60 YEARS OLD NOW: LET’S CONGRATULATE OURSELVES
We have not always agreed on many things but there is no disagreement about the fact that we are all Sierra Leoneans and we deeply love this country. Many of our brothers and sisters have taken passports in other countries and are doing well there but scratch the surface a little and you will see Sierra Leone right there.
Many complain about their socio-economic circumstances and all that to the extent that they think independence is meaningless. We understand where they are coming from but we believe that there is a lot to celebrate even in very difficult economic conditions.
1. We have come through a brutal civil war lasting more than a decade but we managed to pull our country from of brink of it being classified as a FAILED STATE, a kind of Somalia in the western half of Africa
2. Yes, we argue about different issues but we are at peace with our neighbors and our people are respected within ECOWAS.
3. Our country is peaceful. We can travel without unnecessary restriction throughout the territory. Criminals are at work like in any other country but this is a peaceful country.
4. There is hope that our circumstances will change no matter how gradually that takes place and how painful it might be. That HOPE keeps us going. God bless Sierra Leone.
5. We truly appreciate the coming of ECOWAS leaders to this country to celebrate with us. It’s a good statement of their love for the people of Sierra Leone. May the lord bless them and the people of the countries represented at our program. Long Live ECOWAS! Long live Sierra Leone!
SLFA FAILS WITH CAF APPEAL AGAINST BENIN
Somehow, very few Sierra Leoneans believed that CAF would punish Benin for embarrassing themselves here in Sierra Leone because they had already taken a hasty, ill-informed and biased decision to re-schedule the CAF qualifier for June this year. All they have now done is to cover their shame by confirming that decision. There is NO fairness in CAF. We shouldn’t expect any because the senior rogues are sitting in FIFA.
We thank the SLFA for putting in the challenge at least, they probably had no choice. At this point we ask them, on behalf of the good people of Sierra Leone not to take the bait of proceeding to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS. It will be a waste of money and time. Let us spend the little money we have preparing our team for the match in June. We will beat Benin right here in Freetown and qualify.
GENTO GROUP BACK AT HILL STATION
Well done Gento Group. We notice that you have finally returned to Hill Station to complete the one-mile road you were supposed to have completed months ago. We have had to fill several column inches with critical comments about the way you people did that job in the first place but you have just given commuters a small independence present. Well done. Just to announce that we will be checking the current job with the help of some experts. We will be back.
So many road contractors have told Bayuku of Koinadugu that they will be giving the long-suffering people of Sierra Leone a Christmas present by completing all their road projects. All we can say for now is that we have heard the statement; we will now match them with action on the ground.
MENTALLY-CHALLENGED PEOPLE ON OUR STREETS – WHO CARES?
We sympathize with families that have to go through the pain of seeing their loved ones suffer serious mental health problems. No one would want that to happen to a relative or friend but mental health issues are part of man’s life since creation. Conventionally acceptable normal behavior and appearances are replaced by very unpleasant traits as the disease eats up a sufferer. Many such people could be seen in streets in our major cities and towns. Their often pathetic state has attracted sympathetic attention and revulsion that nothing is being done to get them off the streets to house them at the Kissy Psychiatric hospital, the only separate facility in the country that is providing care for mental patients in the country.
Many years ago, specially trained people would be seen along the main streets of Freetown taking roaming mentally-challenged Sierra Leoneans to the Kissy Mental Home as the place was called then. By so doing, the threat they posed to public safety and their often embarrassing appearances are removed. But now no one seems to care.
Three years ago, a mentally-challenged man called soldier went into a house around Berwick Street and stabbed a woman to death. The fellow was found hours later sleeping soundly at his brother’s house.
Principal recently formally opened the impressive looking Kissy Psychiatry Hospital but what is the relevance having such a hospital when majority of those who should be having treatment there are all over the place.
We need to employ people that can go out and bring these people to the magnificent facility where they can be given proper care. No one would like to see their relatives suffering like that in the full glare of the public.
SOVULA WHERE ARE THE OLD POLICE RANKS YOU PROMISED?
From the look of things a significant section of the police force is happy with the proposal by IG Sovula to reorganize the ranks in the SLP to the way it was before Keith Biddle landed here from the UK under that Commonwealth Project to create what we now call a FORCE FOR GOOD. It would appear as if when Sovula recently addressed OSD officers he absolutely touched some very important issues to the satisfaction of his people.
Sovula still needs approval from the Police Council and Parliament to be home and dry. We wish him and his people all the best. However, as ordinary citizens of this good country, we have waited for more briefing or action on those proposals in the hope that service conditions will improve including promotions and compensation.
We own the police and we want the best for them at all times so anything done to make them happy with their job is in our very best interest.
1. Let’s be very careful in recruiting certain people into the police force. We have seen some people in the OSD in particular who we believe should be shown the door for the bad behavior we know them for. We are not convinced they’ve changed at all.
2. IG Sovula, please do something about the living quarters of your people. All of that should be part of the comprehensive welfare package we expect you to put before parliament.
3. We want IG Sovula to encourage his people to continue to seek higher education and training. We want a professional police force serving the nation. Don’t sack people because they proceed to college.
4. IG Sovula, quickly kick out those that fall foul of the law and shame them publicly. Our patience is running out over persistent reports of bad behavior among some of your people.
ROGUE WATERLOO BUS DRIVERS FLEECE PASSENGERS
People traveling along the Waterloo – Freetown route go through hell every day because of the actions of very corrupt bus drivers. And these men conduct themselves in a way as if they are a law onto themselves. No questioning, no arrest by the police. The reckless act by the drivers is done during morning and evening rush hour. Seeing the teeming crowd of commuters in the morning in Waterloo they would say their final stop is Ferry Junction. The limited availability of commercial vehicles forces the commuters to board though in reality their normal and authorized point of disembarkation is Bombay Street in the business district of the city.
They are constrained to pay for the Ferry junction journey in desperation and immediately they leave the vehicle, the bus driver or apprentice would call out again that they would be going to Bombay Street or East End Police Station. Those who can afford the extra fare would jump onboard with others opting to walk the rest of the way into the city.
In the evening, the same Waterloo drivers pick up passengers from Cottage around the same Bombay Street and present Jui junction as their final destination. They again collect fares and the passengers disembark but just about then again, they call out that they would be going to Waterloo. The passengers would then board once more, for what is another fare. So in reality, passengers spend twice or even more daily, than what is the legitimate fare authorized by the Transport Ministry. The traffic division of the police knows that what the bus drivers are doing is illegal. But why can’t the police get these crooks arrested and punished? In this period of COVID-19 and its harsh economic conditions, the people commuting must not be fleeced by such a bunch of rogue bus drivers.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 28/04/21)
