MANY BIG GUYS MISSING FROM RUSSIA-AFRICA SUMMIT
We are not here to do a roll call. We are here to simply say that Vladimir Putin is a disappointed man because many African leaders have stayed from his showpiece Russia-Africa summit. The strongman of Russia wanted to use this event to flex his muscles on the world stage and tell the West that besides them there are many other countries to deal with. Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West because of their so-called Special Military operation in Ukraine.
We make no claim to knowing the facts but Russia is accusing the USA in particular of telling African leaders to stay away from the summit. We leave that as it is but the Americans would surely deny this and tell the Russians that many African leaders stayed away either in direct protest over the so-called Special Military Operation in Ukraine or the simple fact that Russia doesn’t mean much to them in terms of modern economics and geo-politics.
Anyway we have a few comments to make from our little corner
1. Let’s even say the Americans told those African leaders who stayed away not to participate in the conference, can anyone blame them? How does anyone openly defy the world’s only SUPERPOWER and get away with it? Russia should be satisfied with the presence of diplomats from those African countries not represented by presidents, kings and queens.
2. We hope those countries that stayed away are not going to be left out of the GRAIN diplomacy that is at play at this summit. Russia should not expect small and fragile African states to put themselves in the line of American fire to please Putin.
3. Please Mr. Putin remember to consider the absentee countries when you begin to distribute cheap oil for the same reason. Even the Americans will not stop us from receiving FREE GRAINS and CHEAP OIL. We have to survive and Uncle Sam understands that language.
4. When all is said and done, the fact remains that the world will not be peaceful and prosperous as long as that war continues. Stop the war NOW.
SOMALI-STYLE MARITIME HIJACKING REACHES SIERRA LEONE
The people of Liberia are right to celebrate the fact that their coastguards boarded a hijacked Chinese fishing trawler and rescued the crew and cargo who were definitely going to be detained for ransom. The information from the Liberian side is that the vessel was hijacked from inside our territorial waters and pushed into Liberia where their coast guards fought their way into the trawler. Some of the hijackers reportedly fled while a few others were arrested.
The Liberians hail this as the result of solid cooperation among the states of the Mano River Union. That’s a great thing to say but why didn’t the Liberian side mention the presence of a French frigate along the coast at that time and the role it played in the whole Liberian coast guard operation. It’s always good to be rounded when we give such reports so as not to annoy those who would be useful in any other such emergency.
By the way, why has the Sierra Leone side been so quiet about this hijack? We are told the vessel was picked up from inside our territorial waters.
Somalia where hijackers made millions of dollars from brave hijacking of all types of vessels is now quiet. Our brothers along this Gulf of Guinea have entered the game and are beginning to gain their own notoriety. We don’t know how busy our shipping lanes are but we should never allow criminals to get a foothold in our backyard. This will seriously embarrass us, increase insurance premiums for ships coming down the west coast and subsequently the price of commodities on our streets.
We have a lot of problems on this side of West Africa. Let’s not throw hijacking into the mix.
A PRESS STATEMENT IS NOT ENOUGH TO FIGHT CYBERCRIME
The Force for Good has threatened to hit hard at people threatening the security of Sierra Leone using social media communication channels, especially Facebook and WhatsApp. The language of the statement is strong enough to scare people off such behavior but we have to tell the police that we have been here before. In other words we have seen a handful of other press statements warning people against doing things to plunge Sierra Leone into another civil war or damage the reputations of others.
The pattern is that there would always be a brief stop after a strong warning like this before the whole thing resumes with even more power and venom.
So while it’s a good idea to let people know about the consequences of their actions, the SLP will inevitably come under serious attack by the good people of Sierra Leone because they are almost certainly going to accuse the police of hypocrisy and behaving like toothless bulldogs. The SLP must now back up their press statements with action. Ordinary people need to see examples to convince them that the Force for Good means business. Let’s throw the following comments in for good measure.
1. The SLP management must not fool itself. They are dealing with a whole industry set up to continuously do the social media madness they are complaining about. So this is not the work of a few people hiding out in their basements and churning out so much hate speech.
2. The industry is reasonably well funded by people with deep pockets in Freetown and run by their mercenaries mostly based abroad. They are a sophisticated bunch driven by politics. They absolutely want to capture state power and for them the end justifies the means.
3. There is a small cottage industry back home that is dedicated to sharing such materials by means of WhatsApp to as many individuals and groups as possible. This industry also receives some money from the big man to do this. Very well respected community leaders including religious leaders are found in this category. How can anybody explain that?
4. The SLP should also be aware of the hypocrisy of the International Community. They have overwhelming evidence of raw violence on our streets leading to deaths, totally instigated by actors sitting in the safety of Europe, America and Australia but they classify them as activists seeking political asylum and all the rights that go with that status but say nothing about the responsibility.
Many Sierra Leoneans are tired of this international inertia. They are waiting for people to cause genocide here before they start setting up tribunals. Meanwhile they are journalists in international custody for what they did in Rwanda. Why is Sierra Leone different?
WELCOME TO THE PARKING LOT CALLED CAMPBELL STREET
Campbell Street on the west side of Freetown is one of the main arteries linking the west to the Central Business District. There is something disturbing along that road that we want to bring to light here. Campbell Street is now being used as a car and kekeh park.
In years past, the street was free of parked cars on both sides as a result pedestrians and motorists used the street and went about their business quietly without any hassle. The sidewalks were also for pedestrians and those on bicycles. There was enough space to walk without thinking about a car hitting you from the back.
Recently, Campbell Street has become a park for private as well as commercial vehicles. This act is greatly affecting the movement of people and vehicles. From Monday to Saturday the street is jam-packed with kekehs and cars on both sides of the street causing a lot of traffic considering the fact that this is a two-way road.
Is it right for such lawlessness to continue, considering how important that street is for citizens of the country? Something needs to be done so that the street will regain its lost purpose because Campbell Street is being misused.
As a consequence of such practices, one may be forced to think that the name of our capital city “Freetown” is affecting the actions of its people.
If our city is to be transformed then we need to ensure that what is right is done and we do not bend the rules to do the things we know are bad. Campbell Street should look and feel like it once was and Freetown needs a good transformation in order to attract visitors and make the citizens feel good about their city.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (28/07/23)
