BENJAMIN MENDY IS FREE: WHAT NEXT AND HOW NEXT?
The French footballer Benjamin Mendy who is in the books of EPL Champions, Man City has been cleared of all those plenty charges of rape and attempted rape after many months of agony. Mendy spent months on remand, was cleared on some charges and faced a second trial on two other charges. He is a free man.
Manchester City said very little while all this was taking place after quickly suspending him from the team. From our little corner, we would expect Mendy to resume his career and complete his contract with the club but it’s not that easy. We have the example of Mason Greenwood. He was taken into custody in similar circumstances but all charges were subsequently dropped. The guy has gone on to have a baby with the lady that caused the police to arrest Greenwood but Manchester United still can’t restore the man. They are banging on about an unending internal investigation even as the new season approaches.
Anyway back to Mendy and we want to say the following:
1. We hope the guy has gained something from all of this. Being a lady’s man is not necessarily a bad thing. Many of those players making pornographic sums of money weekly are into big brands – cars, furniture and home decorations, clothing and they even own private jets. So there's nothing wrong with enjoying the good things of this world but let’s be honest, Mendy pushed things too far with all those parties, booze and women.
2. Now he is a free man, we believe he should be allowed to return to work immediately with his head held high. There should be no doubt about that. We don’t want to hear anything like INTERNAL INVESTIGATION as in the case of Greenwood. The man is free. That’s all.
3. Nobody is saying anything now about those girls who falsely accused Mendy of rape and attempted rape. Had Mendy been convicted they would have gone after his money subsequently. Even the police who investigated the case ought to have seen through some of the lies told to that court. We are not lawyers but we knew the case would fail. Something must be done about those women.
4. Mendy’s lawyer did a fantastic job. He had the money and could pay for such a service. We believe that there are many other people in jail in that country because they cannot afford such high quality legal representation. How sad!
5. Maybe Mendy should simply end his contract; collect whatever little money is left and return home. Instead of buying mansions and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on pool parties that only end up in rape trials, Mendy should emulate Sadio Mane – he should try and change lives in Africa. Mendy has French citizenship but he is an African. We hope he lives happily ever after.
KUNG-FU BOY RETURNS TO THE CABINET OF MAADA BIO
Please change your name to DENNIS if you are a politician and you want the proverbial NINE lives of a cat. Sacked by APC and SLPP New Direction, Dennis Kung-Fu has returned to government for the THIRD time in a senior position. He is the Works minister designate. The other DENNIS was sacked THREE times before Principal completed his first term. We’re not saying Kung-Fu boy will soon be sacked to equalize with his friend. All we are doing as journalists is telling our readers about issues and their trajectory.
Some of those who spoke to us about the new cabinet were shocked that the guy is back. So we gave them some reason why we thought he was re-called to the cabinet.
1. Principal wants to complete the record of sacking this DENNIS three times and after that the guy would travel to Kenema and be in good company with the other DENNIS.
2. This was the guy who illegally named a whole settlement as PAOPA Town and caused a lot of embarrassment for the government because the local people and their politicians in the rural area of Freetown easily overturned that decision and shamed the government. He has unfinished business around.
3. Principal likes ministers who act beyond their powers. Kung-Fu boy actually issued Ministerial Orders that absolutely contradicted the Executive Order issued 24 hours earlier by Principal in the early days of the New Direction government. He extended a curfew and ordered the people of Freetown in particular to clean up their homes.
4. This guy was queried twice before being sacked because Principal thought the people complaining about the way he ran the Ministry of Lands were so many they could cause the stadium to overflow. So Principal feels good issuing queries to the same people all the time and eventually sacking them when their transgressions begin to mount.
5. Occasionally Principal likes it when one of his ministers creates a spectacle on social media by arresting a ruling party member who turns up at his office on official business for witchcraft and making a big show of his powers as a man of God.
Anyway, we will return with a sack load of the methods used by Kung-Fu boy to return to the cabinet. For now welcome brother!
SALONE PREMIER LEAGUE ENDING IN CONTROVERSY
If all goes well by the evening of Sunday July 22 the Salone Premier League would come to an end for this season. We have left some openings because some of the pitches are so bad that just a few inches of rain would be enough to force match officials to call certain games off. So let’s hope there’s no such disruption.
Bo Rangers won the league weeks ago and like we suggested in this column, by the look of things, toppling Bo Rangers is a really difficult job. They are very powerful with some of the best players, good organization and the required resources to keep the players and officials happy. We can predict without hesitation that they are heading for THREE back to back wins when the league resumes towards the end of the year.
Now there’s a huge controversy at the bottom of the table as the relegation battle rages on. The PLB is making last minute decisions and handing points over to some strugglers that may inevitably keep them in the Premier League. Inevitably, questions are mounting as to why those decisions are only being made now after all these weeks. There may be practical difficulties but we are prepared to listen to those asking such questions.
We also note that the decisions are benefitting certain people in the SLFA because of their ownership or links to the affected clubs. The drama is unfolding and we are watching from our vantage positions.
Referees are under the radar for the weekend games and we warn them to avoid a repeat of that disgraceful performance we saw in one place outside Freetown. We want to see hones football. We don’t want to see a situation in which a team that has already qualified helps a struggling team by deliberately fielding ineligible players just so that they can have three points deducted from them to the benefit of a relegation-threatened team. We also don’t want players being told to pick up red cards unnecessarily so that a match is thrown away. We want clean football.
The SLFA must now go ahead and cut the number of teams in our so-called Premier League. The criteria for going to the SPL should be strictly enforced and it’s not just about winning from the lower division. Let’s also stop this corrupt trick of a rich man buying the SPL rights of a club run by greedy people who only think in terms of money.
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