SORRY GUYS, COCO SAMBA HAS LOST THE BATTLE
So what next for our people who truly love COCO SAMBA? It would appear as if the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone has struck the final blow and COCO SAMBA is effectively banned in Sierra Leone.
The board wants us to report people and institutions selling COCO SAMBA so they can take some kind of action against them. We note this but let’s make a few points and see how useful our intervention would be in this fine mess.
1. The Pharmacy Board should not create the impression they don’t know those importing COCO SAMBA and its cousins into this country. We hate this hypocrisy.
2. These products come through our air, sea and land borders. Why is it so difficult to track down and arrest those bringing it to Sierra Leone? Aren’t we able to deal with corrupt customs officers and police who are sometimes complicit in smuggling?
3. Can’t the Pharmacy Board have their own labs well fitted to conduct these tests? See how long it took from the day they raised the red flag on COCO SAMBA and such drinks to the day they are coming out with their findings. There’s no need to be sending a basic test like that to Ghana.
4. We should inform the Pharmacy Board that COCO SAMBA has become so cheap in the market these days that even school children are now using their lunch money to buy it. Good luck with the ban
5. Those who stubbornly defy scientific advice to indulge should be ready for the consequences. There are many of them around. We wish them well. Just let know when they begin to visit health facilities with the side effects.
FOOTBALL HOOLIGANISM TAKES A DANGEROUS TURN IN SALONE
The frequency with which match officials are attacked these days is such that we should not only be issuing press releases and making empty threats. We should act and act in a manner that convinces the hooligans and their apologists that we are serious about getting people to behave like civilized fans. Last weekend another female referee was attacked in Kambia just when we thought that the outrage that greeted the disgrace at Angola field had caused people to behave themselves in public.
The response of the SLFA has been predictable and weak. They have issued their normal press release and moved on to something else. While discussing the Kambia issue, news came through that the match involving Ports Authority and Freetown City Football Club was disrupted for about 10 minutes due to crowd trouble. We are still checking the details on this but we have to say that this has been encouraged by the relevant authorities choosing to pretend as if everything was normal in the game.
When people see their daughters, wives or sisters being chased and pushed around by club officials every week, they are left to wonder why the SLFA continues to allow those hooligans anywhere near their authorized matches. Again, we are waiting for further confirmation but we understand officials of the Sierra Leone Police team were the ones that attacked the female referee in Kambia.
We don’t know how to explain this: Is it really true that FORCE FOR GOOD people attacked a referee? How come we’ve not heard anything from them on the issue?
We know that people are now compiling a dossier of such misbehaviors and the refusal for the SLFA to act, for the attention of CAF and FIFA. Because they hold the purse strings, these are the only people that can get our SLFA to ACT.
HAS THE CLEANING EXERCISE LOST STEAM IN BO ALREADY?
The new Mayor in Bo wanted to hit the ground running as they say. He wanted to show the people of Bo that he knew the problems of our second city and he was ready to tackle them from day one. First, Mayor Kobba Musa moved against street trading in the business district of that city. From what we’ve seen so far, the result is mixed. Initially, when we visited Bojon Street in particular, we realized a change.
The Mayor pushed the traders away from the main road ending the competition among drivers, pedestrians and traders for the road. A few weeks later, the traders are almost creeping back to their original location with amazing rapidity.
The Mayor also brought back the NPRC- era National Cleaning Day program, on the last Saturday of every month a curfew is declared for a few hours in the morning for the cleaning to take place. Again, we have realized that the initial enthusiasm is dying out and we are so scared that the area around the main market center in the Fenton road area could soon be back to the days before the election when rubbish was left uncollected for weeks.
We can still call these early days for the Mayor and we know old habits take time to change but he has to be very careful not to start racking up policy reversals all over the place. Now his critics are asking why he didn’t think through the issues well enough before making the pronouncement.
We will be back soon to see things on the ground again. The Mayor should expect people like us to start asking hard questions. The political honeymoon is over sir.
CLOSE THE DISABILITY CAMP AT PADEMBA NOW
We complained a lot when Tolongbo opened that camp for disabled people along Pademba road near the prison yard. FIVE years on, the camp has expanded and become a real scar on our collective consciences. We know New Direction people drive along that road daily and come face to face with the misery in that little space. Why is nobody saying anything about that? Why is the disability commission of all organizations turning a blind eye to this very serious situation? On the face of it those Sierra Leoneans living in that camp think they are fine but scratch that surface a bit and the real feelings about their living conditions would reveal.
We don’t believe in having colonies of people living with disabilities anywhere in this country. They are Sierra Leoneans just like us who should live with their families with the state providing whatever support is available for them. They should get all the help they need to fend for themselves and their families.
Tolongbo tried to solve a problem but ended up creating an even bigger one in that prominent part of Freetown. We have to destroy that picture and find a way of accommodating our brothers and sisters in decent places. This could easily become an election issue. Watch this space.
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