FREETOWN LOCKED DOWN AGAIN IN COVID FIGHT
Those of us living in Freetown are behind enemy lines again. The enemy is COVID 19 and we have been told not to travel out of this chaotic city to visit any area beyond Waterloo for the next TWO WEEKS and that even in an emergency we must have a test to prove we are free of COVID 19. We don’t know who pays for such test.
The body leading the fight against COVID 19 in this country, NaCOVERC has also announced a number of other measures going into force TODAY. We have no choice but to encourage our readers to join us in cooperating fully with our leaders to fight and defeat this virus that is claiming lives all over the world. We call on our readers to stay home as much as possible, mask up in public places and avoid crowds. Remember to obey the curfew. We are not the only country taking such measures to fight COVID 19. Other countries have unbelievably harsh measures. The world says we are doing extremely well in this fight. Let’s keep it so. We have no idea when any vaccine will show up here.
MORE THAN 400 TRACTORS ARE HERE FOR AGRICULTURE BUT WHAT NEXT?
We appear to be building up to what looks like the most decisive push towards a revolution in agriculture in the country with the ultimate objective of feeding ourselves. We don’t even want to mention the amount of money we spend importing mainly rice to this country. It’s a disgrace. We are busy creating jobs in other countries while feeding ourselves with substandard rice.
When we saw Principal inspecting more than 400 tractors and a large amount of other agricultural equipment we were encouraged to believe that with good seeds, fertilizers and superb organization we should be self-sufficient in good before long. Sometimes it’s good to be optimistic even where there is reason to adopt a WAIT AND SEE ATTITUDE.
Somebody told us on social media not to go into overdrive about the possibility of Sierra Leone finally getting it right with agriculture because in Joseph Momoh days he announced a so-called GREEN REVOLUTION but like many things the late president did, it was a monumental disaster. He bought many vehicles for government officials sitting in Youyi Building and corruption destroyed the initiative with the fun-loving and tok tok president sleeping all the time. He lost control of his agriculture revolution project and by the time he was chased out of power, Sierra Leone was far hungrier than when he was brought to State House by Siaka Stevens.
We believe that times have changed and despite Principal being a soldier like Joseph Momoh, they are completely different characters when it comes to statecraft. Be that as it may, we must make the following points.
1. We have heard about the Rhombe Swamp project with millions of dollars pumped in, we have heard about Tormabum and Kambia and we have heard about the new SEED AGENCY. Now there is no excuse not to flood our market with local food by the end of 2021.
2. We want a clear plan showing how the tractors and other tools will be deployed for use across the productive areas of the country. Let the plan be fair and transparent. We don’t want to see tractors parked in the compounds of any big man. Put them to work.
3. Please involve local people and empower them to monitor things including the allocation of funds. The last thing we want is for that Joseph Momoh picture to re-appear in 2021. We are watching.
SLRSA AND POLICE MUST ACT NOW TO REDUCE ACCIDENTS
Figures of deaths and injuries on our roads during 2020 are grim. Simply put, we are losing too many souls on our roads and the situation is unacceptable.
We now raise the following points for the SLRSA and the SL Police to seriously consider. We don’t believe these are new issues but we want to be satisfied that at the start of 2021 we did register these concerns in the hope that those who should do something about the ever-increasing number of road accidents on our roads actually did something. Accidents are facts of life but surely we can minimize them and save many lives.
1. SLRSA must ensure that only those vehicles that pass a fitness test are allowed on the roads. There should be no compromise about that. There will be a lot of complaints in the beginning but people will come round to the idea that you really mean well.
2. In the same breadth we should say that all drivers must pass a proper test before getting licenses to go on our roads. Let’s not fool ourselves it is all over the place that there are rogue elements operating within the SLRSA who facilitate the process for people without subjecting them to the necessary tests. That must stop.
3. Police highway patrols should be stepped up. They should be very professional in all they do on those roads. That includes checking for contraband, the number of people on all vehicles and the weight of their luggage in relation of the approved weight set out by the manufacturers. Being professional means not collecting pennies from drivers and turning a blind eye to those dangers on our roads.
ANY DISQUALIFICATION OF CANDIDATES WILL DESTROY FOOTBALL
Queen Johansen and her Electoral bodies are busy looking all over the place for reasons to disqualify the most credible candidates in the SLFA elections. We have NEVER seen an electoral system that spends more time finding reasons to disqualify candidates than to facilitate their participation. Well, probably we should mention BELARUS as a good example. Left with these bodies put in place by Queen Johansen to serve her purpose, they want to throw all the other candidates out of the race, declare Queen Johansen the president, collect their fees and go home. They want to produce a carbon copy of 2013. We warn them it will NOT HAPPEN THIS TIME.
For SEVEN years the Queen Johansen RULED the SLFA like her personal property. There are many accountability questions that some brave members of the SLFA have been seeking answers to but their own secretariat has always dismissed them – sometimes with contempt. Holding congresses to approve budgets and track other administrative matters was few and far between. On the few occasions congresses were held, the Queen had to be dragged kicking and screaming to attend and fully account to her own members. In fact, critical voices were always excluded and replaced with praise singers who have come to rely on little handouts from the Queen.
We have it on good authority that the Queen and her operatives are working hard to have particularly RODNEY MICHAEL disqualified. She doesn’t want to meet MICHAEL at the ballot box. She succeeded in 2013 but we have bad news for her this year – MICHAEL will be on the ballot. The world knows he is a good candidate so no manipulation and lies, like the one told to our parliament a few years back will get him out. A champion boxer MUST go into the ring, take some punches and eventually defeat an opponent. The SLFA title will not be secured in 2021 by disqualifying the main challenger and even those candidates with zero chance in hell to win. Totally impossible!
From the outset people complained about the neutrality of people ruthlessly selected to serve in the so-called judicial bodies and unless they can now prove to us that they have backbones strong enough to withstand pressure from a desperate Queen, they might as well resign and go home.
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