TAX MAN MAKES TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO KENEMA…AND THEN…
We know that the Green Movement is trying hard to suppress what happened in the last few days at their party office in Kenema. We absolutely understand why they would try to do that but maybe they should simply let the natural mystic flow because it’s impossible to keep anything a secret for long these days. That’s just what the world has turned into.
Anyway, the occasion was to welcome the new tax man of Sierra Leone, appointed after the June elections. He is widely respected in that place. On this day he drove into the green city in a convoy of vehicles and motorbikes with his supporters shouting hosanna in the highest. Then there was this ceremony at the party office and for some reason too complex to explain here, stones were thrown and a popular Green movement blogger was injured. He received a cut above the eye and pictures of the struggling blogger went viral.
Surely, the last thing to expect is for a Green movement programme in Kenema of all places to end up in this way given what Kenema means to the party. Here’s our take, and we have already said the details will be kept out of this column for now.
1. We don’t normally like to interfere with how people choose to run their lives but frankly, why was it necessary to undertake that Julius Caesar style entry into Kenema to celebrate being appointed a tax man?
2. Knowing the atmosphere in that part of the country after the recent appointments – in fact going back to the days before the elections wouldn’t it have been a good idea to scale back that celebration if there was NEED to have one?
3. We have listened to some of the statements at that ceremony, including what some of the boys who created the commotion told us and we conclude something is boiling just below the surface in Kenema. Those who have ears let them hear.
4. Only a few weeks into a new mandate and the Green movement is faced with green on green war inside their own stronghold is not the image they want to project. We know that. A prominent party blogger looking helpless with a cut above his eye like he’s just left the ring after a fight with Mohammad Ali is BAD.
ELECTIONS OVER AND FUEL PRICE WILL FINALLY MOVE
We always knew that the price of petroleum products in the last three months or so was false. It was being heavily subsidized because elections were around the corner and allowing the global situation to dictate the price of that commodity as it should, would have caused some havoc to the ruling party. Now the election is won and the chips are down.
Going by the supplementary budget on Monday, the government has been spending some good cash to subsidize what we give at the pumps but we have been told that the subsidy would now be “gradually” withdrawn until we land at the real price of the commodity. How gradual would this withdrawal be? What is the real price?
Like people in other countries, we understand what’s happening in the world and how that is impacting our lives in our little corner in West Africa but we have to let the authorities know that things are getting really serious now with our finances. We expect them to find a way to address the issues and not simply surrender to so-called GLOBAL TRENDS.
FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS AND THE LOCAL GAME
We would normally blame the Sierra Leone Football Association for everything that goes wrong in the game, from bad referring to violence on the field of play. Maybe they are ultimately responsible but we need to put certain things on the table now for the world to see. We have to prepare, and this is not something we are wishing for but one day a match official is going to be killed purely for the decisions they make on the field of play.
There is a video on social media now showing a match official under attack from Mighty Blackpool of all clubs. The single police officer was unable to protect the referee and they both had to run into a nearby building with the mob outside waiting to pounce. We understand Blackpool officials are cooperating well to catch the main guy who masterminded the attack. We commend them for that. Other teams have always obstructed any such investigation.
We urge the SLFA to note the following. We believe what we are about to say is not strange but we are putting it on record so that we are able to say in future that WE TOLD YOU SO.
1. Club officials and OWNERS in particular are the key people instigating ALL the violence. The behavior of their fans is dictated by what those OWNERS and officials do on the sidelines during matches and on social media.
2. CLUB OWNERS more than frequently jump into the field of play to attack referees over on field decisions. They have always explained those actions by pointing fingers at referees. Imagine their European counterparts doing the same. The idea that because they are spending money to run their teams in a game full of passion they should be excused is what we don’t want to even consider because the game has rules and investors MUST operate within those rules. Otherwise they can withdraw their money and become ordinary spectators. Besides why are club owners in Sierra Leone ALWAYS on the technical bench interfering with play?
3. The president of the SLFA should stop looking for votes and deal with hooliganism at all levels of the game but especially that coming from club officials and OWNERS. We need extremely bright examples and the SLFA has missed many such opportunities to send the correct signals. Deal with the big guys and the supporters would fall in line.
SLRA WE ARE BACK WITH AJ MOMOH STREET
This is undoubtedly one of the most important streets in this country but it’s in a very bad shape and we cannot understand why it appears as if the SLRA is not aware of this dire situation in the heart of Freetown. Or are they just ignoring things and continue to dream that the rest of us would do the same?
Here’s why we describe J Momoh as one of the most important streets in this country: Let’s say you approach from the Circular road end you will notice quickly that the whole street is full of some of the most important institutions in Sierra Leone. Here we go: There’s a vocational institute that trains many young people very close to the National Fire Force. The force is in difficulty and it’s easy to see that right at the entrance of their building.
A little bit up the road is Statistics Sierra Leone and the West African Examinations Council, WAEC very close to each other. A few meters ahead is the Former British Council building, then the secretariat of the University of Sierra Leone and the Institute of Public Administration and Management, IPAM which has more than TEN THOUSAND students.
Let’s continue our drive along AJ Momoh Street and find the Vice President’s office and the building housing the National Council for Vocational Education. That’s AJ Momoh Street. Why is it in such poor shape despite this?
The Entrance to AJ Momoh Street from the Circular road end is a disgrace and the many potholes and unregulated parking on that road creates a mess we cannot afford to have in that part of town. Over to you SLRA!
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