PPRC PRESS RELEASE: A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO STAY ONSIDE WITH THE WORLD’S BEST?
Since Roland Ade Caesar was pushed out of the Political Parties Registration Commission, this very important institution has been struggling for strong leadership which is what the people require. We
had hoped that under Justice Tolla- Thompson the Chairman of the Commission would speak out at the right time and apply the law. We must say however that despite coming into office at a time of great challenge, Justice Thompson is on the road to spectacular failure. Please come with us as we illustrate our point using the PPRC’s own recent press release.
Breach of campaign date and on Friday 26thOctober, 2012
“...The PPRC observed large crowds of people clad in red designed dresses giving the impression that it was a political rally.”
Politico – Well, our dear Chairman, just say the word and “you shall be healed.” This was not the usual Paddle mask devil parade. This was an APC rally in all but name. Look at your statement “large crowds of people clad in red designed dresses”. Didn’t you see Magazine Boy among them? Just say APC. The people will protect you.
Violent confrontation in Kono
“...The Commission was informed that the matter is now a subject of police investigation. However, the Commission is of the view that no form of violence can be justified and therefore wholeheartedly condemn the political violence in Kono on the 27th October, 2012.”
Politico - We are very sorry Justice Tolla Thompson but what is this sentence really saying? We have a copy of the original report you prepared on this affair. We are not amused by the unbridled political correctness sweeping through the PPRC. Would the PPRC tell us exactly what happened in Kono?
We are thinking seriously about not reading and commenting on the issues in this Press Release anymore. We don’t believe the PPRC is strong enough to stand up and put the blame squarely where it belongs. Instead they skirt around the issues or find a convenient way of accusing both senior parties of perpetuating violence. How sad?
Condemnation of violence by the APC and SLPP
“... Both the APC and the SLPP representatives were unanimous in their condemnation of all forms of violence during the campaign period. Furthermore, the representatives of the two political parties
committed their parties to issue a joint statement in condemnation of all forms of violence. This singular commitment by the APC and SLPP will send a strong message to their respective members and supporters that violence is not tolerable in the electioneering process.”
Politico – Our Lord Justice Tolla Thompson, when we read statements like this and consider the reality on the ground, we actually come to terms with the problems facing the PPRC. How many statements have this lot signed before? Didn’t you ever read the communiqué they signed before Michael Schulenburg was expelled...sorry sir, RECALLED? Hehehehe. Did they implement anything?
Now you have caused them to sign another document and you are celebrating that as part of your achievement. We can’t take that away from you sir but the reality in our communities is quite different. The parties are violating every rule with impunity. There’s nothing the PPRC can do about it. And we know why?
DV LOTTERY LOSING STEAM IN SIERRA LEONE
The other day we saw a group of young people preparing entries for next year’s Diversity Visa Lottery. Many Sierra Leoneans have travelled to the US through this scheme and they are remitting cash back home for their families and chasing the American Dream. Sierra Leone has quite a history with DV lottery. President Tejan Kabbah’s government faced a major demonstration on the streets of Freetown in 1996 when many DV Lottery entries were found scattered near the seaside in Freetown. Go and ask Kanji Daramy who was then had of SALPOST. Angry youths who accused the post office of deliberately dumping their entries, attacked the place, chased workers away and damaged the building. The police intervened with tear gas. A nervous Tejan Kabbah hurriedly set up a Commission of Inquiry. We don’t know what the government did with the report. And Kanji was recycled and brought closer to Tejan Kabbah at State House as spokesman and later head of NATCOM. Spot the difference, if any, in the ways our governments behave – sorry MISbehave.
Many of our Pastors and Imams are busy conducting fake weddings for people preparing for interviews ahead of their departure for the US. Justices of the Peace are also signing fake documents just to collect some Leones. This DV thing is causing problems for the integrity of our religious leaders and national documents.
When will some of our religious leaders and JPs stop lying and forging documents? Now the Americans have removed some professions from the list of those that can enter the scheme and educational requirements have been added. The immediate result is this: Many of our people have retreated. Looks like their American Dream will never come to pass. Not everybody will visit the greatest nation on earth. That’s it.
NO UDM NEWS CONFERENCE ON OBASANJO - Or BANGU WE ARE STILL WAITING.
When the man from the most powerful country in the world recently told a radio station that there is the “possibility of a run off” in the coming elections in Sierra Leone, the first person to attack the
experienced diplomat was Or Bangu. He accused Ambassador Michael Owen (no relationship with the much-travelled misfiring Stoke City striker) of interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign Sierra
Leone. Or Bangu hurriedly called a news conference and called on his ally, De Pa to cause the US ambassador to be summoned to the foreign office for a meeting with Bandabla of Kenema. It was Or Bangu’s hope that Owen would come out of the meeting with what the British would call a “mild diplomatic rebuke.”
With the success of his campaign against UN man Schulenburg, Or Bangu was looking to claim another scalp. We warned that his next victim was too big and too hot for even De Pa to handle but Or Bangu pressed on. Within 48 hours, De Pa released a statement distancing himself from Or Bangu. We were correct.
Look what we have now, the most direct and totally unnecessary interference in the politics of Sierra Leone by Olushambles Obasanjo. And what did Or Bangu say? Absolutely nothing! Come on Mr. UDM leader, consistency, consistency and consistency. Alpha Kanu says Olushambles travel at his own expense. He paid his way here to support De Pa. We have no reason to believe him because his name is Alpha Kanu. We are determined to hear from Or Bangu on this issue and we will. We humbly ask our readers to pray for our reporters as we’ve assigned them to go all out and interview Or Bangu. We shall publish it.
WHERE ARE YOUR BODYGUARDS O ALPHA KANU?
The whole nation is still waiting for Alpha Kanu to tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about how his official bodyguard assigned to him by the state of Sierra Leone came to be killed by “bandits” in neighbouring Guinea. The government of Sierra Leone vehicle he was driving in was also taken away. We shall continue asking this question. Alpha Kanu must explain.
It’s not enough to get the poor man’s body hurriedly buried in his home district of Kambia and assume that all is now in the past. No way! The trouble is that Kanu was in Freetown while his personal bodyguard was in Guinea. Doing what? Who or what was he guarding? We have idea about exactly what happened in Guinea. We shall publish at the right time if Kanu continues to treat the people of this country as if they are fools.
The other day, another of Alpha Kanu’s bodyguards was found in the middle of a massive opposition rally in Freetown “guarding” a “Senegalese journalist” who was busy filming the rally. Is that
his bodyguard’s job? Will he be guarding other journalists from Aljazeera, CNN, BBC and so on, when they start arriving for the elections? What is so special about this “Senegalese Journalist” that the minister assigned his personal bodyguard to him just to film a rally in Freetown?
Alpha Kanu, we shall continue asking these questions until we get the answers. And we are not the only ones asking. The family of the poor man killed in Guinea want very clear answers about what the guy was doing in Guinea when his boss was sitting in Freetown? One of them spoke to us. We’ve not heard the police say a word about one of their own who was killed in a foreign land where he wasn’t officially assigned. They are so scared of government functionaries.
When a powerful British cabinet minister recently insulted a policeman at 10 Downing Street, senior police officers rallied around him and brought pressure on Andrew Mitchell until he resigned. Francis Munu has no time for that.
Kanu has us to contend with on this issue. By the way we shall return to Kambia in the coming days for the last pieces of this big puzzle.
VOTER EDUCATION SLBC – STYLE: STOP GBANABOME PLEASE
The SLBC under Gbanabome Hallowell and his deputy has reached the lowest point of bootlicking and incompetence. On the national news the other night, the station covered a so-called voter education exercise in a slum area of Freetown called Mabela. This is something we almost applauded because we still feel inadequate voter education will hurt some candidates in the coming elections, so any effort to at stopping that should be celebrated.
In this case however, it was a complete disgrace. Here what the SLBC put on air: An APC candidate was shown telling his listeners to only vote for the candidate whose name appears number one on the ballot paper – that’s Koroma APC. He said if the people voted for any other candidate, it will be “void.” Is that what the SLBC calls voter education?
Look at that open political campaign in the national news. The news editors at SLBC must hang their heads in shame. Can we also have the NDA candidate do the same thing tonight? We know people want to keep their jobs but such blatant misuse of public trust is just disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful.
(c) Politico 08/11/12
