KABBAH TIGER PLUS CHINESE BUMBUNA = ...?
Let's face it. We are at the lowest point in electricity supply since De Pa came to power in 2007. Darkness has fallen over the homeland. Many people who have access to him will not tell him this but it's a fact. We are very concerned that by the look of things it can only get worse.
There is no electricity in Freetown and the much-derided Kabbah Tiger has returned in full force. The poor thing was badly humiliated in the early days of De Pa's rule when residents of Freetown took power supply for granted for the first time in many years.
Now we have to rely on Chinese Bumbuna to bring some light into our communities. We have heard a lot of explanations as to what went wrong but it's difficult to believe any of that.
If Zubairu Kaloko doesn't complain about NPA paying Bumbuna too much money, Bumbuna will complain about wastages along the NPA distribution system. And they do it on radio. Meanwhile there is no power in our homes.
Among the many reasons why we urge De Pa to face the country's media is for the people to be told the truth about Bumbuna and power supply in general. Yes we shall sneak in questions about that meeting with Obama and the fact that he will not be paying a return visit to Sierra Leone at the end of June and the ever-growing problem of lawlessness in the country. But we promise that electricity will be the main issue.
Suddenly, the average household budget has shut up as families try to generate their own electricity. It's not possible to keep food in freezers anymore and robbers are daily distressing people under the cover of darkness. When Lawyer Jenkins Johnston raised the issue not too long ago, Kan Kan Kan suggested he checks his manners. WHERE ART THOU O BLYDEN JENKINS-JOHNSTON?
LOCK UP BO CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR NOW! SAYS CHERICOCO
When we heard that the Public Accounts Committee ordered the arrest and locking up of the Chief Administrator of the Bo City Council, we were shocked that like in the case of Shekito, many years ago, the parliament of Sierra Leone has gone too far in the exercise of its powers.
The point is, the head of the PAC, the Deputy Speaker of parliament is a lawyer who has a clear idea about what we call due process. We asked the police in Bo and they confirmed to us that they locked up Chief Administrator Alpha on the orders of the PAC. This is very serious.
We hold no brief for the Chief Administrator, but we don't believe that the reported “inconsistencies” in Alpha's presentation before the committee was enough reason for him to be summarily locked up at a police cell. The PAC suggested he was guilty of perjury also. We are not lawyers but we are very clear what perjury is, because we have asked for help from very competent people. We are also not sure this was a case of perjury. But we are prepared to be proved wrong by the PAC.
This same committee has met really difficult institutions over the last few weeks like the Road Fund Board, the Mental Hospital, King Herman Road hospital and others involving huge sums of money but nobody was sent to prison. When SALWACO appeared before the almighty committee, their own minister accused them of lying. We can't remember anyone being asked to report at the CID. Can the PAC really explain why they acted the way they did in Bo?
We are raising these issues because as citizens of Sierra Leone, we elected parliament and we are equally concerned that the committee might just have crossed the same line the 1996 parliament crossed when they charged, tried and convicted Shekito in the same day and sent him to Pademba Road jail for a month.
Whiles we are on this, let's try and make sense of the next question:
PARLIAMENT AND THE MANY CHECKPOINTS: ON WHOSE BEHALF?
We notice that there is now a police checkpoint close to parliament on the road leading to State Avenue from Circular Road. There is also another on the main entrance to parliament building. We are waiting to see how many police officers paid from our taxes will be deployed at those checkpoints.
We don't know the security concerns that informed erecting those checkpoints. Our initial reaction is that like switching off their phones after elections, like getting personal assistants to answer their phones and telling people "the MP is in a meeting" all the time, the checkpoints are another move by the MPs to hide from their people. Now it's going to be even more difficult for people to meet their MPs and talk to them about important constituency or national issues. Another layer of security has been added on not in our name but with our money.
Look at the extra security measures around State House. Imagine the traffic chaos that has caused for the people over the last five years. Those checkpoints were still in place when the occupant of State House went all over the country, in those very difficult communities campaigning for votes last year. Why didn't the police take those checkpoints along?
The MPs can continue hiding for as long as they can. The day of the people will surely come. What a great day that will be?
ERSG ON THE WARPATH ON THE LAST DAYS OF UNIPSIL
Why didn't those who are friends of the ABSENTEE ERSG tell him that there are journalists in this country who will not turn a blind eye to his plans to turn the place into a colony of his KONGOSA friends? Here is a man who was sent here to do a job as important as that but has decided to pick a fight with everybody because he believes they are friends of his enemy. It will not happen sir.
The ERSG should know that victimizing people because of who you think they are is not the correct thing to do. THE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS section in that place should stay until you leave Sierra Leone. We are Sierra Leoneans and we know what we want.
The ERSG has been absent from everything. The last time we saw him at a public function, he was talking down at people. He has refused to deal with civil society groups and critical voices in society. Gird your loins sir. See you on Thursday.
STRANGE COUPLE OF YEARS AT STATISTICS SIERRA LEONE
For the last four weeks we have been collecting documents and conducting interviews with people who know what's happening at one of the most important institutions in this country. We are talking about STATISTICS SIERRA LEONE.
This very IMPORTANT INSTITUTION has be run for the last two years without the STATISTICS COUNCIL. The Act that created the institution provided for that council so that it can play a central role in the management of STATISTIC SIERRA LEONE. For two years now that council has been completely out of action for God Knows What. We know that the deputy Minister of Finance has been in charge - a kind of ONE MAN board.
We are now getting information about houses in Wellington, both opened on the same day by the same Imams (by the way we have pictures). Our sources have also told us of other construction projects outside Freetown, (we have pictures too).
Our investigations have brought us two copies of the Mike Pepper report into the operations of Statistics Sierra Leone commissioned by DFID. We shall use that report when we chose to. Now we understand why state institutions in this country fail all the time.
We warn that on behalf of the people there will be no retreat.
