AFRICA TRYING TO SORT OUT UKRAINE WHILE SUDAN BURNS
An intriguing piece of information came out of the home of Nelson Mandela the other day that we are still trying to process. The president of that country who was recently caught hiding millions of US dollars in a sofa on his farm, told the world he would soon lead a delegation comprising FIVE other African presidents to go to Moscow and Kiev to try to end Russia’s so-called Special Military Operation – what we know as the invasion of Ukraine. That statement came just after the most powerful country in the world accused Ramaphosa of supplying arms and ammunition to Russia, obviously to help Putin increase pressure on his neighbors. So what’s really going on?
We know that the war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the world economy with small countries like Sierra Leone paying a heavy price. There’s inflation, supply chain disruption and ever rising food and fuel prices. Any effort to end that war peacefully is a good idea but we have a few points to make with respect to this African initiative championed by South Africa.
1. We want Ramaphosa to categorically deny the accusation or accept that his country has shipped arms and ammunition off to Moscow to help Putin thus breaking his non-aligned posture or confirm that South Africa is no longer neutral in this conflict. We just want some clarity.
2. Macky Sall, the guy who is actively thinking about an undemocratic THIRD TERM in his country has stepped into that conflict already on behalf of Africa. What’s happening on that side of things? Embalo Sissoko of ECOWAS also traveled there. Are those efforts out of the way now?
3. Why has Ramaphosa not traveled to Sudan to end the needless killing and destruction taking place inside that country’s capital? Surely that conflict is closer to home and the ordinary people of Sudan are scattered all over the SEVEN countries bordering Sudan and barely surviving in horrible conditions. Ukrainian refugees on the other hand have been taken in by the most powerful countries of this world. In fact, Africans in Ukraine at the start of the conflict were discriminated against as everybody struggled to cross European borders.
4. Using this so-called peace initiative to reset your damaged relationship with the USA in particular and indeed the European allies of Ukraine is a wicked thing to do Mr. Ramaphosa.
5. We wish the delegation of African presidents all the best but please pass through Sudan on your way home. We MUST now end the suffering of the people of that country.
SLFA ETHICS BOARD SOMERSAULTS AGAIN
Thomas Daddy Brima, the president of the SLFA has no option now but to take the necessary steps right now to DISSOLVE this greedy and politically motivated so-called Ethics Board put in place by Queen of Sheeba before she was dragged kicking and screaming out of that secretariat building at Kingtom. The so-called Ethics board has just released a letter they wrote to Daddy Brima almost two weeks ago asking him to explain why he appeared alongside the country’s president at an event in Freetown. They accuse Brima of breaching ONE THOUSAND provisions of their regulations. They want him to explain his action in writing and be ready for face-to-face courtroom- style questioning, with the possibility of a suspension or removal from office.
We will surely dedicate a lot of time to this so-called Ethics Board in the coming weeks but for today we want to tell Daddy Brima that he has wasted a lot of time trying to be loyal to Queen of Sheeba because of the role she played to bring him to office. This is something we would have understood if Queen did it out of genuine belief that Daddy was a better person for Sierra Leone football compared to the other candidates, particularly Rodney Michael. Her real mission has always been to stop Michael and all those associated with him. That’s why she turned to Brima. The SLFA president knows this but for more than a year in office now, he has been strenuously fighting to maintain all the structures put in place by the Queen to satisfy her. Those structures and personnel were put there to prepare her possible inglorious return. We are patiently waiting for that attempt. Is she not qualified for any other job?
The last time this so-called Ethics Board misfired by attempting to remove the General Secretary because he didn’t provide money for them to do some work. Now they’ve crossed a crucial line by attempting to remove the president from office on totally bogus grounds. They want to selectively apply the code in respect of Daddy Brima while their political allies are neck deep in whatever allegations they are making against the president. Does it have to take a newspaper to point that out?
What has the Ethics Board done about those football administrators that have suffered for years under wicked match-fixing lies brought against them by Queen? Is that not a serious issue enough for this political board to address?
We urge Brima to call the SLFA congress now and end the fake mandate of this board and then proceed to clean up the entire place of the last vestiges of Queen otherwise he will be out of office before Christmas 2023.
SALONE CLUB OWNERS ALWAYS ON TECHNICAL BENCH
Can somebody please tell us why owners of football clubs in Sierra Leone who are not listed as coaches are always on the technical bench trying to influence tactics, selections and substitutions? This is true for ALL CLUBS and we think it is wrong and must stop right now.
We don’t want to start naming people at this stage but what’s the point of employing appropriately qualified coaches, coaches certified by the SLFA only to relegate them to the back house with the club owners serving as the real coaches. In the end when the team fails to get the desired results they are the ones sacked on social media by the very owners who normally cause all the problems.
One more point, the very presence of these owners on technical benches is a direct recipe for violence – indeed some have received more red cards than their players. How can anybody convince reasonable people that we are in a normal situation? Most times these people tell us they are so involved because they spend their cash to keep those clubs running. Well, in the context of harsh economic realities, we appreciate their commitment but going by the international best practice they always talk about when it comes to officiating and other aspects of the game, we think they are really putting themselves in an offside position.
If these guys were the owners of Chelsea, Manchester City or PSG we suspect they would become referees when their teams take to the field considering the amount of money in those clubs.
We believe they should take their privileged positions in the stands and allow their managers to do the job they were appointed to do. They should stop putting pressure on their players and match officials. No amount of investment in the game justifies the actions of a club owner that is constantly in trouble for confronting match officials over every on-field decisions.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (22/05/23)
