THE WATERLOO RIOT AND POLICE INJURIES
For many of us sitting in offices in central Freetown, all we saw were pictures of wounded police officers and a scene on the main highway clearly showing the aftermath of a riot at a place popularly called 5-5 on the outskirts of Waterloo town. A police statement later that day explained how school children incited by one of their teachers started a riot because one of their colleagues was knocked down by a vehicle. Inevitably those rioting students were joined by criminals. Apart from the wounding of the police officer, normal activity in that area was disrupted.
We have waited for more than a week now to read press releases from those organizations that easily jump on the back of the police for every little infraction like the police using enhanced tactics to restrain a violent individual when being arrested. There is no word from those organizations and their social media friends who like shouting about police brutality and human rights more than a week after that incident. Are they telling us by their silence on those police injuries that POLICE LIVES DON’T MATTER?
It is easy to call out the police when they put the wrong foot forward and we have also done a fair bit of that because we want our brothers and sisters in uniform to change and for those resisting change to be sacked so they don’t soil the reputation of the SLP. We call on Civil Society Organizations in particular to be even-handed because when a police officer is wounded in the line of duty that should cause national outrage.
1. Police officers are our brothers and sisters and they are sent to confront those rioters from time to time to keep us safe. We understand more than FIFTY people were arrested in that mess at Waterloo. We ask that those who eventually appear in court be taught a good lesson they will NEVER forget.
2. This habit of engaging in a riot when road crashes occur and people are unfortunately killed MUST STOP. Mob justice solves no problem
3. We visited the scene of that riot last weekend and concluded that all the police have done is to close an intersection with crash barriers. Why not do something about motorists who speed their way into those extremely busy junctions day in day out? That’s the only way to prevent another fatal crash.
CLSG DOCUMENT SIGNED NOW LET THERE BE LIGHT
We are being told that Principal will soon appear in Kenema and while there he will visit the newly-constructed electricity power house and shout LET THERE BE LIGHT and there will be light. Electricity will flow from Ivory Coast through CLSG facilities to the benefit of mainly Kenema, Bo, Kono and many small communities along those power lines. It will be an absolute game changer. We cannot begin to imagine how Bo and Kenema in particular would change from the moment the light is switched on.
For many years both districts suffered rolling blackouts over long periods in the day, driving up business overheads and forcing some out of business.
In the recent past we have been given dates on which the lights were supposed to have been switched on but one date after the other came and went. We have very good reason to believe that the next date will stand because of the document signed in Abidjan over the last few days. In fact it took the personal intervention of Ivorian leader, Alhassan Ouattara to get the document signed. Principal dispatched Kotor Juldeh to that country with a personal letter to Ouattara.
Now we are waiting for the date. As for the singing and dancing in those ruling party strongholds there’s not much we can say. We want to start talking about the cost of that supply but we will hold that for now until the lights are on. We suspect however that COST will be the next issue to discuss. We Move!
OPERATION DECONGEST FREETOWN MUST SUCCEED
The SLRSA under James Bio has launched the so-called OPERATION DECONGEST FREETOWN. We don’t know what the main target of this operation is but already we have seen people removing rotten cars from our roads. We have complained a lot in the past, calling on Mayor Kemokai to clear those abandoned vehicles. Let’s also close down street garages. They are a complete nuisance to the movement of people and vehicles. In fact criminal activities are sprung from those roadside garages.
Why the SLRSA took so long to do this is something we don’t understand but it’s good that at last something is being done. We hope they do it well by resisting social media blackmail and pressing on to the end.
Please the owners of all vehicles removed should pay the full coat of that removal plus interest before they recover their vehicles. The taxpayer should never be made to cover that cost.
STOP STEALING FOURAH BAY COLLEGE LAND NOW
If the stealing continues at the current rate the college will be squeezed into the space it now occupies with private homes sharing a fence with some classrooms and administrative buildings in a matter of a decade. What that would look like in terms of the proper functioning of the college is something we don’t want to imagine.
Those stealing FBC land don’t respect the law. They believe they can do anything and get away with it. They are very well organized – they have lawyers, they have trained thugs with deadly weapons, they have journalists to portray them as victims rather than land grabbers and they have corrupt politicians who believe they should do ANYTHING to get votes, including supporting such criminal activity.
Fourah Bay College authorities can cry as much as they want but without doing things practically, on the ground, going on TV and complaining about this and that would continue. They know what we mean by practical things on the ground – they should simply build a wall initially in the areas witnessing the biggest encroachment and eventually the whole place.
They should immediately block off all illegal access points into the campus. These days we here about cars being stolen on FBC campus in broad daylight and we believe that is so because anybody can just turn up on campus and blend in with normal students. There is nothing to distinguish them and people are not obliged to explain their presence on the campus.
We call for all taxis and okadas taking students to and from campus to be registered as a requirement to continue in business. Some okada boys have criminal tendencies that should not be ignored. When all is said and done, there will only be a little respite on that campus when the Leicester road project is completed.
Copyright © Politico Online 08/12/21
