FOUR C4C MPs IN BIG MESS OVER KONO UNIVERSITY LOAN APPROVAL
We are trying hard not to believe the news coming from about half a dozen Kono social media chat rooms and blogs about the actions of FOUR of the MPs representing constituencies in that district having to do with the parliamentary debate and approval of a loan facility for the construction of the University of Science and Technology in Kono land. To cut a long story short, the main allegation is that the FOUR MPs walked out of parliament at a crucial stage of the debate and didn’t return until the loan was ratified.
There’s a lot of absenteeism in this parliament but for Kono MPs in particular to leave the house when a matter as important as approving a loan to construct such a prestigious institution for their children and grandchildren in their district is something we find almost impossible to believe. What were they thinking?
One of the campaign materials that the C4C party they represent used to devastate Tolongbo was the failure to deliver the promised Kono University by King Messi.
How can anybody explain this? Here’s what we know: The people of Kono cried for a University from Tolongbo, Tolongbo promised to deliver but they failed and in anger, the people of Kono helped throw Tolongbo out of State House using C4C as a vehicle. With Tolongbo gone, Kono University is here and those same MPs who are products of that 2018 anger and swing from Tolongbo refused to take part in the parliamentary debate to approve the loan to build the same Kono University because Tolongbo, working through Chief Sidikie asked them to stay away for purely political reasons.
Tolongbo believes that whatever is left for them in Kono will finally slip through their fingers with the University in place. That may well be the case but for these FOUR guys what is more important – the University in Kono or their loyalty to Chief Sidikie and Tolongbo?
This is a story that will run until the next general and presidential elections when the fate of these MPs will be decided. We will be all over it.
AMERICA RECOGNIZES THE WORK DONE BY AFRO BOY
Afro Boy received very good news this week. He was identified by the most powerful country in the world for his good work at the Anti-Corruption Commission, ACC in Sierra Leone. His name goes down in the good books of the Super Power as one of those good public servants around the world fighting corruption and its consequences on the poorest of the poor. We don’t have to like Afro Boy or his style of doing things but we can agree that this recognition by the Americans is reserved for only the best and he is one of them. Well done.
In the days running up to this announcement there were reports on social media and in some mainstream newspapers about the departing US ambassador to this country taking issues with Afro Boy and his ACC about the quality of their output. We can’t say whether those reports were credible or not but the attempt by many to create the impression Afro Boy had lost the confidence of the Americans in his war against graft has not been corroborated by this award from the very Americans who are supposed to be so dissatisfied.
This award does not mean there are no areas of the ACC’s work that require some change or improvement. We believe this is a way of telling Afro Boy and the people of Sierra Leone that the fight against graft in this country is going well so far and it must continue relentlessly and with increased vigor.
Anyway, behind Afro Boy at ACC is a fantastic team of highly trained professionals dedicated to the struggle against corruption and without them the war against graft would have been lost long before Principal appointed Afro Boy to that job. We congratulate them for serving their country so well. The fight is on.
JOHANSEN PLAYS ANOTHER TRICK TO REMAIN IN OFFICE
Once again the convening of the SLFA Elective Congress has been thrown into huge doubt by Queen Isha Johansen. She issued a statement in the last 72 hours saying that the conference is being postponed because her own judicial bodies need more time to vet candidates and that in any case, her gods at FIFA want it that way. As far as we are concerned, this is one more from her 100 bag of tactics to remain in office beyond the constitutional limit.
FIFA, NSA, Parliament or all the others may have written to say this or that but the fact remains that she created all the conditions that gave birth to another extension of her term of office. Here’s why we say that:
1. The judicial bodies say they have a lot of petitions to deal with and they may be true but the real point is Queen Johansen and her secretariat indicated long before now by their words and actions that they will not be conducting a free and fair process so all candidates at taking extra care to avoid being dispatched down the drain like Wonder Boy.
2. Leaked audios have emerged of her key campaign people shamelessly giving instructions to members of the judicial bodies as to which candidates to disqualify and on what grounds. Who do you think will treat the whole process with any seriousness?
3. We are now in a position where only Johansen knows when the Elective Congress would take place. A lot of people are clearly fed up with all her political manipulations aimed at keeping her in office without having to face her opponents at the ballot box. We may be in for another THREE years of Johansen if serious actions are not taken by the so-called moral guarantors.
POOR QUALITY EGGS IN OUR MARKET, WE MUST ACT
When the price of an egg came down to 1,000 Leones from 1,500 Leones, people thought it was just the usual shift in the price of commodities based on market factors. Well reports have surfaced that the eggs that were going for that price, were not good enough. The taste is unreal and the smell itself questionable. We need to first ask, how did the bad product get into this country in the first place? Our land borders are supposed to be closed to curb the coronavirus pandemic and if those eggs passed through one of those entry points, then it’s scary, as one could imagine what else could have been allowed in. If on the other hand they came through our seaport, then some people there corruptly let the eggs through and never followed the mandatory health and safety checks.
There are some guys down at the Quay with files who will insist on importers showing certificates for bales of used clothing and yet we see expired foodstuffs flooding the market.
People are not afraid to dump garbage in this country because they know readily available accomplices are always out there to aid them in their dirty trade. We are very much concerned over this latest egg scare. Bad eggs can cause Salmonella which can lead to fever, vomiting and diarrhea. We may never know the number of people that could have been affected by this already especially in a country with a small percentage of people going to hospital.
We know our Poultry farmers here can’t match the demand of consumers, for they struggle a lot in keeping their business running. The poultry feed and day-old chicks are quite expensive and there are hardly reliable hatcheries here, with many local farmers having to go to neighboring Guinea to buy and transport the chicks to this country. But that should not in any way get unscrupulous people to dump into the market food that is unfit for human consumption. We need the authorities to step up.
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