MORE APPOINTMENTS "SHORTLY" - BUT HOW SHORT IS SHORTLY?
Going by the last State House press release announcing that very timid shake-up of the cabinet, there ought to have been more movements in the cabinet - more sackings and re-shuffling because we were told there would be more appointments "SHORTLY." As citizens of this great country, can we humbly ask what "SHORTLY" actually means in this context? We ask because, we believe that all the speculations caused by people waiting for "SHORTLY" to be actualised must end without any further delay. Here's what has been happening as people wait for an announcement "SHORTLY."
1. Hundreds of CVs are flying into the big office trying to catch De Pa's attention. The clock is ticking fast.
2. Some ministers spend the best part of their time listening to all radio stations these days in case it pleases De Pa to sack them. One of those sacked recently told us he was alerted by friends who were listening to radio and watching TV at the material time.
3. Some ministers go to their offices daily, expecting to be sacked by the close of business. Do we really expect such ministers to do their best?
4. Some Civil Servants know their ministers who are definitely up for the sack and are busy making their last days in office a real hell for them. Those ministers are so weak now that we can only appeal to De Pa to do the SHORTLY stuff shortly and end the suffering.
5. Some ministers who know they are about to be sacked, are behaving like normal human beings again - they are calling their friends, visiting ghettoes and driving their private cars. Welcome guys! We've been on the ground since you went to Youyi Building. Jah we daeyar still.
IS ANYBODY REVIEWING SAFETY PROCEDURES AT PETROL STATIONS?
When will the people of Sierra Leone get the report on what actually happened at the petrol station in Kissy that went up in flames recently? Every time our authorities tell us some incident is being investigated, we give up. Ask any Sierra Leonean, they will tell you that in this country to be told that something was being investigated is the same as being told to forget about that issue and wait for another such incident to happen.
Many people have told us that since that incident, each time they stop at a petrol station to buy fuel, they think of Kissy. From the look of things, it's all going quiet again in typical Salone style. What lessons did we learn? Well, apart from the obvious fact that the Freetown Fire Force is completely naked.
1. Let's do a total review of safety procedures at all petrol stations. We will easily find stations where people sell roast meat and all sorts of CORNER FOOD.
2. Let's pay particular attention to SAFECON stations throughout the country. Imagine the condition of SAFECON stations in the following places: Adelaide Street Junction to Kroo Town road, Jomo Kenyatta Road - Dwazark Junction and the one at Aberdeen Road Junction.
3. Let's prosecute all those who through their action or inaction caused the fire at Kissy. We are talking about those who were at work when the station caught fire and those regulators in charge of safety who have been collecting salaries for doing sweet nothing.
4. Let's make it possible for the other companies to do a hostile takeover of SAFECON immediately
5. Or, let's just let this pass. We could all go to places of worship to pray for those who suffered as a direct result of that fire.
FOURAH BAY COLLEGE ROAD - VERY IMPORTANT BUT DESPISED BY SLRA
Something has got to happen very fast at FBC to avoid something catastrophic happening on the stretch of road from the edge of Kortright to the bridge just after the college campus - it's that serious. Only the SLRA can explain why they did what they did to FBC. One the one end, Rue De La Paix, coming from the US embassy end is good. We know it's still incomplete but it's not bad. From the Model school end, the road is also good up to about fifty yards after the bridge. The rest of the road through FBC campus itself is a total mess. A real mess. And SLRA doesn't give a damn.
SLRA bosses are the only people who didn't know that with the construction of the road through Regent and Rue De La Paix and the unending works on the road at Hill Station, pressure was definitely going to build around FBC road. Residents have told us that hundreds of cars, many belonging to the high and mighty pass through the college every morning and evening. Then you have the world's most rotten taxi cabs carrying some of the world's poorest people up and down the world's most dangerous hills several times everyday. Most of those vehicles are unlicensed like the drivers.
We are not prophets of doom but all we can see on that road is danger. The last time it took a personal visit by De Pa to restore electricity to the campus after six months in darkness. Can De Pa pay a quick visit to the campus again? Sections of that road are worse than the one between Bo and Mattru. FBC is crying for attention.
We have completed our investigation of what happened with Rue De La Paix. The SLRA should get ready.
50th ANNIVERSARY CASE IN ABSOLUTE LIMBO, AS JFK WAVES GOODBYE
When we get the opportunity to interview the new Attorney General any time soon, we will suggest to him that his biggest regret as ACC Commissioner must be his failure to prosecute those individuals who were indicted for allegedly doing some awful things with the people's money while in charge of activities to mark Sierra Leone's 50th independence anniversary celebration. The whole trial which started in a blaze of publicity has simply faded from public view. And those indicted are still among us pretending things are normal with them.
Journalists have been asking a lot of questions down the years about the failure of the ACC to prosecute a case they brought to court. Can somebody tell us what the truth really is about this case please? The ACC should be very honest with the people of Sierra Leone as far as this case is concerned by doing any of the following:
1. Simply tell the people that they are not inclined to pursue the case anymore. We will accept that even if no reasons are given. We just want to close this case.
2. Tell the nation that there was no case in the first place and that they charged those people to satisfy public opinion.
3. That this case is too old now to worry about.
4. That those involved in the 50th anniversary case are more Sierra Leone than those teachers who received a few leones from parents before issuing report cards and were jailed. Dis country tranga o.
5. Sorry guys, JFK is now looking at the bigger picture in life.
YAYAH TOURE WANTS MORE TIME AS KING OF AFRICA LIKE LAURENT GBAGBO
YayahToure of Manchester City Football Club in England has a few things in common with the detained former leader of The Ivory Coast. We know that while Yayah is a footballer Laurent was a politician. Yayah is making big money playing for Manchester City, a club funded with Sheikh Mansour's oil money. So no similarities there. But consider the following:
1. Laurent Gbagbo and YayahToure are both citizens of Ivory Coast.
2. Both men always want to be on top of their professions - Gbagbo as president of Ivory Coast and YayahToure as the best player in Africa.
3. Both men have proven to be very bad losers. When Gbagbo lost an election to AlhassanOutarra he refused to leave office and plunged his country into civil war. When Toure recently lost the crown of best footballer in Africa, he attacked the organisers of the contest he had won four times, describing their choice of the Gabonese striker,Aubameyang, as flawed. If Toure had an army like Gbagbo, he would have started a war in Africa.
4. Like Gbagbo, Toure is now well on his way out of the reckoning even at Manchester City. He has a lot of power in midfield, which is very important for the modern game. But he is certainly not Andreas Inniestia, Xavi Hernandez, Andrea Pirlo or even Nicolas Gaitan. Toure has no skills.
5. Toure wanted Africa to give him the award because his country won the last Africa Cup of Nations. But is that the only thing the organisers were looking for? Using his own logic, how come he continued to win awards even where his Ivory Coast national team continued to misfire for so long a time? Looks like the More Time bug is still in Abidjan. We congratulate the young Gabonese who won the award this year. Shame on Toure!
(c) Politico 14/01/16