LPP-NGC ALLIANCE: LET’S LOOK AT ARTICLE 12
The big event at Bintumani conference center announcing an alliance between the ruling SLPP and the NGC is over. There was a lot of speech-making and dancing but there was also a group of people in that hall who didn’t look taken in by the whole affair. We could see it written all over their faces. Later, we tried to find some answers to that puzzle and after a brief period of asking the normal questions, a friend of one of those who refused to sing and dance told us to look at Article 12 of the alliance document. This was what we saw:
The parties agree that when the alliance wins the presidential elections, the NGC will be included in an inclusive government where in the NGC will be allocated a number of positions as mutually agreed in various categories of appointment in governance e.g. (ministers, deputy minister, ambassadors, board members). Every appointment shall be subject to the approval of the elected president.
First of all, this provision is looking forward to the first few days after June 24 2023, in other words, the period during which the government is formed. So the alliance is sure of winning even before the first ballot is cast. That’s a positive way of looking at things but there are more than three million people registered to vote in this election. We shall see.
The other aspect of Article 12 which talks about jobs being shared with NGC people is responsible for those long faces just below our sitting position. We saw mostly heads of state-owned enterprises, a few ministers and deputies. We understand their frustration but NGC people are Sierra Leoneans and we welcome them into the inclusive government the alliance is talking about. Beside, those people who have performed well in Principal’s first term have nothing to fear. If you don’t get your old job back in the new arrangement, welcome to alliance politics. Find something to do.
SIERRA LEONE TEMPLE RUNNERS DIE TRYING TO REACH GREECE
Our embassy in Turkey has confirmed that EIGHT of our brothers and sisters have perished in the sea trying to reach GREECE from Turkey. In fact, we are told that they were positively identified as Sierra Leoneans by the leadership of their community in Turkey and because their bodies were found at sea days after their vessel capsized, they had to be hurriedly buried. We see people from mostly the middle east and other parts of Africa dying daily trying to reach Europe in search of what they call a better life, now the realities of that dangerous voyage has come home to Sierra Leone in a very brutal way.
We know that things are hard but this idea that heaven is just over the horizon in a place called Europe is flawed. When our late brothers and sisters are eventually identified, we should not be surprised to discover that University graduates are among them. We are talking about people who are capable of making it at home. These are people who are able to genuinely approach any embassy in the world and apply to legally travel and work abroad.
Even as we write this there are dozens of other Sierra Leoneans putting their paperwork together to go along the same route fervently believing that they will definitely reach Europe. It’s up to them.
In a few days, the rest of us will move on and the pain will be for their parents and friends.
SHEIK JAGABAN AND THE FAKE IG SAGA
We want to alert movie producers to the guy we know in good old Sierra Leone as Sheik Jagaban. In the few days he’s spent trying to give himself some relevance in Sierra Leone politics, he’s put so much in that public domain that the producers should be able to do a movie with him as the main character before the end of 2023. And such a movie would bring in hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
After many years in the US, the heavily bearded man turned up in Freetown and expressed his burning wish to be made the running mate to Orsamu of the main opposition Red Movement in the coming elections. He announced himself in a big way with his supporters telling the world the guy is worth FIFTY MILLION US dollars. We were told he owned petrol stations, several properties in the US, employing hundreds.
The next few weeks witnessed a massive open source investigation of the main claims made by Sheik Jagaban. We can only describe the information that turned up as interesting. It turned out that Sheik Jagaban was not even on the shortlist of candidates for the running mate position in the Red Movement. The guy and his supporters went quiet. There was even talk that he bought a power bullet proof vehicle for Orsamu. We can’t find the evidence to support that.
The latest around Sheik Jagaban is that some not so clever guys easily transferred more than ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND New Leones from his bank account to theirs. Sheik Jagaban was made to believe that he was being nice to the nation’s Police Boss – that guy who doesn’t smile. By the time Sheik Jagaban realized he’d fallen in the wrong hands, the criminals were already congratulating each other after a good day at the office.
This is a plot line that many people with deep pockets should be ready to sponsor with little difficulty. We are not asking for any fee for alerting you guys to this. All we want is for you guys to acknowledge our effort when you collect your prize at the film festival in Burkina Faso.
WHERE ARE THE TURKISH FERRIES PLEASE?
We keep asking about those Ferries because we welcomed the two Turkish ferries not too long ago with a lot of fanfare typical of the social media period in which we live but several months on we can’t feel the presence of those ferries. Is anything the matter? If they were waiting for the new airport to go into operation, they have no more excuses.
The vast majority of Sierra Leoneans cannot afford the alternatives on the west side of town and that includes airline passengers who are upper middle class Sierra Leoneans and the small expatriate community in this country. They turn up there because what we currently have at Kissy is real chaos – a risk not worth taking.
We don’t want to say much for now. We are expecting some answers urgently because when we used one of those that have been with us for decades the other day we prayed throughout the journey for God to keep us afloat because we absolutely gave up on the mechanics that drive ferries the moment we entered the vessel. Last weekend there were May Day calls on another one.
Please, let’s not put the new ferries in service because without them and the promised improvements at Kissy and Government wharf terminals, we have to keep praying for God’s constant intervention.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (26/04/23)
