ACC AND THE CASE OF PARAN TARAWALLY
Let’s start by saying that we have nothing against the suspended Clerk of Parliament Paran Umar Tarawally. As a news organ, we have never had to deal with him directly but we have consistently covered parliament in the interest of our numerous readers. We have to say this before heading in the direction we want to go because we are living in a country where people refuse to engage with facts. They quickly hide behind talk of jealousy or hatred and all that.
The ACC recently concluded their investigation into a case that gripped the nation for weeks. Everybody was talking about it. The Parliamentary Service Commission decided to sack some of their staff for whatever reason. Once the announcement was made, fire broke out on Tower Hill. It quickly engulfed the office of the former Speaker and that of the Clerk. Then information reached us that the wife of Clerk Tarawally was an AWOL member of staff who continued to receive her nice salary from the public purse.
The ACC jumped in. Now, they recovered the nation’s money from Ms. Tarawally but in the case of the suspended Clerk who told them he had no hands in the employment of his wife, the ACC said: "it is implausible that he was not aware of same. He therefore failed in his supervisory responsibilities as Clerk albeit that the matter did not meet the prosecutorial threshold for an indictment to be preferred against Hon Paran Tarawally…”
Because the ACC finds his statement about not having a hand in the employment of his wife in an office he supervises, IMPLAUSIBLE, is that not enough reason to believe he willfully misled the Commission. Is that not a matter that could be put before a judge for a high ranking public officer like that? We are not lawyers but we have looked at the ACC Act and have asked questions regarding this issue.
By the way, we don’t want the ACC to create this impression in the minds of Sierra Leoneans that every time they want to give a public officer a way out a the corruption, abuse of office or conflict of interest web, they do two things: recommend a systems review of the potentially mismanaged institution or send the matter to the desk of Principal. There are famous recent examples.
We will be back.
SALONE CANNOT AFFORD SUCH DISRUPTIONS EVERY FEW MONTHS
Large parts of Freetown were paralyzed on Tuesday this week – most shops were closed, market centers were either half full or totally deserted and many government employees stayed home. A group of Sierra Leoneans, mainly based in the Western world, had threatened mayhem on the streets of the capital on JUNE 19. They used social media for weeks so that despite government assurances, many people decided to take their security in their own hands.
In the past such threats have resulted in violent protests, damage to property and loss of lives, including those of security officers so the people of Freetown in particular should be forgiven for staying home last Tuesday. We have a few things to put on record once again and, as usual, we are prepared to be ignored again and again:
1. We have no problem with people who disagree with the government on issues. We live in a democracy and we expect that but to constantly insult people and threaten the security of the state to the extent that half of the capital is paralyzed every three months is wrong and unacceptable.
2. We are all for free expression and we welcome the opportunity provided by social media applications to enhance that but as they say in media circles; shouting fire in a crowded theatre and causing stampede in which people are either injured or killed is certainly not our understanding of FREE SPEECH.
3. Isn’t it possible for our government to take action against the social media applications being used for this kind of totally wicked so-called political activism? How can they allow their channels to be used to terrorize the people of this country? It has happened in other countries. The government lost a lot of money on Tuesday. Families that live from hand to mouth are now in serious distress.
4. This country has been through a TEN YEAR civil war and any movement of troops traumatizes the people. The large-scale mobilization of police and soldiers and equipment in the last week or so has been very bad for the mental health of Sierra Leoneans. This behavior MUST STOP.
5. The people engaged in the business of causing trouble in Sierra Leone by means of social media are living in stable countries in the West. Those countries have their own legal system. We know that. But what if we reverse the situation so that we harbor their own people while they cause trouble in Amsterdam, London and Washington DC every three months? Anyway, journalism, they say, is the first draft of history.
WASTE MANAGEMENT WAHALA AT MILE 5, BO DISTRICT
We may soon have a violent confrontation between the two councils in the Bo – the district and the city councils and people along the road between Bo town and Valunia Chiefdom over those councils’ inability to properly manage garbage poured on that road. In the next few weeks, that road which is already one of the worst in this country will be completely blocked by garbage. The nearby community people are planning to do something about that.
It is not our business to teach those councils how to deal with their waste but we have to let them know that we are with the people in their struggle against incompetence. This is a story that will run over the next few weeks so we are watching and waiting.
LUMLEY PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL IS REAL GAME CHANGER
The people of the western part of Freetown received an early Christmas present the other day when Principal formally opened the Lumley Pediatric hospital. The Japanese government paid for the building and all the state-of-the-art equipment in the building. It’s a fantastic place.
The pressure on the Ola During hospital in the east side of Freetown has been lifted in a significant way. Many Sierra Leoneans who saw a few pictures of this hospital on social media praised the Japanese government for providing the cash and the government of Sierra Leone for seeing the project through.
From our little corner, we have a few points to make as the facility starts receiving patients.
1. We have to make sure that all the equipment in that building are well maintained and they must stay in that building, properly accounted for at all times. We don’t want to see them in certain private clinics or with Belgium Sellers. Please.
2. Health workers there should not introduce unapproved user fees. We know what obtains in other government facilities where people pay a lot of money for this and that and get no receipts.
3. Please, we don’t want to hear about any expensive rehabilitation work on that hospital for at least TEN years. That means we have to keep the place clean, repair faulty taps and toilet seats quickly. If we mess up that place, the Japanese will write a whole book on how donor money makes little sense in Sierra Leone
4. We are not doing badly on the maternal mortality index but this hospital represents another massive opportunity to drastically bring the figure down in the short run.
5. Finally, let’s complete the job by removing all those shacks in the vicinity of the hospital. We have to do that now. Let’s not wait for the Freetown City Council; they will NEVER get to Lumley.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (21/06/24)
