STABBINGS, ARMED ROBBERIES, AND PHYSICAL ASSAULTS – WHAT’S UP?
We are going to be very careful with this for legal reasons but, as Sierra Leoneans, we are free to raise concerns about what looks like a rise in stabbings, armed robberies and people generally assaulting others.
These days we see a lot on social media. Things that were done in remote places or in bedrooms in domestic settings are no longer private matters because somehow they end up on social media. But for legal constraints, we would have pushed really hard into at least two recent cases. We are still speaking to people and when that job is complete our findings will appear in the pages of this newspaper. That’s how we contribute to the maintenance of law and order in this country.
For now we bring these issues to the doorstep of the Sierra Leone Police. It is their job to keep us safe. We should go to bed with both eyes closed. We are still waiting to hear from them on the killing of our colleague Alusine Mansaray. The young man was killed by a thief who managed to drag him out of a moving Keke just to steal his phone. We will not rest until his killer is brought before a judge. Attacking people in Keke from the back of Okadas is now a common crime especially along Wilkinson road leading to Lumley. Is Fayia Sellu telling us he is not able to deal with that situation? Ordinary people are being distressed daily. What’s really going on?
We know that crime is part of life but when people begin to fear that they might be attacked on the streets or they will wake up in the dead of night to find armed robbers in their homes, it simply means that somebody somewhere is not doing their job. This is unacceptable.
MIXED BLESSINGS FOR SIERRA LEONE FROM SOUTHERN ARENA
This weekend Bo Rangers will be in action against San Pedro in Ivory Coast. It’s the second leg of the CAF championship competition. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw at the Southern Arena last weekend. After that and two hours from Abidjan by air East End Lions will meet AS C Jaraaf of Senegal. Both teams have a mountain to climb but the situation is made even more difficult for EE Lions because they lost at home. Bo Rangers came out with a draw against a team they ought to have demolished. The guys from the south of Sierra Leone now have a good idea how to approach the Ivorians. San Pedro is beatable. John Keister knows football, no doubt about that but from what we saw in the last 20 minutes of that match, he needs to take a good look at the players who started the match, his midfield and the purpose of his substitutions.
Substitutions are not merely done to give people playing time. This is not the time for that. Also, we are not asking him to disrespect his senior players but he should be able to look at some of them and tell them their legs are beginning to fail because of their age. All good coaches do that. We will hang it here for now and see what comes out of Ivory Coast.
So Bo town gained a lot from Babadie Kamara’s investment. Hotels were fully booked, restaurants worked overtime and night clubs were packed. The people of Bo are definitely praying for Bo Rangers and EE Lions to eliminate their opponents so that another football festival will come to Bo. There’s nothing wrong with that. We didn’t hear much about how criminals performed during that great weekend. We suppose that’s good news.
The story of Southern Arena teaches that we should always allow people to dream. If Babadie didn’t push hard for his dream to become a reality both teams would have had to go to Guinea, Liberia or even do the shameful thing of playing their opponents on their home grounds, home and away.
SLP SCORE OWN GOAL IN FAKE POLICE OFFICER SAGA
As it is nowadays, there’s a lot happening on social media. We woke up one to the picture of a young man in OSD uniform looking very badly shaken. He was in front of a police facility being questioned by at least three officers who were off camera. We could tell it was a police facility because we could see part of the building with some officers being told to hand in their weapons.
The fake policeman cooperated fully by answering all questions and in fact providing more information than was required. The guy was just the kind of suspect every police officer wants to have behind the counter – well, assuming he was telling the truth. Maybe he was merely saying things to get the officers off his back.
Now, here comes the unnecessary own goal. We could clearly hear two police officers arguing about the tribe of the fake police officer – one suggesting he was a MENDE man and the other shouting in the background that the guy was actually a THEMNE man. What was all that about? We need to make the following point:
1. In general, the interrogation process was chaotic. It was conducted out in the open with noise all over the place. Or was that just a crude interrogation to the formal process? The SLP can really do better.
2. We have witnessed police interrogation before and NEVER have we heard a question regarding TRIBE. A fake police officer is somebody trying to use the police uniform to commit crime. We have to keep tribes out of the process of bringing such people to justice.
3. The Inspector General of police MUST immediately put those officers responsible for such nonsense before the police disciplinary committee while keeping them on administrative leave.
HOUSES ARE COLLAPSING: LET’S ASK HARD QUESTIONS
Another house has collapsed in Freetown causing enormous damage. Lives were lost in the first incident in the hills around Freetown. When these things happen the first thing we do is help those in distress and pray for God to console them. Our hearts go out to those of our compatriots. Especially for those poor young souls that perished in the first incident.
The next step for us in the media is to try to ask those questions that are relevant – so relevant that people in authority that can help stop such tragedies will do something. Let’s begin:
1. Did the Country Planning ministry actually approve building permits for the two houses that have collapsed recently? The ministry ought not to have waited for us to ask this question, weeks after the first incident occurred.
2. So let’s assume permits were approved, did the house owners follow in detail the plan they submitted to the ministry? Is it normal practice for the ministry to inspect buildings after the permit is granted?
3. How about the contractors doing the actual building, are they qualified? In both cases, did they use the materials the house owners paid for? Is it a case of sub-standard materials used to construct the building?
4. Is anybody in custody now following both incidents? Are we back to the normal Sierra Leone way in which criminal negligence is taken as an act of God that humans should not try to investigate?
Copyright © 2024 Politico (21/08/24)
