OK, IT'S NOT TRUE, BUT WHAT IF FREETOWN WAS QUARANTINED?
Whether De Pa had invoked emergency powers or not, we would have had no problem with curtailing our civil liberties for 60-90 days to fight and defeat Ebola. By the grace of the Almighty, we are getting there. Fight on, De Pa, Fight on!
So we are not scared about all the rumour about Freetown being locked down for 21 days. In fact, let the thing go ahead right now. Really, there would be a few issues to consider:
SIERRA LEONE IS BEING GRADUALLY QUARANTINED
It may not be apparent like soldiers closing down Kenema and Kailahun. But with one aircraft after another pulling out of this country and expatriates leaving as fast as they can, we have to say that we are now effectively quarantined inside our country from the outside. This is very serious.
UN KEEPS FAITH WITH INSOLVENT SLBC. HMMMMMMMM
Our impeccable sources have just told us that the UN has again paid about Le 382 million into another bank account operated by debt-ridden SLBC after that debacle at the Rokel Commercial Bank where, the clever people of Rokel clawed back some of their debt from the corporation when the UN paid the first sum into the SLBC account there. It was money in the region of le 500 million.
STATE OF EMERGENCY; DAY OF REFLECTION - SALONE IN LOCK DOWN
Things are not looking good in Mama Salone. We don't want to start pointing fingers here and there but we are under emergency rule right now. De Pa announced a raft of measures to help fight Ebola. For now we will behave like British politicians: no matter how much they disagree on policy, as soon as British troops are deployed, they support them. So in this emergency period, we can only offer our support for De Pa's initiatives.
IS THIS THE BEST WAY TO SPEND THE DISABILITY COMMISSION'S MONEY?"
By the time De Pa' tenure ends in 2017, the credibility of certain individuals and institutions would have been so damaged that the best thing would be for those individuals to retire from public life and spend the rest of their days on earth in a monastery and for those institutions to be closed down. No change of names or personnel.
ABSENT WHEN IT MATTERED: HEALTH MINISTRY STUMBLES AGAIN
De Pa likens his cabinet to the Brazilian football team. He hasn't revised that comparison even after the recent disastrous performance by the South American side - the worst by any Brazilian football team in living memory. They were thrown out of the World Cup in their own backyard. Could De Pa's Red Movement be thrown out in similar manner in 2017? This is the second time we are asking this question.
Supported by: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
