SIERRA LEONE IS 59 YEARS OLD AS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY
The country is very quiet. On the 59th anniversary of our independence from Great Britain, the usual programs to mark the day are not taking place this year as the nation fights to defeat COVID 19. There is no lantern parade and all those parties for children and yes, the usual state banquet is off and what about the national honors list? By the look of things that too will be put on hold and we have no idea if Principal will free some prisoners on this occasion. By the time we finish the corona war, new national heroes will emerge. Well it doesn’t mean a special honors program cannot be organized for our health workers. So we can do it twice. Yes, we can.
People normally say we have nothing to show for all these years so we should not celebrate. Maybe they have a case but we want to highlight a few things we should never be ashamed to hold up to the light for the world to see as an independent nation.
1. At least we have managed to maintain our independence over 59 years. We may not have the best economy and infrastructure but we are occupying our seat in all international forums with our GREEN, WHITE and BLUE flag. We are a well behaved nation on the international scene, at peace with our neighbors.
2. We disagree a lot among ourselves, particularly when it comes to politics but we all dearly love this small country called SIERRA LEONE. Take partisan politics out of the average Sierra Leonean and you have the best human beings created by God.
3. We are among the most hospitable people in all of Africa. We have zero xenophobic violence in this country. We have experienced tremors here and there when triggered by certain spontaneous event – and they are few and far between but the organized ones we see particularly in South Africa and other place cannot happen in good old Sierra Leone. LAND THAT WE LOVE, OUR SIERRA LEONE.
SECOND ROUND OF INTER-DISTRICT LOCKDOWN BEGINS
So it’s now time for the second round of the inter-district lockdown. These are really tough times in Sierra Leone and the good people of this country are easily coping with harsh measures with an eye on the post corona period when the nation is expected to take off again with the New Direction agenda.
That agenda appears to have been blown off course a bit by this pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The press statement announcing the extension of the lockdown says it will be “indefinite” Now, that’s a little difficult to process considering the fact that all countries that have implemented such tactics have been very specific with time. Yes, they have had to extend it three or even four times but it has always been within a certain time frame. Why are we different? Even convicted criminals are told how many years they must spend in jail.
We also notice that the EOC is trying to find a better way to process papers for people requesting passes to travel around the country to deliver essential supplies. It looks cool when people are able to do it electronically but there are those who would still need to access it in hard copy. Have we done anything for them guys?
Freetown is the epicenter of this outbreak in Sierra Leone so traveling from Freetown for any reason should be the most difficult thing to do. Those little compromises here and there that we hear about should STOP. Look at what they call “Essential Supplies” that descended from the back of that vehicle in Bo the other day that the world saw on social media. That vehicle passed through all checkpoints on that long stretch. Come on IG Sovula!
And could you please tell us what’s happening on our borders? Things have gone really quiet especially on the Guinea flank. The last time police confiscated bundles of fake and expired drugs brought over by sea. Several weeks on, we have no idea what happened to that poisonous package and their owners. At the time, we argued that blocking our borders without making sure that rogue elements on the other side are not busy fixing things against us will come to nothing. We still hold that position.
ANTI- COVID 19 OPERATIONS ENTER SLFA SECRETARIAT
There is very little or no controversy over the decision of the queen of Sierra Leone Football to hand over parts of the SLFA secretariat to the people coordinating the fight against COVID 19 to use as an operational command center. Even her most ardent critics applauded this move. We saw some great pictures on social media of the queen mixing with ministers and some senior government officials on the day the building was inspected and the documents signed for operations to begin.
The queen doesn’t quite like the local media especially when she is not accessing them on her own terms. Critical journalists are routinely turned away from the secretariat and sometimes denied accreditation to SLFA-organized events, including football matches. Anyway, for now we join other people to congratulate the queen for making the place available for our national heroes at this crucial time.
In the post-corona period, we believe the queen should also open up the secretariat for purposes other than football administration. Here are some other purposes for which we believe the queen should make different parts of the secretariat complex available.
1. Secondary school pupils in that Kingtom general area need a lot of help with public exams like BECE and WASSCE. So the queen can allow them use those nice classrooms in the building to study at night when SLFA staff are gone. Great Idea!
2. There are many social clubs there too that should be allowed to hold their meetings in the same classrooms without paying a cent. We call that good neighborliness.
3. The academy compound can also become a glorified Okada garage. You see, there are many of these motorbikes plying the route between Kingtom Bridge and the police canteen area where the SLFA secretariat is located. Let’s just allow the owners to park their bikes there in safety every night.
4. All moonlight picnics organized by Sierra Leone Premier League clubs for Christmas 2020 should be held in the compound of the SLFA secretariat with no cost attached. This is a good way of supporting the clubs.
5. Why is it not possible for the Football Stakeholders to go into their own secretariat to hold meetings and plan programs for or against the queen? There is nothing wrong with that. They are members of the SLFA and they own that place.
MAYOR OF THE SUN MOVES TO CLEAR MESS ON KING JIMMY BRIDGE
At last the Mayor of the Sun has decided to do something about the raw sewerage flowing from the middle of King Jimmy Bridge. Why it took more than a year since that place became a national disgrace for the Mayor of the Sun to act is something we find extremely difficult to understand. And that’s not because nobody called her attention to it. WE DID.
Ordinary people passing by or doing business complained loudly all over the place but apparently their cries did not reach the madam. Or she decided to deal with other matters. Now, out of the blue and using her favorite media channel, we saw pictures of some work going on in the middle of King Jimmy Bridge. We hope they solve that problem for a long time to come.
Council officials told us during our numerous write ups on that situation that the company that constructed the bridge did an extremely poor job and was called back to deal with the raw sewerage flowing from it but the company ignored the call. So now we have a simple request to make as citizens of this great country: we want the Mayor of the Sun to publish on social media, the contract her predecessor Bababode signed with the company. That shouldn’t be a difficult thing and no portion of that document should be redacted. It belongs to the people of Sierra Leone.
King Jimmy Bridge is very important to us because when it collapsed and killed six people, according to official figures, King Messi and other member of his government stood over the ruins of that place and made big pronouncements about what the new bridge would look like and also about the homeless people killed in their shelter under that bridge. It was all political talk. Mayor of the Sun, please release that contract document. We deserve to see it. We hope we don’t have cause to make a formal request through the Right to Access Information Commission.
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