WOULD OUR OLD LEONES BE GONE BY 31st DECEMBER THIS YEAR?
The new Governor of our Central Bank has told parliament that the OLD LEONE notes would cease to be legal tender in this country after the 31st of DECEMBER 2023. We have had such statements before when the Professor from Greeley was in the chair and Governor Stevo should understand why many Sierra Leoneans think this is basically another grandstanding and phasing out the old notes would be shifted again in the coming weeks. It’s up to Stevo now to prove us wrong and on Jan 1st 2024 we will congratulate to pulling this off and wish him a happy New Year. Towards
As we work towards this deadline Stevo must make sure that adequate preparation is made so that we can go to any commercial bank and deposit our old notes and pick up the new ones. In fact as from now, banks should STOP giving out old notes.
One other thing sir, please tell the commercial banks to stop giving us bundles of money that are always short. Many Sierra Leoneans have complained about this but they have been dismissed as liars. We know the Central Bank charges commercial banks heavily for that but ordinary people like us are powerless against them. We need the help of our Central Bank. It is so cruel for a bundle of 20 Leone notes that is supposed to amount to 1000 Leones to be short but THREE or even ONE note. Why should that happen?
THE SANCTIONS BRIGADE MAY BE COMING HOME SOON
A good number of those abroad campaigning actively for western nations to put economic sanctions on Sierra Leone are booking their flights now to come over here and enjoy the season. Why not stay away from the HELL they tell the world this country is?
They are organizing demonstrations in Western capitals; they are also meeting a few politicians out there that are willing to listen to them as they spread the message that Sierra Leone represents HELL on earth.
So far no Western power has done what these Sierra Leoneans are praying for and somehow our brothers and sisters are becoming even more desperate. They are busy issuing death threats against individuals and groups in Sierra Leone. Instead of using the facilities provided by social media for positive reasons, these Sierra Leoneans are trying extremely hard to bring war to this country.
Let’s just add our voice to that of many other Sierra Leoneans that have told them to slow down for the following reasons:
1. We don’t even understand why they would call for sanctions but they should know that sanctions would hurt the ordinary people more than those they hate so badly. This is a good example of using ordinary Sierra Leoneans as collateral damage on their way to that imaginary State House.
2. The West can make up their mind about how to relate with Sierra Leone going forward. They don’t depend on information from those gathering on the streets of London and Washington. They have a presence in Sierra Leone.
3. Even the West has strategic interests in Sierra Leone, and that may include helping to maintain stability. In fact that is not the only interest they have here. Their business is to protect those interests and not to dance to the music of people who refuse to search for the real reason why they lost the June 2023 elections.
4. In all of these we have to call out META, the owners of Facebook and Whatsapp. They have allowed their platforms to be used for everything wicked and criminal in Sierra Leone. They have made little or no effort to regulate as they do in other countries. We now ask the government of Sierra Leone to take META to court for the loss of life and destruction caused in this country with their platforms as the main vehicles by which hate speech is driven. The world must not wait for another Rwanda to take place here before rushing to Arusha.
FIGHTING CYBERCRIME WITH PRESS STATEMENTS
While it’s a good idea to let people know about the consequences of their actions, the SLP will inevitably come under serious attack by the good people of Sierra Leone because they are almost certainly going to accuse the police of hypocrisy and behaving like toothless bulldogs. The SLP must now back up their press statements with action.
1. The SLP management must not fool itself. They are dealing with a whole industry set up to continuously do the social media madness they are complaining about. So this is not the work of a few people hiding out in their basements and churning out so much hate speech.
2. The industry is reasonably well funded by people with deep pockets in Freetown and run by their mercenaries mostly based abroad. They are a sophisticated bunch driven by politics. They absolutely want to capture state power and for them the end justifies the means.
3. There is a small cottage industry back home that is dedicated to sharing such materials by means of WhatsApp to as many individuals and groups as possible. This industry also receives some money from the big man to do this. Very well respected community leaders including religious leaders are found in this category. How can anybody explain that?
4. The SLP should also be aware of the hypocrisy of the International Community. They have overwhelming evidence of raw violence on our streets leading to deaths, totally instigated by actors sitting in the safety of Europe, America and Australia but they classify them as activists seeking political asylum.
UK GOVERNMENT’S ASYLUM PROGRAM SUFFERS MAJOR LEGAL DEFEAT
The British government is putting a brave face to the defeat they suffered in the Supreme Court on Tuesday over their plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing but that program has suffered a serious setback. Prime Minister Sunak told parliament his government will take action to make sure the flights to Rwanda take off next spring. We are watching the next moves with interest because from the outset we sided with those campaigners who thought the whole thing was unlawful and in any case a very bad idea.
To be clear, we are not against Britain taking action to stop people reaching their shores illegally, using boats from across the Channel in France. We have a big problem with the idea of Sunak shipping his problem overseas instead of dealing with it swiftly at home and above all sending people fleeing persecution to a country like Rwanda.
We are not clear about what would happen to those whose claim for asylum is denied. We suspect they would face REFOULEMENT – they would be forcefully returned to a country where they may be persecuted. Think about Eritrea in the horn of Africa.
1. Rwanda has achieved a lot since the genocide and they display that using a sophisticated media operation but this is the country where President Paul Kagame gets 90% or more in all elections and has been in power for TWENTY years.
2. Political opponents are attacked, jailed or killed at home or in other African countries
3. Others are deceitfully flown into the hands of Kagame by plane from so-called safe havens and given lengthy jail terms.
4. Critical media are driven underground or chased out. Why would Britain put so much faith in a country with indicators to respect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers? Sunak may be getting ready to fight another day but that policy will not succeed. By the way, displaced Palestinians are on their way, by boat or whatever means. Let’s stop wars, political intimidation and poverty in particular and many would have no reason to flee.
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