PUNISHING TRAFFIC JAM AT HILL STATION
Over the last few days rush hour traffic between Hill Cot road junction and Limkokwing University has been crazy. Very crazy indeed! The other day we spent more than ONE HOUR to make our way through that stretch. We noticed that the construction company, Gento Group has returned to clean up the mess they created in the name of road construction between the Old School area and the big new shopping center just before Limkokwing.
We thank the authorities for finally acting on something we’ve been writing about since the days of King Messi. Within a few years of constructing the road, the area under consideration now went so bad that driving on it was almost like doing a mini version on the rugged terrain of the Paris – Dakar Rally. We are happy that something is being done about it. The point we really want to make now is that surely there is a better way of organizing rush hour traffic on that busy road to make it less painful for commuters rushing to work in the morning or going home to beat COVID – 19 orders.
The lesson from all of this is that people must do their jobs in the interest of the good people of Sierra Leone at all times. Gento didn’t do the job well at the time but we are quite sure SLRA engineers were on hand to clear his work as good value for our money. Shouldn’t they resign right now?
By the way, we call on IG Sovula to deploy a good number of police officers on that road while this job progresses to stop some drivers from mixing up the traffic further from both sides of the dual carriage way. In fact that’s the major problem particularly in the evenings. We want Gento Group to complete this job within the shortest possible time and let this be the last time the people are put through all this suffering because the SLRA failed to do proper monitoring.
RACISM IN SLFA ELECTIONS ONCE AGAIN: WHERE IS FIFA?
Just when we thought the fight for the leadership of the SLFA couldn’t get any nastier, came a barrage of social media posts making racist comments about the main challenger to Queen Johansen in the coming elections, RODNEY MICHAEL. Let’s make a few things clear: Michael and his supporters are definitely not responsible for the posts, we believe supporters of Queen Johansen are behind this maybe without her approval.
We don’t believe she can do such a thing and that explains why we are a bit surprised that the SLFA has not issued a statement condemning the posts and asking all involved to desist immediately.
We are also concerned that according to a document we saw in the last 24 hours, some candidate opposing MICHAEL’s bid for the presidency have filed papers with the electoral bodies arguing that MICHAEL is a foreigner and should be disqualified on that ground and his so-called links to a betting company. We are waiting to see how the committees respond. We will make detailed comments on the issues after that.
In 2013 it was official government policy – actively canvassed by Pope Paul the sports minister at the time that MICHAEL was a WHITE SIERRA LEONEAN and QUEEN JOHANSEN was a BLACK SIERRA LEONEAN and for that reason the latter MUST be the president of the SLFA. The last administration made no secret of that. The 2013 election was rigged inside out in favor of Johansen apparently to support that BLACK SIERRA LEONEAN thing.
We serve notice that this time we will resist any attempt to rig the election on 27th February. We want a clean contest. The electoral bodies SHOULD NEVER disqualify credible candidates on such flimsy grounds just to clear the way for Queen Johansen to remain in office.
END CORRUPTION AT SLRTC BUS TERMINAL IN FREETOWN NOW.
We were hoping the SLRTC will say something to the public or at least take steps to end the suffering of their passengers at the main terminal in Freetown but they have remained in their reclusive mode hoping and praying that we will drop this issue. We want to disappoint SLRTC this time because we will keep pushing this till the cows come home. SLRTC workers at the main bus terminal at Wallace Johnson Street have not changed in FORTY YEARS and it seems to us that their bosses in the east of the city are either unaware of the corruption taking place at the terminal (WE DOUBT THAT VERY MUCH) or are complicit in what their people are doing to ordinary Sierra Leonean commuters going about their normal business between Freetown and poor rural communities.
The good people of Sierra Leone always turn up very early at the terminal to buy their tickets to travel. They stand in suffocating queues for hours before the SLRTC staff stroll in lazily for work. For a 54-seater bus on a typical journey, they sell just TEN tickets and then close the window. How can a passenger standing in the NUMBER ELEVEN spot in that queue not get a ticket on a bus that takes FIFTY people or so? The disappointed travellers will then be forced to buy at black market rate from street boys who have made the terminal their home unchallenged.
SLRTC workers at that terminal cooperate with those boys and almost certainly share in the proceeds of that criminal enterprise. Otherwise, where do they get the tickets that people stand in the queue for? And how come one shabby looking boy is able to buy about FIVE tickets? We have experienced that in person within the last three weeks.
The big people at SLRTC headquarters can continue burying their heads in the sand in their air-conditioned offices in the east, drinking coffee while ordinary Sierra Leoneans suffer such brazen corruption at their main terminal in Freetown and at other terminals in the provinces.
Apart from this open corruption, the terminal itself is badly in need of upgrade – the toilet is very bad, criminals invade the place and distress people at the slightest opportunity and there’s no proper sitting area for the large crowds that use the terminal.
We understand the SLRTC boss is one of the many diasporans who are now holding big positions in this country. He is from London. Can he just give us something that looks like Paddington station at our ONLY bust terminal in Freetown?
YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI REMAINS IN STATE HOUSE
Bobbi Wine has been very brave in his bid to remove Kaguta Museveni from power but it was very clear that in the last elections he had absolutely no chance of beating Yoweri Museveni. We don’t even know how many times he has been arrested and locked up.
Old Museveni has fought off many opponents over the years. In fact some were more powerful than Bobbi Wine.
We want to re-state the reason why we argued in this column that Museveni would remain in State House.
1. The playing field has NEVER been level in Uganda. Opposition politicians are not allowed to campaign freely; they are frequently arrested on all kinds of fake charges, state media outlets unashamedly support the government and serve only the government.
2. The security forces are fiercely loyal to their former bush commander who ensures that the main commanders get what they want. They are corrupt and nobody dares question them. They violate human rights at will. As long as the old man remains in State House, it shall be well with them.
3. The international community that normally helps opposition parties assert their rights is in bed with Museveni. He is doing a lot for them in the Sudan, troubled Somalia and the Great Lakes. They will not risk that established friendship for Bobbi Wine who hasn’t said much about what he stands for.
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