EMERSON STRIKES AT THE HEART OF DE PA'S RED MOVEMENT
De Pa's Spin doctors are panicking as they plot their next move against Emerson whose latest album has hit the government hard. We heard of at least three meetings called to discuss strategy to counter the consequences of Emerson's songs on De Pa's popularity on the streets of Freetown. We are only a year into De Pa's new mandate so we are really baffled by some of the reaction we've seen on social networks - the intensity of the anger against the musician. This is really gripping stuff.
You see it's now a tradition that Emerson would release an album every year to coincide with Christmas festivities. It's a marketing strategy musicians use all over the world but in Sierra Leone, the fact that our people from the Diaspora are normally around for holidays gives the strategy another public relations edge. The country normally tries to put its best foot forward to send a message to the Sierra Leone Diaspora that life is improving home. But with a song like that, they are bound to return with the feeling that things are really bad here. But who can deny that? Unless they are in the corridors of power or related to those who are!
So Emerson has four more albums to release before De Pa's second and final term ends. We urge him and his Spin Doctors to get used to Emerson and stop being hysterical about his songs. The other reason De Pa must avoid his Spin Doctors and listen carefully to what the musician is saying is that many of his people think Emerson is bang on the money as far as living conditions in this country are concerned. Let's do a poll particularly in those areas that traditionally support the Red Movement.
The Spin Doctors want to earn their fees, De Pa must know that and concentrate on the people.
THOUSANDS OF COPIES OF KOKOBEH BOUGHT WITH "TRANSPORT MONEY" AYYYY SALONE!
We are not quite sure about this yet but we've been trying to get copies of the new album but strangely enough, we found only a few. Some of the guys selling on the streets told us that they are themselves surprised at the way a group of young men are buying the album. One of them told us that in one day a particular man, about 21 years old bought about 50 copies.
We suggested he intended to do business himself. The dealer told us that was a possibility but his hunch was that some "transport money" to the tune of thousands of Obama bills was at work. Our man even told us Disc Jockeys have been contacted by some Spin Doctors to cajole and threaten them about the consequences of featuring Emerson's songs on their shows. What is going on!
That Communist idea has obviously failed because Emerson is all over the place - inside taxis, at parties, in ghettos, at night clubs, on laptop computers, even on iPods and mobile phones. Forget it, guys, put your man INNOCENT at work to do his normal reactionary work. Time is of the essence.
ALHAJI EMMANUEL MOIJUEH KAIKAI'S NEW YEAR RESOLUTION
Well there's all this uncertainty about which ministers De Pa will boot out of his government in an expected wide-ranging shake-up of his government. Having just returned from the Hajj, Alhaji Emmanuel Moijueh Kaikai Kai is likely to survive in that ministry. Please don't take our prediction as gospel truth because De Pa could just surprise us and send Moijueh back to Pujehun or London. We stand by our prediction anyway.
Having said that, we believe this should be Alhaji Kaikai's official New Year Resolution and he must achieve that in the first quarter of 2014. On Friday 3rd January, we saw a naked eight-month-old baby boy sitting on the bare floor near his weak and shabby mother who lay on the floor rather hopelessly beside the nation's central bank - the Bank of Sierra Leone - in the heart of Freetown. Now, that's not the picture we want to send to the world about the way we care for our women and children.
The other day Alhaji Emmanuel Moijueh Kaikai refused a man custody of his daughter because, the minister said, it was his duty to protect the child even from her father since the man sleeps on the same bed with his child in his single bedroom dwelling unit. Against that background, can the minister now make himself useful to the children near the Bank of Sierra Leone? This is where we think his interest should be not the populism over a girl whose father was doing all he could to care for her.
We congratulate him for winning the AWOL award this year, if that counts for something. As you know, that's entirely another story.
"DE CONSTITUTION INSAI YOU POKIT”- WHAT'S THE REAL MESSAGE?
We haven't stopped laughing since the day we met a man who is really very angry at the way things are going in Sierra Leone. He has a very serious problem with Sierra Leone's justice system. As far as he is concerned justice is in the hands and pockets of the rich. His understanding of constitutional education jingles done on Radio Democracy re-enforces that view. He told us it was an open admission by the authorities that the constitution and the laws are all inside the pocket of the rich, hence De Constitution Insai You Pockit .
Well, we found his understanding of the jingles very funny but he was convinced he got the real message the producers wanted to send and he wouldn't be told otherwise by journalists like us who have "failed to understand what was happening to this country". We were on the defensive at this point.
When The Dalai Lama recently suggested that the door at the main entrance of our Law Courts building is reserved for only a few privileged people, we asked what the fuss was all about until another of our many grassroots friends told us that that door mirrored exactly what was happening in the justice system of Sierra Leone - the front door reserved for the privileged. The rest of mankind must make do with what is available backdoor.
Here's the message we got out of both scenarios: the justice system is in deep trouble with the people of Sierra Leone. They have lost confidence in the judiciary because justice is slow, expensive and unfair. Whether people like this or not, some people in this country are above the law and the system of bail is now used to punish. We don't believe those running the institution are getting the message.
ANOTHER BOAT CAPSISES BUT WHO BEARS THE GRESTEST RESPONSIBILITY
Logus Koroma is running around telling the country that Delta Airlines in the US will soon start direct flights from Freetown to United States. Even though we doubt that is true - we are speaking with the airline - there is no problem with that possibility. But how about the safety of some of their potential passengers travelling between Freetown and the Lungi airport? How about our ordinary people who perish every year as they travel to coastal communities in search of something to eat?
We have just lost many lives in another boat accident. Why has nobody been sacked for negligence? Surely, the bulk of the people on that boat had no lifejackets which should be a mandatory requirement except if the Maritime Administration has changed the rules, again? Besides, other regulations were side-stepped by the boat operator as the investigation would eventually prove.
Who cleared the boat to sail? Was there any passenger manifest?
Please we will not accept any excuses this time. Heads must roll, and neglecters must be punished.
Not too long ago many Sierra Leoneans died travelling between Tombo and Shenge. Was anybody held to account, NO! In fact officials spoke as if the deceased were responsible for their own deaths.
We know accidents will always happen because of what they are. But when in a bid to making money people knowingly endanger the lives of others in a situation where ministerial oversight is non-existent, action must be taken to protect the people. We have lost too many lives due to incompetence and neglect. Sackings or resignations at the highest level won't wake up the dead, but their relatives will know that somebody cares about them and that someone has taken responsibility for the deaths of their loved ones. Not here, it would seem. What a country!
(C) Politico 07/01/14
