MAYOR KEMOKAI REFUSES TO ACT AGAINST RAMPANT STREET TRADING
We have to now put our hands up and admit that we have lost control of some of the main streets in Freetown and other major cities to street trading and the criminal behavior accompanying it. Half of Rawdon Street and Back Street in Freetown cannot now be accessed by motorists because they have been taken over by traders. That largely explains the usual gridlock in the Central Business District and high levels of criminal activity in those places.
The latest type of street trading that is taking place in Freetown involves big companies erecting tents at major roundabouts in the country. At Lumley for example, a Nescafe tent has been erected for some time now and we have reason to believe that it is becoming a security risk for that community in particular and commuters in general. The tent is now hosting bandits at night for surveillance and eventual attack on innocent people. At that same point DSTV has erected another tent. At Wilberforce-Bottom Mango, there is almost a permanent structure in the center of that roundabout. What is really happening?
At the busy PZ area petty traders mixed with major companies have long ago taken over the center of that roundabout. No one is talking or attempting to protect pedestrians from the bandits who operate in broad daylight across the area with more attention to Sani Abacha Street.
We have no problem with people engaging in petty trading to feed their families. We also have no problem with companies advertising their products but on both sides we believe those activities should not be allowed to close down whole streets all day and night. Traders should not create no-go zones for motorists Companies advertising products can spend a few hours advertising and move on using mobile facilities. There should be no permanent structures erected in the middle of our busy junctions.
We call on Sovula to move against this development right now. As we draw towards elections in the next two years or so, Mayor Kemokai is becoming increasingly politically-correct, allowing everything to happen in Freetown to protect her unreliable votes. We’ll see.
THE MENACE OF ABANDONED VEHICLES ON OUR ROADS
We join the rest of the country to express our condolences to the families and friends of those three young SLPP stalwarts killed in that road crash the other day between Daru and Segbwema in the eastern district of Kailahun. As usual we are told a police investigation is in progress and we don’t know what will happen next. What we do know right now is that we have lost three young souls who were influential members of the country’s ruling party with a reasonable level of education.
The circumstance of their death is being investigated but we are told that they crashed their motorbike into an abandoned truck. The truck, we are told, had been in that spot for a whole week. Here’s what we want to put on the table:
1. The case of the three dead people is on the national agenda possibly because they are influential members of the ruling party. We know that people are dying so needlessly across Sierra Leone with such abandoned vehicles at the center of it all. We understand the grief and pain felt by their families and political friends but we want to use this opportunity to call attention to this problem. and urge action.
2. The police and SLRSA should not tell us they don’t know what to do to hurriedly clear vehicles from the roads when there is a breakdown or how to protect other motorists when it becomes inevitable that such vehicles would have to be on the road for hours or days. We will soon start holding them personally responsible for such deaths because of their failure to act.
3. Collecting license fees yearly from vehicle owners is one thing, certifying vehicles as worthy to be on the roads is another because sometimes we wonder how SLRSA clears certain vehicles to be on the roads. They are just terrible. Now we have lost three lives in just one incident. We can’t continue like this.
RASTA SENGS SAYS TEACHERS MUST STOP BEATING THEIR PUPILS
We don’t know the extent to which school pupils are still being flogged in schools when they go off the rails these days but Rasta Sengs says it must stop now. Opinion on the streets of Freetown as to the wisdom behind this move is mixed. There is a significant group that thinks corporal punishment must remain as a deterrent to bad behavior. In the normal run of things it is our job to reflect what all sides of the debate say and not make our opinion known, but the issue is of such importance that we feel compelled to throw in a word or two.
1. We are not supporters of corporal punishment but we need Rasta Sengs to indicate alternative methods of letting young trouble makers know they had stepped out of line.
2. We have serious concerns about what will become of law and order in our schools. Even with corporal punishment in place, look at what the children are doing all over the place. With that threat now removed, we can only imagine the rest.
3. So what happens if a teacher MISTAKENLY lands some stroke of the cane on the backs of their pupils? There are some teachers who enjoy whipping children around. Would they be sacked or thrown into prison?
ACC SCORPIONS AND ROGUE SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
Once again we thank the ACC and their allies for successfully tracking down and arresting those Sierra Leoneans who have made it their business to destroy the future leaders of this country. Principal is busy pushing his Human Capital Development agenda but our own people are also determined to derail that process because they want to put money in their pockets.
When ACC paraded some of the rogue teachers near the Cotton Tree some time ago, all manner of so-called civil society groups suddenly emerged from their holes with press statements shouting human rights and presumption of innocence. We now have to wonder why several days after the latest arrests our civil society groups have not found it necessary to speak out in support of the ACC and urge them to bring the matter to court right now.
We know all the human rights literature and we know why we have them but as Sierra Leoneans we support some shock and awe tactics at times to send out a powerful message that we care about the future of this country. How do we know that the backlash against the ACC did not encourage the new nation wreckers to step up?
The most ridiculous argument we read somewhere was one that accused the ACC of only chasing teachers while politicians stole the nation’s money. We are interested to know where that person has been all this while. Up with ACC!
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (22/09/21)
