEY GENERAL IN DRAMATIC U-TURN OVER NEW LAW SCHOOLS
In the end what the government is trying to do about the final stage of legal education in Sierra Leone is beginning to make sense to ordinary people in this country. As is the case nowadays bills first appear on social media before going before our parliament and we’re not here to talk about whether that’s a good idea or not. We are waiting to see what happens when that bill eventually arrives in the well of parliament.
We ended last week with the outline of a bill seeking to expand the membership of the Council of Legal Education to include people from University of Makeni and Njala University because UNIMAK has been churning out law graduates and Njala will join the production line soon. Predictably, the document received mixed reviews culminating in the Sierra Leone Bar Association joining the chorus. After all their analysis they came down to the conclusion that the Attorney General’s office should withdraw the bill and do more “consultations”. Frankly this only represents an invitation to the AG to go and have a word with the SLBA. Nothing wrong with that.
Now we hear that the bill is being withdrawn and amended to the effect that there will no longer be three law schools. There will be only one Sierra Leone Law School with campuses in Makeni and Bo. That’s not a bad idea if it will bring all parties together but let’s make the following points:
1. Whether it’s a whole Law School or not, we are happy that at last something is about to be done about this unacceptable situation in which people graduating from FBC and UNIMAK with law degrees have to wait for a year or more to enter Law School because of the numbers. So let’s have other campuses in Bo and Makeni under the same Council of Legal Education. We will take that.
2. We agree with SLBA that expanding the Council of Legal Education is not the most pressing thing but making adequate provisions so that the council can run itself effectively. In this country we create a lot of institutions and leave them gasping for breath because we can provide the money they need to do their work.
3. This argument about there being too many lawyers makes no sense to us. We have many Engineers but how many of them are consulted to do really serious work? So like other professions, we could have thousands of lawyers but only the really good ones will attract serious clients. Let the guys compete.
NEEDLESS DEATHS IN TUNISIAN DESERT: WHAT MORE CAN WE DO?
Our embassy in the Arab Republic of Egypt is fairly certain that those six bodies – a woman with her FOUR children and another person found in the Tunisian desert are bodies of Sierra Leoneans. They were apparently on the dangerous TEMPLE RUN. This is what desperate people from Africa and some of the Middle Eastern countries do to enter the European Union by way of Spain or Italy. Tens of thousands of people have perished in the Mediterranean Sea with only a comparatively small number managing to land on European soil. They are busy feeding their flesh to the fish out there. This is a DISGRACE that MUST STOP.
We don’t know what else governments in Africa can do to convince these young people drowning themselves in the sea to stay home. How can anybody explain this: a Sierra Leonean woman and her FOUR children dying in a desert thousands of miles away from home? For now we learned that the father is in France but whether he planned this journey for his family to meet him in France, we don’t know but let’s just spare a thought for those young souls in particular who definitely thought they were on a holiday trip with mummy. Let’s think about the final moments of their lives in that desert. What kind of desperation, even madness is this?
It will be a good idea for Africa leaders to take collective action to stop illegal migration and this TEMPLE RUN nonsense otherwise we should be a little careful how we allow people to leave this country when they are unable to clearly say where they are headed. We know concerns about Human Rights would be voiced all over the place but what else can we do?
This story has captured the attention of the country but surely there are many other Sierra Leoneans dying on that Temple Run with no such reporting. This DISASTER MUST STOP.
PLEASE TAKE HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS OFF JUI-REGENT ROAD
When the Chinese contractors completed work on the Jui-Regent road in 2014, very bold signposts were erected along the route prohibiting use of the road by trucks weighing more than 10 tons or vehicles carrying sand, wood and stones. Trailer trucks and heavy machinery must "keep off", so it was sanctioned to be.
All those trucks banned from that busy route linking east and west Freetown are not complying with the regulations anymore.
At night well-organized scenes unfold at the various Police checkpoints; the loaded trucks would queue and wait for ‘final instructions’ before they are allowed to continue their journey. It came as a surprise to hear an official of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Corps admit that fatal accidents along the route have increased in recent times blaming some on heavy trucks. He was gracious enough to acknowledge that the truck drivers are flouting the order but never explained what they would do to ensure compliance.
Perhaps he never wanted to offend IG Sovula’s men. And so the lives of people will continue to be risked as a result of palms being greased. The road itself is favoured by commuters and motorists as a more convenient alternative to travel from Adonkia to Waterloo in a comparatively shorter time. At Grafton checkpoint the sight of one of the signposts almost uprooted and leaning back and nearly swallowed up by tall grass, could not give a better picture of abandonment and rejection of the very message it carries.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (18/08/21)
