LIKE SALONE PARLIAMENT LIKE SOUTH AFRICA PARLIAMENT
We are beginning to get used to this idea that fights could break out at any time over any little thing in our parliament. It’s sad to say this but that is what it is. As ordinary Sierra Leoneans we have to obey all the laws passed in that house so we MUST also now live with the fact that from time to time our MPs would throw punches at each other right before the headlamps on national publicity. They just don’t give a damn. Sorry!
Since the start of this parliament, the Inspector General of Police has had cause to deploy his people THREE times to restore law and order to the place where the nation’s laws are made. They make laws to regulate PUBLIC ORDER and they cause the police to enter our sacred house to evict them to prevent them from disrupting the peace. How can anybody explain this?
We don’t want to discuss whether the PR system is good or bad because we have already done that in this space and no matter how strongly people may feel about it or the procedure used to re-introduce it, violence should NEVER be the way to express that position.
Let’s just make a few more points:
1. We know parliament as a place where people debate issues, a place where powerful verbal exchanges take place, a place where votes are cast and winners are declared. The idea that people can throw punches all the time in parliament is disgraceful and we condemn it in the strongest terms.
2. We call on the Parliamentary Commission to tell us whether any of our properties were damaged during that period of madness. We are asking about our computers, chairs and tables. We want MPs to be held accountable for any damage to our properties in that HOUSE.
3. If this is the way the legislative process works, why can’t we just join those boys at PARADE GROUNDS?
FSSG AREA CLEARED AT LAST BUT FOR HOW LONG?
The area just outside the FSSG wall on the Hannah Benka-Coker Street end looks a little fresh now after police moved in and cleared the place of petty traders, keke boys, cesspit vehicles and cookery sellers. The place was a complete mess.
In this space we have complained many times about the implications of allowing that situation to persist all these years so close to one of our prominent schools for young girls. We urged the SMILING MAYOR of Freetown to do something about that but as somebody who thinks only in terms of being re-elected she pretended life was normal and Politico was out to make mischief. We are not even sure she had a hand in what happened three days ago. She is always quick to go on social media to tell the world she had no hand in such actions. We are waiting for her to repeat that trick as always.
All we can hope for now is that the FCC and the FSSG will not take steps to make sure those people don’t return because this is the way things happen in Salone. It’s not for us to tell them what to do or how to do it but we are sure those people would gradually return to base unless something is done to put that possibility beyond them.
CHRISTMAS SALES OPEN IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Forget the corporate language they are using to dress up the situation, Liverpool and Manchester United are up for sale. Please when you go shopping for Christmas remember to keep some money in your piggy bank so that you are able to buy some shares in those two clubs.
When CR7 gave that interview to Piers Morgan, he was actually aiming at the Glazers. That thing about not having respect for Ten Hag is a peripheral issue. In other words the manager is collateral damage. The fire was aimed at the Glazers. A player who feels disrespected by his manager would have nothing to say about bathrooms, gyms, kitchen and this and that. CR7 actually told the world that for 17 years under the Glazers, Manchester United made zero progress.
There are many people who support CR7. They’ve been looking for a powerful voice to say these things for a long time now and we suspect they are in their rooms now dancing and looking forward to new owners. We’ll see how this plays out in the coming year.
As for Liverpool, they look like a team in some decline on the pitch. They are like an old boxer refusing to retire. All young boxers have studied how he throws his punches and have mastered the skills to stop him. Liverpool still has great players but they are definitely in decline. The owners want to sell and go off into the sunshine to enjoy their profits. Why not?
COVERING YOUR MOUTHS AND LOSING TO SMALL BOYS: LONG LIVE GERMANY
When the mighty German football team took to the field on Tuesday to play Japan many thought this was just another day in the office for a team that does very well all the time in international football. Well it wasn’t. When it was time to sing their national anthem, Das Deutcchlandied, the players put their hands over their mouths to demonstrate that FIFA has gagged them from speaking out about Human Rights violations in Qatar. This was very interesting indeed.
We were told in this part of the world that FIFA was totally against the football field being used to make political statements. There are examples of players being cautioned on the field for scoring goals and exposing politically loaded statements on their shirts for the world media to transmit. So why are people surprised that FIFA is sticking to its guns on this issue?
We have no problem with people calling out the state of Qatar for it’d alleged inhuman treatment of migrant workers who helped build the infrastructure that made the World Cup possible but if we now allowed teams and individual players and whole teams to bring all sorts of protests to Qatar, we would open the floodgate to thinks like African teams complaining about rotten frozen chicken from Brazil and multinational mining companies stealing the wealth of Africa. There might even a protest about SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM even if our teams fail to get out of the group stage.
We clearly understand why FIFA is acting against this. Anyway, Japan defeated Germany in what many call the biggest shock so far. We’ll see what next the Germans do with their protest and the football.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (25/11/22)
