NEC SHIFTING THE GOAL POST AGAIN
Let us repeat for the sake of clarity, that we want NEC to succeed. We fear however that Christiana Thorpe (Dr?) is leading Sierra Leone down a slippery slope. Some won’t like this but please hear us out. Even idiots, like us, know that you can only register and vote in an area where you are “Ordinarily Resident” and we know what that means. There has to be a direct connection between your vote and your Member of Parliament and Councillor - even your President.
After remaining conspicuously silent for more than three weeks on this issue, even by the standards of the usually garrulous and disrespectful Miatta English, NEC appears to have suddenly woken up from coma to give a warped but politically-correct definition of “Ordinarily Resident”. We were happy with their swiftness in responding to the so-called “parallel registration”. But after three weeks in which many “ORDINARY RESIDENTS” of that outpost of poverty and desolation called Sorogbema were harassed and brutalised by men in uniform, Christiana has spoken out in support of her political masters.
We urge our readers to keep an eye on NEC. They are corrupt (those car rentals are being investigated), arrogant and they assume they are doing Sierra Leone a favour by mis-conducting elections.
If only the Supreme Court could interpret this “ORDINARILY RESIDENT” thing fairly. But when we remember the SLAJ case in Sierra Leone, and the other Supreme Courts in Ivory Coast and Senegal, we can only hope that God’s own judgement comes soon enough.
Christiana has cleared the way for the Sierra Leone embassy hit woman, information attaché (the glorified errand girl) to continue bringing hundreds of people to register anywhere, particularly in Jendema. Try for you yah we sister, woke hat for get.
STADIUM FIASCO – 2nd TERM PROMOTIONAL EVENT IN DISARRAY
So De Pa was at it again. The National Stadium was the place to be. Ostensibly this was about musicians playing music; a mainly youthful audience dancing and at the same time calling on all to stop pirating music so that Sierra Leonean musicians would get rich. We hate piracy and we want our musicians to be rich. But piracy laws are not enforced by musicians assembling at a stadium, shouting all over the place. Laws are enforced by the state and we make bold to say, the situation has not changed since those bills came into force. In fact, pirated CDs have been repackaged and are all over Freetown. If this event was about that, then it failed.
If the event was also about giving De Pa some good treat and an opportunity to win some more souls, then we are not quite sure it worked. Blackout, stone-throwing youths, police teargas and general disillusionment with a corrupt stadium management that cannot pay their bills, even for football matches, ruined the day.
De Pa must have returned home partially satisfied but absolutely livid that a well planned political outing only brought onboard a handful of new friends. By the way who picked up the bills for this event? Just curious!
POLITICAL TRANSFER WINDOW IS STILL OPEN
Politicians are moving in droves to join the Koroma-first-round-victory parade. Read newspapers everyday and you will get the feel of what we are talking about. The movement is mostly from SLPP to APC. As for the PMDC, by the time we get to October, only the party leader alias The Dalai Lama will remain in the party with his Jekyll and Hyde character.
One of the latest acquisition in the Koroma camp, according to some newspapers is the mercurial and increasingly temperamental John Leigh who is said to have endorsed Koroma. We thought as much. Here is a man who went to his party convention and failed to get just one delegate from among hundreds of delegates to second his nomination. How many people is he bringing over to his new friend?
In the first few weeks of the transfer window opening, Sheku Ba Saccoh joined the APC on free transfer. He is still surplus to requirement. Usu Boie’s agents are still talking terms with Koroma. The Red boys are sure that Usu Boie is as overrated as Eric Djemba Djemba.
The transfer window will remain open even during the two weeks preceding the inevitable run-off in November/December. As from now on, the Red boys will only take players on free transfers. They are still sour after that highly overrated TM Borbor Sawyer was made a minister only for him to fail to land Kissi Tongi for De Pa in that parliamentary bye-election.
De Pa is now embarrassed to sack him. What value has Borbor Sawyer really added to governance in Sierra Leone? Una tell we ba!
Or BANGU THIS U.N. MATTER IS GETTING SERIOUS
We can finally comment on Or Bangu’s part in the Solloywood drama that ended in UN diplomat Michael Schulenburg being thrown out of Sierra Leone. A lot has already been published in many newspapers. Now we can say that a brown A4 size envelope has landed on our desk containing a lot of documents, completely different from what has been published so far – very, very REVEALING indeed. We always suspected something was very fishy about this Hatchet man’s job that Or Bangu was doing on behalf of the Ruling Party. We shall publish these documents for the people of Mama Salone at the right time. We warn those interested not to come looking for them at our offices. We are cleverer than that.
As for IB Kargbo, we refer him to his interview with 98.1 on the Schulenburg question. We have transcribed it and will use his own words to demonstrate to the people of Salone that the art of Public Relations is not the same as lying. The idea that People like Alpha Kanu and IB Kargbo can tell absolute lies all the time and get away with it with our eyes wide open, is like telling us pipe borne water will be available to all Sierra Leoneans in two weeks, just like the Daily Mail salaries that have still not been paid, more than two years since IB Kargbo made the announcement and promised they would get their gratuity in “two weeks”.
ROTTEN CARS AND INSENSITIVE POLICE
The Sierra Leone Police are busy clamping cars and charging people a lot of money for parking in the ‘wrong place.’ We have no problem with that even though we think car owners in Freetown are being bullied in this game. In central Freetown, you have a group of boys blocking parking space which they sell to ordinary people driving into town. It’s not as if the police are not aware of the game. It’s done right under their noses. These are the same boys who have all sorts of keys to open up cars to steal from unsuspecting people.
Let’s also make the point that Freetown is indeed a huge scrap yard for rotten cars. They are abandoned on many streets. The police do nothing about that. Check Berwick Street, Jones Street, Roberts Street, Naimbana Street, all the small corners along Mends Street and Circular Road, Syke Street and so on. May be we should direct our anger at the Freetown City Council but the new Mayor is just hanging in there. Wait bra, the people will decide soon.
CAPITAL FAKE 104.9 FM
We will soon return to the issue of people who broadcast on Capital Radio with a very fake accent. The other day we corrected their folly of an announcement that “Top of The Pops [is] produced by the BBC in London for Capital Radio”. Now even though some tiny winy wrote an attack on our editor, we appreciate the fact that we listened to Top of The Pops last week and the misleading announcement appeared to have disappeared. So why were they going for our jugular when they knew we were saying the truth! Regarding the fake accent that is typical of many of their broadcasters, if radio stations in this country bothered to do an audience the management of Capital Fake would have known that listeners love their music but detest the forced accent of many of their broadcasters. Be natural, guys! Nothing is as natural as being natural.
THE NEW COW PARTY
Salone politicians are generally short on ideas and intelligence. But the utter condescension and lack of finesse displayed by the UDM – which we will from now on be calling the COW PARTY – is far below the least acceptable standard. How can UDM’s man who wants to run for the highest office in the land go on air to quarrel over a COW said to have been converted by a lady who defected recently. COW! Na pul na do una get? No! At a time when ideas are needed to uplift the general welfare of unemployed and hungry cholera-beaten people, just listen to the UDM quarrelling on air for COW. Hmmm...
REFRESHMENT AFTER FUNERALS
We don’t remember when this practice of serving refreshment after funerals started in this country. It has now become a contagion. Salone man too FALAMAKATA. As far as we know, funerals are solemn occasions to mourn the dead and think about the day death knocks on our doors. But a professional class of Funeral men and women has emerged. They go to all ‘light refreshment sessions’ after funerals, enjoying food and booze. Now people postpone burials by weeks just to raise the necessary money to be like others. We have seen people fight over food at funerals. We can’t understand this. Can we please stop bringing additional burden on ourselves all the time? Tin tranga nar dis country.
