PRIGOZHIN: INSIDER, FIGHTER, REBEL, DEAD MAN
Mr. Yevegeny Prigozhin is lying cold in some morgue in Russia today. Nine other people, his close aides mostly, are also in the same situation. On Thursday this week their plane crashed on a flight from Moscow to the great city of St. Petersburg. Our hearts go out to the families of all those killed in that crash. Our readers are probably wondering why we should be so interested in a Russian guy who dies in a plane crash in his country so far away from us. And in fact, there is not even a Russian embassy in Freetown these days. We get that but there are a few reasons why we should care:
1. This guy was the leader of a ruthless mercenary outfit that has a strong foothold in Central Africa and most likely in the East. His Wagner Group is also active in West Africa, in at least two countries near the Sahel. Wagner is also threatening to extend their influence to other parts of Africa with the clear intention to undermine democracy and Sierra Leone is in West Africa. This is a mercenary outfit that has been accused of committing gross Human Rights abuses. That’s why we are interested
2. How would the death of the leader of such a group impact his forces on the ground in Africa? He was Vladimir Putin’s right hand man. His troops took part in some of the fiercest battles of the so-called Special Military Operation in Ukraine and with the conspiracy theories now surrounding his death, would Putin continue supporting Wagner? Or are they too dangerous to disintegrate and fail?
3. We also learn this lesson: never challenge your boss or try to undo them. What was Prigozhin thinking when he marched his troops to within 200 kilometers of Moscow in defiance of Putin?
4. What really happened to that plane? Shot down by Putin, Zelensky, Prigozhin committed suicide or a catastrophic mechanical failure? The investigation is on.
IS THE GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE OFFICE STILL ON?
We know John Tambi has been sacked but is the infrastructure office still operating? If the office is still there, then who is the new boss or is that one of the offices on offer right now? We also know that there is a new structure called presidential initiatives but as far as we know it’s around three ministries – Agriculture, Energy and the Environment.
Dr. Tambi never picked our calls to clarify things. In fact we hit a mighty stonewall even when we tried to see him at his office more than once but we had a good time watching his 3D impressions of what our city would look like if we decided to dedicate our whole budget to his projects.
We don’t know Dr. Tambi is still around because we still have unanswered questions around the Summa Group agreement that landed us a new airport and a number of other projects he had designed. Please tell us who the next Dr. Tambi is so we can drill into these issues. If the infrastructure office has been closed down please let us know so we can go to those now taking over that responsibility.
NO LIFT AT YOUYI BUILDING: WHAT’S GOING ON?
Please let’s not wait for Chinese engineers to come to this country to repair the lifts at Youyi Building. We cannot overemphasize the importance of that building which houses several ministries, departments and agencies of government. We have witnessed how people struggle on a daily basis to access their offices, especially those beyond the third floor. It’s so serious that some ministers have taken some of their activities to other places.
How did we allow all the lifts in that building to go down without alerting those responsible to the consequences? We have seen Chinese workers there repairing that lift in the past just like they are doing to the stadium. Why should we allow that to happen?
There are workers in that Youyi Building who, even in normal times, would find excuses to stay away from work. Here’s a perfect one delivered on a silver platter. We are watching that situation closely.
DONALD TRUMP TO APPEAR IN COURT AGAIN
We spend hours and hours every evening watching CNN, MSNBC and other TV channels we can find, watching Donald Trump, former US president face the legal music in courts across that vast country. We are learning a lot from what we see and hear on some of the most powerful TV stations around the world. Donald Trump is putting a brave face to things but he is very worried about his political career and crucially, about the real possibility of him spending time in jail.
We enjoy US politics – the quality of the debates, the fact that politicians are always willing to put country before party but we also know that there is a dark side that is not different from what we experience in countries in other parts of the world.
Donald Trump is the leading contender for the Democratic Party ticket in the 2024 elections. Despite all his legal troubles his party members are sticking with him and unless he is stopped by an act of God, he looks almost sure to be challenging Joe Biden. Well we cannot say for sure that Biden will lead his own party. Things are still unfolding. So why are we interested in bringing the Trump issue here?
1. Should we take Trump seriously when he says the US Department of Justice has been weaponized against him? We don’t want to, but down here we get easily accused of politically motivated trials to deny opponents an opportunity to fight for power. Can we now say the same for the most powerful country in the world?
2. Maybe we should call for a political DIALOGUE to end all trials in the belief that Democrats, Republicans and independents would all live together happily ever after in the new USA. It sounds Utopian but we’ve been asked to try and get to the PROMISE LAND.
3. Like Sierra Leone, Trump has been disputing the election that brought Biden to power all the time. Some of his people who did that January 6 thing are in jail now and the country is gearing up for another election in the same toxic atmosphere. The difference is the Republicans are helping to run the government. Here Orsamu says they should all stay away until he is crowned the Lord of all.
Copyright (2023) Politico (25/08/23)
