FREETOWN O FREETOWN, THE CITY OF POLITICAL RALLIES
Huhhhhhh, Freetown
could breathe again after that massive show of strength by the ruling
APC under the leadership of De Pa. On the afternoon of the day after
the event a gentle rain fell on Freetown, meaning the heavens had the
final say on the Great March. De Pa went home and had a sound sleep;
safe is his abiding conviction that Maada was an absolute political
corpse waiting to be buried on November 17.
Well, we watched
the whole thing from the window of our small office in down town
Freetown and it was a real spectacle to behold.
In our view, the
ruling party felt compelled to respond to Bio’s huge rally on
Monday of the week under review. De Pa put on a carnival second only
to Rio. We are now hearing some interesting tales of how it all came
to pass in terms of ORGANISATION, FINANCE and the STRATEGISTS behind
the GREAT MARCH. Sierra Leone is an interesting country eh? We are
close to the day when this newspaper will publish a tell-it-all
piece. Trust POLITICO.
OUR CONCERNS
ABOUT POLITICAL RALLIES
We perfectly
understand why political parties organise rallies. They have to
demonstrate to their opponents that they have many supporters; they
also need to, as they say in the US, “energise the base.” We
understand that. Yes we do.
However, we have
two simple but very important requests to make as ordinary tax-paying
residents of Freetown. We humbly ask the police and what is left of
the Freetown City Council to demand an ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT PLAN for approval before permission is granted for any
rally to take place.
The point is, look
at the condition of the city after a week of nominations and rallies.
The gains of the recent two-day National Cleaning Exercise are all
completely reversed now as rubbish has piled up all over the city
once again.
Massive corruption
has wrecked the waste management system and we have a lame duck
pretending to be Mayor of Freetown after being rejected by his own
party during the last primaries. Who’s truly in charge in the city?
The second point
is, we beg the police to so control these events that any disruption
of our normal lives is reduced to the barest minimum. Otherwise let
the government declare a public holiday every time there is a rally.
Thursday was a public holiday in all but name. Let the events be
contained in certain parts of the city so that other people can
continue looking for food to feed their families – they will be
doing that long after the elections are over.
KOTOR ALPHA AND
HIS BODYGUARDS
We
have to ask this question from the outset: Why is it that Kotor Alpha
Kanu’s bodyguards are always found in the wrong places? Bodyguards
are employed and trained to protect particular people, in this case
our dear minister of POLITICAL
AFFAIRS.
It was Tejan Kabbah who first appointed a minister of POLITICAL
AFFAIRS and
the reality is that up to this day we don’t know what the job
description really is.
Anyway, Kotor
Alpha’s first bodyguard was shot and killed by alleged criminals in
Alpha Conde’s lawless country of Guinea. The man’s body was
brought home to Kambia and buried quietly. Even as we write no clear
explanation has been provided to the good people of Sierra Leone
about exactly what this Sierra Leone Police Officer was doing in
Guniea when he was assigned to guard a minister who at the time was
in Sierra Leone.
Secondly, the
vehicle which we believe is a property of the people of Sierra Leone
was also taken away. Kotor Alpha and his government think they owe us
no explanation as a people. They think we take ourselves too
seriously. We warn him that the incident was very serious and we
shall continue investigating it.
Meanwhile, his new
bodyguard has been involved in another incident tied up to opposition
SLPP people and a Senegalese Journalist who Alpha’s bodyguard was
allegedly protecting while he filmed the SLPP’s rally one week ago.
We are not getting involved in the arguments about what happened or
did not happen to the journalist for now. But we ask again why was
Alpha’s bodyguard in the middle of a political rally protecting a
foreign Journalist with his boss sitting far away. We believe that
Journalist was accredited to work here by the ministry of
information.
We
know that all foreign Journalists working here from BBC, CNN, REUTERS
and the others are never assigned ministerial bodyguards or police
officers. They have local fixers who are themselves journalists. Was
Kotor’s guard up to some freelance job at the time of the alleged
incident? We need answers, friends. Aren’t WE,
the
people the true masters in a democracy?
Can the ministry
of Internal Affairs develop and publish a Code of Conduct for
ministerial bodyguards please?
THE SHAME OF AN
IMMIGRATION OFFICE
We urge all our
politicians now fighting to hold state power to include this pledge
in their manifesto: That they will end the disgrace at the
immigration office by relocating the department to a respectable
building. No matter how much painting is done to the present location
at Rawdon Street, it remains a shame that such an important office is
still in what is to all intents and purposes, a ghetto.
If the government
can’t find a building, here’s a suggestion: There are some
fantastic buildings up at Hill Station built many years ago by the
Ministry of Education under Alpha Wurie. It was meant to be a School
of Science and Technology or something. Minkailu Bah, who succeeded
Alpha Wurie, hates the former government so much that he wouldn’t
touch the buildings with a Bumbuna pole. We have very nice buildings
standing there for five years completely empty. What is Minkailu Bah
really up to?
We suggest that
the ministry of Internal Affairs, the Immigration Service and that
corrupt Anti-Drug agency be transferred to those buildings with
immediate effect. We shall end the shame on Rawdon Street, bring
respectability to the three entities just mentioned and we shall put
the buildings to work at last. We can do this before the election,
not after please. In fact the size of De Pa’s next rally will be
bigger just for that move. That’s why we call ourselves FRIENDS OF
DE PA.
BREATHLESS
FINAL PUSH – LITE DAE CAM
NAR KONO
Visit Koidu town –
the headquarter town of the home district and main political base of
Chief SIDIKI SUMANA and you will see a group of NPA worker engaged in
a last minute effort to bring electricity to the headquarter of the
restive district of Kono with a kind of do or die commitment – O
boy, it’s unbelievable.
This is a big
money project that has been going on for the last three years. In the
last few weeks though the installation of a thermal plant and the
running of power lines have gained momentum and we understand why.
You see, Chief Sidiki has just survived (has he?) a very bruising
battle to hold on to his position of running mate with De Pa,
something that has caused deep divisions in the party and Kono
district as a whole. No one will admit that and we don’t expect
them to. So De Pa must bring glad tidings to Kono during the campaign
in the next week or so.
Electricity in at
least some parts of the town will probably help De Pa mop up the
pocket of resistance to Sumana’s conquering instincts and deliver
Kono, 100%. We recently heard announcements of pledges from this and
that agency to pay for the reconstruction of the road to Kono. That’s
all part of the game.
Here’s the
reality: De Pa and his people will pass through a long stretch of
alluvial mining pits on their way to Koidu. Once in town they will
drive through some of the worst roads in the world and when the
lights are eventually switched on, only a few people will get it and
only a few will be in any position to pay for it. Finally, there are
many, many people in Kono who will vote against De Pa, no matter
what. That’s just the way it is.
Will De Pa also
consider Kambia, Tonkolili, Moyamba, Bonthe, Pujehun, Kailahun,
Koinadugu and others who also deserve electricity? We are all Sierra
Leoneans you know.
DEAR MINISTER
IB KARGBO,
Payment of
salaries of former Daily Mail Workers
I have now come to
the conclusion that our backlog salaries will never be paid by De
Pa’s government. I am not sure that you appreciate how much my
colleagues and I have suffered with all our families because of your
government’s refusal to pay our salaries.
Minister Kargbo, I
recall that three years ago at an IMC awards night at Kingtom you
made a firm promise to make sure our salaries were paid two weeks
after that day. As a result, we entered into more debt and now we can
neither pay our debts nor take care of our families.
We are in complete
disgrace. Minister, I hold you personally responsible for this and I
will never forgive you.
I wish you well in
the coming elections.
Sincere yours,
Ibrahim
Karbgoson, alias Economical
with the Truth.
