Usu Boie is home at last.
Ask any APC partisan what the defection of Usu Boie to their party means and you will get a one-word answer: Landslide. And we understand why they should be so optimistic. The presenter on one local radio station which carried the whole program live said the same thing. The headlines in many newspapers have been no different. All of this helps to enhance De Pa’s mood and keeps him believing he is out of the reach of his opponents. Not bad.
But there are a few things we must note and the RULERS OF OUR LAND can choose to ignore them as usual or even accuse us of refusing to see the reality of De Pa’s magnetic power.
- This was clearly a campaign event and would Christiana be strong enough to condemn it? Didn’t she talk tough against unauthorised campaigning recently? And what would the PPRC say about this? They know that not acting gives the impression that the APC can do what they like while the others must wait for failed Munu to give clearance.
- The campaign program was carried live on SLBC. Does the organisation understand the implications of what they’ve just done? Or they just don’t care. We are sure that Gbanabom is too weak, professionally and politically, to stand up to the APC and say, “this is a campaign event, NEC campaign period is not here and therefore we will not cover this Usu Boie thing in the way you want.”
- What if the NDA decide to organise the defection of PDP supporters to their ranks this weekend in some style and demand live coverage, will the SLBC do the same? We bet they will not!
By the way, what was so crucial about the timing of this event that the APC couldn’t wait at least another week? Let’s not forget the bodies of the two victims of police madness at Wellington that caused two days of riots were still in the morgue. One moment we are mourning the death of our children unnecessarily killed by a trigger-happy police force, the next moment we are dancing on the streets for a flip-flopping politician.
Thousands of raw US dollars, lucrative government contracts and promises of a good life on Sugar Candy Mountain under De Pa, are taking a heavy toll on our democracy.
Democracy, ambushed and taken prisoner on the airways
When you read some newspapers, you will normally see a column called “Letters to the Editor.” It’s a way for editors to hear from their readers on the stories they publish – for another perspective or for corrections. That’s what radio stations try to do when they invite reactions from their listeners and with technological advancement; they now do it in real time. Sadly though, in Sierra Leone we have noticed that people have decided to highjack that. Listen to any programme that takes in listeners’ comments on any station and at any time of the day and you will hear the following people: Ambush Commander, Sahr Mokuwa, Mystic, Ngor Jebbeh go School, J–Tel, Mallam Janneh, Accounting Wise, Kalusha Bwalya, BW Bockarie, and so on. The whole thing is now manipulated as people are receiving cash from especially 8th floor to keep good credits on their phones.
The radio stations know what is happening but somehow they have refused to act to restore trust to interactive radio. Are they also now collecting? Some presenters read out text messages that have no connection to the topic under focus. In some cases even before the material is dealt with, presenters read texts on them portraying a particular line. It’s disgusting that people make so much effort to manipulate our lives. A nation that falls to the position where the likes of Ambush Commander and his text colleagues believe they can use mobile phone text messages to decide that nation’s future is a nation in deep trouble.
Alpha Conde at the border
National expectations regarding the possible return of the border town of Yenga to Sierra Leone by Guinea were raised one gear up two weeks ago after a meeting between De Pa and the Octogenarian president of Guinea, Alpha Conde on the Sierra Leone – Guinea border. We will ignore Conde’s failed attempt to interfere in Sierra Leone politics for now.
The campaign material in the meeting was so hyped that we really don’t have a clear view of the true substance of that meeting. Yes Koroma and Conde will meet in Yenga in July but is it about signing the documents handing over the area to Salone? Is it about signing a Status of Forces Agreement making an equivocal statement that Guinean forces are on foreign soil? No. This is just another meeting after which one of those boring communiqués will be issued full of meaningless waffle. Tejan Kabbah held many such meetings with opposite number Lansana Conte and they came to naught. We have IB Kargbo on record in one of his many news conferences in 2007, blaming Kabbah’s government for not treating the “Yenga issue with seriousness.” With his government now in power for five years, can we say the same? Can we also say that all these political maneuverings are mere stunts aimed at winning votes in November? Kargbo and others have had five good years to be “serious” about the Yenga question.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Sierra Leoneans, here’s what we think: an octogenarian president – the unlikely beneficiary of the politically expedient external intervention called regime change, who does not understand the complexities of governing Guinea having spent all his life somewhere in France facing a collapsed economy, the loss of any local goodwill and a trouncing in delayed and delayed legislative elections, is too weak to move Guinean troops out of Yenga. The Guinean army is in charge in that country. In a normal liberal democracy, the army belongs to the state. In Guinea, the state belongs to the army. We are waiting to be disappointed after the July meeting.
Coachie Scores Own Goal
We have, a few times warned De Pa about the possibility of his political career and his legacy being seriously damaged by a few guys hanging around him. De Pa knows these people are not genuine but he keeps them in place and does nothing concrete to correct their gaffes.
After only two years in Office, Alhaji Abuja told journalist in Freetown that De Pa was the greatest ever president of Sierra Leone. We expected De Pa to publicly tell Alhaji Abuja to stop his salamutuism and get back to work. De Pa pretended he didn’t hear people’s reaction. Then came Oswald the convert, who among other unnecessary bella bella expressions called De Pa a “natural born leader” and “the best man on earth”. He has gone even further to liken him to JESUS CHRIST. Many Christians were offended but thank God they aren’t the Ayatollah’s followers. Otherwise Oswald would easily have become the Sierra Leone version of Salman Rushdie, not in terms of intellectual capacity but in starting unnecessary controversy.
The latest Gaffe came from Coachie Mansaray who has just joined the APC. On national television, he described MENDE people as “stupid”. Did he really mean that? Or was he, like the others, playing up to De Pa? This one is so serious that Victor Foh’s usual clownish approach to everything will not suffice. De Pa must correct that Coachie rubbish in a quick and unambiguous manner. All tribes in Sierra Leone are the same. People are not stupid because of their tribes. Coachie must be told that his Mabela politics is unacceptable.
No handshake for Pope John Paul
We don’t want to describe the action of the players in our senior football team – Leone Stars – who refused to shake hands with sports minister Paul Kamara as an exercise in rudeness. The reason is simple, we don’t want to upset the boys who are doing well these days and we don’t want to make our former hack colleague uncomfortable (even though he has spoken about the incident on radio). We shall call the affair a MILD SPORTING REBUKE. Is that reasonable sir?
Mr. Kamara has had big fights with the SLFA over the welfare of the national players, indeed the cause of all his troubles with the FA has been about issues having to do with Leone Stars. So does he deserve this MILD SPORTING REBUKE?
We have to come to terms with some uncomfortable facts in Sierra Leone: There are players in that national team who are constantly disrespectful to officials. The small change they are getting from playing professional football abroad has gone into their head in a bad way and is beginning to affect team discipline. They have no right to treat the minister in the way they did in front of strangers. Sierra Leoneans should not allow these players to behave as if they are out of control. We can survive without going to any international football jamboree but the nation will collapse without discipline, that’s a fact.
Mr. Minister Sir, please keep a respectable distance from these boys who think too much about themselves. Make sure they get all they require in terms of logistics for their matches, put all the accountability measures in place and take your seat at the presidential pavilion. Leave the rest with us.
AIRTEL 4040 competition and others – how fair?
We don’t think NATCOM can do this but we really need help. Let someone please save us from being bombarded by under-performing mobile phone companies with all sorts of messages about this and that and promotions of all kinds that hardly promote the subscribers. We are sure these promotions are not fair and are intended to steal money from people.
We want all the companies to send a text message giving these options: “If you don’t want to be part of any competition or promotion press 1 if you like to try your luck, press 2 if you want to unsubscribe at any time, press 3.” We are sure hundreds of thousands will press 1 and get out. The whole promotions thing is just unfair, the rules are not clearly set before you and as such you don’t know at what point to declare victory.
This is happening under the very nose of NATCOM and our so-called consumer protection groups. The day credible groups like MTN and Vodacom get their licenses and start work here, some of these Mobile phone companies will be gone very quickly. We hear they are doing everything in their power to block them. Keep trying.
