SIERRA LEONE SHOULD FIGHT KUSH WITH CAUTION
People who like having a clean shame all the time should be very careful these days moving around the communities of Freetown in particular. We say so because groups of young people are going around arresting and shaving the heads of people they suspect to be high on KUSH. We have met some members of these gangs who have told us that their campaign is aimed at clearing their communities of KUSH boys and girls and it includes destroying their hangouts. We saw on social media what happened in the deep south of the country – that’s in a place called Sulima. Suspected KUSH hangouts were attacked and destroyed and dealers chased out of the village.
A few things could go wrong if something is not done quickly.
1. The vigilantes conducting the weekend raids in the slum communities of Freetown could easily produce unintended consequences by causing casualties as they try to arrest and shave suspected KUSH addicts. We hope we don’t wake up on Monday mornings to find dead bodies in our backyards.
2. Isn’t it likely that ordinary people could be mistaken for KUSH addicts by the raiding gangs? Isn’t it also likely that some will use the anti-KUSH campaign to settle scores? Let’s just factor that as we consider what to do about KUSH menace.
3. What is this thing about shaving the head of suspected KUSH addicts? Are we being told that clean shaven people don’t smoke KUSH? What kind of logic is that? So you shave the guy’s head and send him home for the night. Next day the guy returns to the joint to smoke more KUSH. We don’t get it.
IN FACT ARE WE REALLY PREPARED FOR THIS FIGHT?
In the last two days or so we have heard unbelievable testimony about the condition of the agency that should lead this fight against KUSH and other narcotic drugs. It’s a very old agency that has simply not enjoyed the budgetary support it needs to take care of itself in the first place before attempting to go after rich and powerful drug dealers. The head of the agency says he doesn’t have enough staff or vehicles to move around and do the job. That’s a serious issue but we think there are other important issues he didn’t mention.
1. NDLEA needs a study that sets out what is really happening in the narcotics trade. This fight has to be led by intelligence otherwise we may never get to those supplying the retailers and consumers that vigilantes are chasing every weekend.
2. We absolutely need a NATIONAL CONFERENCE, bringing together all the agencies involved in this fight. Going around communities taking pictures of social media is not going to solve the problem. We need a road map by which to proceed because knee-jerk and sporadic responses are only there to do what everyone else is doing – complain and complain, blame and blame.
3. Yes, NDLEA needs all the resources they can get to lead the fight but it is up to them to look for extra money outside Sierra Leone. They know that our national budget can NEVER adequately support them to achieve their aims. Complaining in parliament is one thing but doing something in the context of today’s realities is something completely different. Let’s not make excuses.
WHY HAVE WE ABANDONED THE ROAD TO SL GRAMMAR SCHOOL
SLRA definitely has a long and convoluted explanation as to why the road leading to the Sierra Leone Grammar School is still very bad and dusty. They always have something to say but the challenge they have is to convince the people living on that road and all the students of one of the best schools in this country that they have not been neglected.
There is no other way to explain why work on a road as important as that stopped just a few months after it started other than money is not available to continue or has been diverted to other areas..
We are doing a full story on this issue but for now we want to call the attention of SLRA to that corner of Freetown. Our story will be completed in the next THREE WEEKS.
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IS FBC TRULY INVESTIGATING THOSE STUDENT WARRIORS The Registrar at FBC promised us the other day that the institution will investigate that disgraceful hand to hand combat between two of their female students in broad daylight on the college campus. We have now fully investigated the issue but we are only a newspaper with the mandate to report issues. The power to act decisively to stop those kinds of tendencies on a university campus rests with the authorities at FBC. The Registrar has a responsibility to come to the good people of Sierra Leone and explain what they have done to address the issue. Otherwise, speculations about a potential cover up will become a reality. Think about those proud parents who sent their 19 or 20-year-old children to study at FBC seeing them fighting on campus. We can only imagine how many calls they have received from family members and friends from all over the world. When FBC issued a statement indicating they will strictly enforce a dress code befitting their students, this was seen as a signal of the college administration moving to get a grip on what many now call a fall in standards of discipline on the campus. A few weeks after that, 11 students were arrested and detained after tear gas and gun shots were used to quell rioting on an otherwise quiet night at FBC. Riot police are still deployed there. Now we have this viral video of these two girls in a dog fight only a few yards from the main administrative building on the campus. We will not allow FBC to sweep this under the carpet. SIERRA LEONE MUST BAN SINGLE USE PLASTIC NOW We have been calling on the authorities to do two things about single use plastic in this city for some time now: 1. Ban that material from entering this country and phase strict compliance with the ban over a SIX MONTH period. 2. Compel companies producing and selling them on our streets to clean up the mess they are creating across Sierra Leone and in Freetown in particular. We simply cannot continue with the way things are going now. Among the greatest polluters are those in the water business and the local company selling soft drinks in plastic containers. Their waste is blocking the drainage system and making landfill sites a home for used plastic containers. We are regularly told that companies are made to prepare Environmental Impact Assessment papers before they are allowed to start business. So can somebody please show us the EIA document produced by those now damaging the face of Freetown with used plastic? The authorities in Lagos state, Nigeria have finally decided to ban the kind of plastics we are talking about. Aren’t we going to do anything until we find ourselves in a sea of plastic waste?
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