NERVOUS SIERRA LEONE POLICE AND ARBITRARY CURFEW ORDERS
Once again we want to raise the issue of police officers issuing curfew orders at the slightest provocation without regard for the civil liberties and the socio-economic consequences for the people in the affected communities. Kenema and Bo are now in complete lock down just because of what the police call “riotous conduct”.
The other day it was the turn of Kailahun. We understand the angle from which the Sierra Leone Police under Francis Munu is operating but we warn Munu that it is unwise to continuously play around with our civil liberties to his own advantage. We hold no brief for anybody attempting to disrupt the peace but we have seen worse incidents in Freetown for which Munu and his men did absolutely nothing, nor was any curfew imposed.
We can name some: When some lowlife musicians attacked each other at the beach and opened fire killing an innocent man, did Munu declare a curfew in Freetown? Didn’t the guy get audience with De Pa at State House instead? Has Munu ever declared curfew in Freetown when secondary school children have rampaged through the streets with all types of offensive weapons? With all the lawlessness coming out of ghettos and car wash joints in Freetown, has Munu ever declared a curfew in Freetown? Why has Munu not slammed a curfew in the face of growing armed robbery – Christmas don cam again. When those common criminals ransacked Saint John and Brookfields on 11th May this year on the so-called Bob Marley night, did Munu declare a curfew? The Sierra Leone Police should not create the impression that they are selective in applying the law.
There is no need to lock people up in their homes and close down their businesses because seven people are said to be engaged in “riotous conduct”. There’s “riotous conduct” taking place on the streets of Freetown everyday. This city should be under permanent curfew, applying Munu’s police logic.
BOYCOTTS START ALL OVER AGAIN: IS THE SLPP NOT MISSING THE POINT?
Even before the new MPs take their seats in parliament, the SLPP Executive Committee is asking them to start a boycott of parliament. Those on local councils are also being called upon to do the same. We think this is a political strategy aimed at achieving God knows what. At some point, the SLPP are going to come to terms with the reality facing them – they have lost the election and they have five more years on the opposition benches. We can go on arguing about the credibility of the elections until Ernest Bai Koroma leaves office. The reality is: he is the president for now.
And this talk about boycotting will not last longer than a few weeks because the other reality is that people have been elected and they want to start representing their people – and of course enjoy their newfound status. The party will not be able to keep all of them out of parliament and local councils for long. There’s no point trying to achieve a total boycott when not even one of your elected officials is ready to stay out in the cold beyond a week.
The SLPP will face hard times in parliament with the number the APC has at its disposal particularly with those undemocratic chiefs aligning themselves with whichever government is in power. The SLPP have to spend a lot of time thinking about how to conduct an effective opposition under those circumstances instead of swimming against a rough tide like this.
Power is with the APC. Let’s move on. Go now and prove to the people in the councils you control that you are the best and showcase that to the whole country while you wait for 2017. If you people think we are too simplistic; try the option you have proposed. This is not a threat.
OSMOND CLOSES THE DOOR ON PMDC: BUT THE HORSES HAD LONG BOLTED ANYWAY
Elections are over now and the next phase of the survival game is underway. The Deputy Minister of Transport who’s been missing in action for years has suddenly sprung to life and his first act is to RESIGN from the PMDC or what is left of it. Come on Osmond we will not fall for this. Our minister’s soul has always been with the APC since he found his way into the ministry of transport. Like his Caribbean-loving boss, Osmond has simply been absent at the table. Now, fearing that following the routing that the APC faced on his watch in Bonthe De Pa would throw him out on the streets soon, Osmond has decided to attack his former boss in the most opportunistic way. De Pa is not amused, Mr. Minister.
OSMOND: “The afore-mentioned leadership failed woefully to display true leadership based on honesty of purpose and sincerity to the welfare of the party that should have been informed by reality instead quixotic fantasies and blind kowtowing sentiments...”
TWITTER – Brother Osmond, just say you’ve now formally resigned in a last minute push to keep your job in government. All this is just empty rhetoric. Bro, your fight to be in the president’s new cabinet is just like Don Quixote’s in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes. You have attacked your leader in this way to achieve something you know is impossible. We shall be tweeting on this issue again soon.
CHRISTIANA THORPE SAYS GO POLICE
Mama Thorpe is the only Sierra Leonean who has so much faith in the Sierra Leone Police. For starters many people have decided never to report any matter to the SLP because they don’t believe they will get justice. People are also moving away from the courts in droves because cases take too long and they have no reason to believe that justice is always done. So in the main, we have no problem with Christiana asking people to report electoral offences to the police, the cynicism around all this is that people see it as a way of not getting results at all or getting a politically correct result. That’s very bad for a national institution like the police on which we have put so much money, forget the new uniforms.
Here’ our example: The same police arrested the first three people caught in electoral fraud and quickly processed them through the courts in a blaze of publicity with Christiana standing on a soap box. Some are still languishing in jail. When Christiana herself presented a second list with more names of electoral fraudsters, the police failed woefully and we know why. So while it’s the text book reply to say GO POLICE, the real question is why does Christiana think people are so cynical about any mention of the police?
Next time Christiana asks for special NOVENA prayers, the priests should tell her to GO POLICE. If she had confidence in the police that much, why did she allow armed soldiers, not police, to serve as her bodyguards in peace time Sierra Leone? Is that their job? She was correct in asking that evidence be presented to the police but why didn’t she at least complain that all other electoral offences before the latest ones were treated with levity. Confidence in the police under Munu is gone ma'am. In case you do not know.
CAN WE SING SOME CHRISTMAS CAROLS NOW PLEASE?
Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way... sorry, are we free to do this now? You see, we are deep into the Christmas season and we are still engrossed in politics, politics and more politics. Please let’s not have elections so close to Christmas anymore. The election has disrupted the whole Christmas calendar.
We have not started receiving those plane loads of Jaycees with only a few weeks to go. We miss their fake accents, white towels thrown around their necks, Grafton water bottles handy, US dollar bills and those bogus promises to our unsuspecting young ladies. The Jaycees are an interesting lot. They come to Freetown once every year and instead of thanking us for hanging in despite all the difficulties, they look down on people.
One Jaycee who had spent only a year in the UK once told a friend at Lungi airport that he didn’t want to have anything to do with salone money – the LEONE. His friend was shocked and rocked beyond belief. After a few minutes, he directed the Jaycee’s attention to a British guy doing business at a forex bureau and said: “that British guy is exchanging pound sterling for leones.” As far as some of our Jaycees are concerned, home-based people are up to no good – they are lazy and corrupt and idle. De Pa’s last government provided the opportunity for us to know where the most corrupt and lazy Sierra Leoneans lived. Long live the TEMPORARY PROTECTION STATUS.
By the way, will Munu ban all street parties this year? There are people who live on all those streets like Berwick Street, Bathurst Street, Walpole Street and others who have no interest in street carnivals. They need a quiet place to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas not the free-for-all alcohol-drinking and marijuana-smoking spree that characterises those parties.
Let the Jaycees come. In fact the home-based players are warming up for the contest. Lumley beach will be the main venue. How many police officers will Munu deploy? Let’s have Mac-P again please?
© Politico 29/11/2012
