QUEEN OF SHEBA TAKES TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO TALK ABOUT POTHOLES
Queen of Sheba was back on social media in the last 48 hours talking about potholes on the road to Makeni, the headquarter town of Bombali district in the north of Sierra Leone. King Messi is based there and in his days at the State House, the city was known as the SEAT of POWER.
Apparently, the Queen was up that road on one of her many assignments and she didn’t get a good ride because it was bumpy along some sections of the road. Back home in Freetown, our Queen took to social media to complain about that and to call on the agencies of government charged with the responsibility to deal with potholes to act fast.
On behalf of our readers we want to say we feel sorry about our Queen going through such an ordeal on that road and we hope she is fine after the experience. Anyway the Queen looked good and beautiful as always and those who shot the video did a good job with the framing in general but as good citizens of this land that we love we have a few things to say about the social media post for the attention of our Queen.
1. We know our Queen likes to shake things up on social media – not just doing the buga dance or singing her own songs but dealing with very hard political topics. However, we are at a loss as to why she didn’t ask her staff to assemble the heads of all those agencies she named at her office for serious conversation on those potholes? Did she have to do it on social media?
2. Is it that Bayuku of Koinadugu, the Minister of Public Works and those agencies under his supervision had refused to see the Queen? This is very unlikely but we are only trying to understand why our Queen would choose to go on social media for something like that. Was this appearance a way of preparing us for some movement in personnel in the roads sector? Please be patient with us as we ask these questions.
3. Could it be that with June 2023 in mind our Queen was making a move for the hearts and minds of swing voters in the north? From reactions we have monitored since the video was released many of those on target in that regard are not amused.
4. Anyway, in the same mood, we want to invite our Queen to visit the following places in the middle of FREETOWN and see the situation. This is worse than the potholes on Makeni road – The whole of STEWARD STREET, the lower part of EDWARDS STREET and the whole of ELIZABETH STREET. Long live our Queen!
IG SOVULA AND THE SUSPICIOUS CARGO CONTAINER
So after all the noise around a so-called suspicious cargo container hurriedly taken out of the port in Freetown because, as alleged it possibly contained “arms and ammunition” and other types of “contraband” goods, we now know the container was packed with frozen chicken, fish and gizzard. IG Sovula assembled the country’s media at a police facility where the container had been kept to witness its opening and the painstaking check of its content. The checking process couldn’t be completed on the first day but it was clear there were no “arms and ammunition” or other “contraband” goods onboard.
So how did IG Sovula bring us to this situation of panic and suspicion?
1. The IG and his people acted on extremely POOR intelligence and caused so much embarrassment for many people including those who own the consignment. Those intelligence agents should be sacked immediately otherwise we will wake up one morning to news that Liberian troops were crossing over to Sierra Leone and IG Sovula preparing us for war.
2. By the way, how can we be sure that IG Sovula picked out the correct container that was identified by his intelligence sources? Let’s not rule out the possibility that in their rush to burst a major crime like that, Sovula’s men actually took away the wrong container. This is no cynicism, we are just looking at the other side of things.
3. We don’t know if anybody in the communications unit of the Force for Good is going to be transferred to Moyamba this time after all this because there was a huge gap between the moment the container was picked up and social media exploded with the issue and the time the police put out an official statement to say they had taken possession on the container. That communication gap was very dangerous. It provided space for speculation to thrive. Why can’t the SLP learn to stop being on the defensive all the time?
4. IG Sovula summoned the media and urged the journalists to be at the police mess at 10am. He arrived ONE HOUR LATE. Come IG, we are all very busy people.
WHAT DOES JFK REALLY THINK ABOUT OSAMU'S TRIBAL GAFFE?
From the look of things Orsamu believes his attack on the Mende people of this country was justified because he has not made any effort to walk back those comments. His campaign people have also remained quiet on the issue, deciding instead to snipe from the sidelines as they try to justify those comments.
There is also no lengthy press statement from COPP or those civil society groups that are hiding behind neutrality while actually aligning themselves with Orsamu and that other tribalist at FCC. We hear both will be on the Tolongbo ticket next year. There are interesting times ahead.
Anyway, following the many calls for condemnation and apology for that gaffe, JFK decided he wanted to appear as a statesman and win himself some applause from all those Sierra Leoneans who are clearly disgusted by what Orsamu did.
JFK then took to twitter and ended up tiptoeing around the issue, inviting fierce critical reaction that he probably didn’t expect. He wanted to be praised for daring to take the old man on. The guy just couldn’t bring himself to out rightly condemn what Orsamu said so he decided to spread things out a bit by saying: “The tribal slur in the politics of SL, is no new antics. Of recent vintage, is the ‘Terrorist’ and ‘Egregious’ labels, directed a people of Sierra Leone. Now again, we hear diatribe audios in a political space. Tribalism is condemned in form and practice & from anyone”.
What does JFK really take the people of this country for? The ‘Egregious’ and ‘Terrorist’ labels were directed at a political party that JFK would want us to believe is national in character - in other words all the tribes in this country are found in that party. The comment by Orsamu was directed at MENDE people. Why is it so difficult for our friend to see that difference? Or is he telling us that there is just ONE TRIBE in Tolongbo? Which one could that be?
In fact JFK refused to specifically name and shame Orsamu and call him out for condemnation. Come on brother, you can do better than this. Try again.
RETAKING BELLAIR PARK IS LONG OVERDUE
We are happy that the process of returning Bellair Park to its original state or bringing it to a better shape has begun. We’ve seen social media photos of minister Turad, the police and the big man in the judiciary taking a walk in the area and talking to obvious squatters. The quarters housing our judges are in poor shape and the squatters have crept up on them over the last FIFTEEN years. Today, Bellair Park is not fit to be the home of our judges. They are not even safe in such a place.
Minister Turad is a thoughtful, incorruptible guy and he means what he says. We believe he didn’t go to that place for a photo-op. He means business. We however want him to proceed slowly with this and make sure his own ground at Youyi building is clean. Here’s why:
1. He has to determine the authenticity of the documents that the squatters are definitely going to present to him to prove they acquired those properties legally. Some of those documents are signed by some of his officials. We don’t care whether they might have retired or not.
2. It is important not to hurriedly displace so many people at the height of what is clearly a vicious rainy season. There are other ways of getting people to quit government property.
3. Those mighty buildings that are clearly within the boundary of Bellair Park should be allowed to remain standing only if they pay annual lease fees to the judiciary at commercial rates.
4. Bellair Park should immediately cease to be a thoroughfare for the huge informal community in the neighborhood. That would send a clear message about the seriousness of the government on this issue.
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