The SLPP I Knew Is No More!

The main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is currently in a sorrowful state, much to the puzzlement and disappointment of sober minded citizens.

It is an undisputable fact that the SLPP used to be a very serious and respectable political party in the country’s political landscape.

The SLPP used to serve as an epitome of political tolerance, peace, education, and a political setting comprised of sober-minded people in Sierra Leone. The party was well known for its respect for the women folks and the rule of law.

SLPP's Tejan Kabbah

For us younger folks, we need not even go into the wonderful legacies of the SLPP during the days of Sir Milton Margai and others to back our argument about the glorious days of the SLPP. The actions of the Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah led SLPP between 1996 and 2007 are enough to exalt the image of the SLPP.

Sadly however, all of the aforementioned fine traits that the SLPP used to enjoy are no more. Now, the name SLPP is largely associated with negative adjectives including killer party, violence party, and of late, “mammy cuss” party. Yes, the SLPP is now known for publicly and officially abusing the mothers of people that holds contrary views from their actions and ideologies. More on the new “mammy cuss” face of the SLPP would be dealt with in subsequent paragraphs.

Bad Decision

It is an open secret that the SLPP’s clean image started to encounter dirty spots during the campaign periods of the party’s internal elections. The said campaigns were marred by physical violence and public raining of abusive languages between and among supporters of leading flagbearer aspirants. Even the National Leader and Chairman of the party, John Oponjo Benjamin was not spared the abusive languages (mammy cusses) and physical attacks. The gentleman was severally attacked by supporters believed to be associated with a particular flagbearer aspirant.

Unfortunately for the party, it never heed to the numerous patriotic and loyal calls for an immediate halt in such a negative trend. All of such calls were not only recklessly rebuffed, but some journalists including myself, actually became victims of life threatening remarks and physical torture by supporters and senior SLPP members.

The alarm bell sounded by the Awareness Times that the SLPP does not deserve a Julius Maada Bio choice was also outrightly dismissed. On Monday 1^st August 2011, the SLPP announced that Julius Maada Bio has been elected to lead the party to the 2012 presidential elections.

SLPP'S Maada Bio

That announcement marks the end of the great, respected and treasured SLPP image. In other words, the decision of the SLPP to put a man with a dirty past that is still fresh in the memories of Sierra Leoneans at the helm of the party’s 2012 presidential bid was the end of the good image the SLPP used to enjoy, and the beginning of a rotten SLPP episode.

Evidently, it’s been over three weeks now since the August 1^st announcement of the opposition presidential candidate and all what the SLPP has been doing is defending a presidential standard-bearer with a blemished character. If the SLPP is not defending extra-judicial killing allegations against Maada, it would be defending dubious passport deals and other fraudulent undertakings believed to have been sanctioned by its presidential candidate. The SLPP has also been defending a faked military rank that its presidential candidate confided to himself.

As all of the aforementioned is happening, many people know that the defensive spree which the SLPP currently finds itself in is just the tip of the iceberg. Some of us are optimistic that the SLPP will not only stop at defending its choice of a candidate called Maada Bio on the newspaper pages and radio airwaves, but the defense will surely graduate to the court rooms.

The bad omen in this is that while Maada Bio would be in the court rooms to plead guilty or not guilty to countless criminal offences during the height of the 2012 presidential elections, the former insurance broker Ernest Bai Koroma would be traversing the length and breathe of the country telling the citizens about his infrastructural and other achievements.

Mammy Cuss SLPP

As if the SLPP has not done itself enough harm by electing a presidential candidate that needs to clarify his role in the extra-judicial brutal murders of my maternal cousin Salamatu Kamara and 28 other Sierra Leoneans, plus many other things, the SLPP’s official newspaper resorted to adding more woes to the party’s already dented image. SLPP’s Unity newspaper is now printing and selling abusive languages against the mothers of people who venture into informing the public about the vicious tendencies of Maada Bio.

Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, the female Publisher of Awareness Times Newspaper and David Tam Baryoh of the popular Monologue radio programme, were last week singled out by the Unity Newspaper as being adversaries of Maada Bio’s presidential bid, and all sorts of abusive languages (mammy cusses) were published against them.

Sylvia Blyden

This is the current gutter state that the once respectable SLPP has reduced itself to – officially raining mammy cusses on respectable female personalities.

What is more worrying and puzzling is the fact that such abusive languages emanating from the SLPP’s official newspaper are directed at Sylvia Olayinka Blyden of all. Am holding no brief for Sylvia, who is always well-placed to adequately take care of such attacks against her, but I cannot resist the urge to take on the SLPP for displaying such ungratefulness backed with rudeness against the country’s only female newspaper publisher.

Notwithstanding the fact that she has never been a member of the SLPP, Sylvia has not only been mostly perceived by many as an SLPP member but has actually been faced with various forms of attacks for the sake of the SLPP. This woman is on record of being a passionate defender of the SLPP and its general membership to an extent of risking her very life. With the aforementioned reality and more, it came as a shock to many Sierra Leoneans to read in the SLPP’s Unity Newspaper abusive languages against Sylvia Blyden’s mother. The mere fact that the SLPP can sanction a publication containing unprintable invectives is absurd, whilst the party’s temerity to direct such mammy cusses at Sylvia Blyden’s mother is one mistake that will surely see the SLPP’s downfall in this country; mark my words.

This is ungratefulness at its highest and it lends credence to the general belief that the SLPP is an ungrateful party. If the SLPP members thought publishing abusive languages in its official newspaper against Sylvia is the best way to intimidate her from exposing the excesses of Maada Bio, they must be surely dreaming. This is naivety and stupidness in the highest degree. SLPP must stop blaming and abusing people’s mothers for its failure to choose an acceptable candidate. Wuna blame wuna sef!

IMC’s Negligence

The recent Unity publications are typical examples of the type of publications the Independent Media Commission (IMC) must not tolerate. But the editors of Unity are having field days raining mammy cusses at people’s mothers. One thing the IMC must know for sure is the fact that nobody has monopoly on mammy cusses. The continuation of such publications backed by the negligence of the IMC to punish the perpetrators will definitely attract similar or even more unpleasant responses. And the IMC will have itself to blame for woefully failing on their duties.

SLPP! Mammy Cuss!! The SLPP is finished.

Wilkinson Road Project Full of Lies

Works Minister Alimamy

Provoked by recent utterances by the Minister of Works, Housing and Infrastructure, Alimamy P. Koroma, this piece seeks to expose the numerous lies and irregularities that have plagued the Wilkinson Road Project being undertaken by a Chinese Construction Company called China Railway Seventh Group.

Just a couple of days ago, Minister Koroma stormed the weekly government press briefing to ‘assure’ the general populace that the Wilkinson Road Project would the completed soon. He furthered that the completed road would be commissioned in October this year.

Minister Koroma blamed the delay in completing the road work on traffic jam and utility companies including Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC), National Power Authority (NPA) and Sierratel. According to him, the work being undertaken by the aforementioned utility companies, vis-à-vis, transfer of their facilities from the right of way to suitable positions, is serving as a major impediment towards the speedy completion of the road.

The above mentioned assertions can only be best described as ‘true lies’ similar to ones being made in the past by certain government officials.

Before critically analyzing the comments of the Minister, let us first and foremost reflect on the timeframe and general irregularities that have so far marred the project under review.

The Wilkinson Road Project, which officially kick-started on July 2010, was supposed to end on July 2011. However, the overall contract agreement, including the sum involved in the contract, remained in absolute secrecy. There are also worrying revelations that the contract between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Chinese Company flouted national procurement rules and regulations.

With this background, the first statement that was expected from the Minister is to tell the people of this country that the China Railway Seventh Group has breached the contract agreement by exceeding its one-year timeframe. He was further expected to announce punitive actions against the Chinese Company for flouting the contract agreement.

Disappointingly however, Minister Koroma, by his utterances, succeeded in portraying himself as the public relations officer of the Chinese company. His public relations undertaking only succeeded in doing more harm than good, as a result of the flimsy excuses and fake assurances he forwarded on behalf of the Chinese Company. Little wonder that these Chinese contractors always treat journalists with utter contempt whenever they are approached for comments on the Wilkinson Road Project. They always tell journalists to “go and ask government” for clarifications on the project. Even when you ask them to tell you when are they expecting to complete the work, they will tell you “go and ask government”. Can the government clearly explain the type of agreement it signed with these Chinese people that they (the Chinese Company) cannot even speak to journalists but rely on the government to serve as their public relations agent?   

Also, does the minister expect his excuse, suggesting that the utility companies were responsible for the delay in completing the work, to hold sway, when the fact remains that the work to be done by those utility companies were supposed to have reflected in the contract agreement, especially with regards to timeframe? Or does the minister want us to believe that the various parties to the contract never took cognizance of the fact that NPA, GVWC and Sierratel had their poles, pipes and cables planted along the new right of way? Some of us are even beginning to think that these utility companies were never contacted prior to the commencement of the contract. This belief is based on the fact that NPA, GVWC and Sierratel only moved in to relocate their facilities at a time when the demolition of structures along the right of way, including poles, cables, transmitters and pipes, had already commenced. The aforementioned occurrence succeeded in subjecting Wilkinson Road and its environs to months of blackout and water crisis. What a bad contract!

These utility companies should have been the first to relocate their properties prior to the commencement of any professional road work. But this was not the case with the Wilkinson Road Project. It was only after the Chinese Contractors had damaged a considerable amount of government property that the utility companies rushed in to repair the damage and save the remaining government property. 

A glance at the Wilkinson Road Project speaks volume of the fact that there is no possibility to complete that work by October, as the minister wants people to believe. I can even bet the Minister that the Wilkinson Road project would not be complete by October. He knows it himself, and it is widely believed that the proffered excuse was just meant to save time for another excuse. No one will doubt another excuse in November suggesting that the failure to complete the road in October was due to the rains. Interesting eh!

Another dubious undertaking by the Chinese people is the removal of the contract sign boards at a time when the contract expiration date was fast approaching. The sign boards indicating the contractor, project financier, start and completion dates et al, which were erected in Lumley and somewhere around Cockeril, mysteriously disappeared by the end of May 2011.

Unfortunately for them was the reality that everybody was already au fait with the fact that the road was to be completed by July 2011.

Is this why these Chinese people now refuse to indicate the start and completion dates on the Spur Road contract? Yes, the China Railway Seventh Group had already commenced work on the road starting from Lumley to Hill Cut junction, but the start and completion dates remain blank on the contract signboards. What a complete disrespect for the country’s procurement laws that demands explicit display of such details!

The least said about the professionalism of the work being undertaken by the Chinese company on the Wilkinson Road the better, because the work has already started deteriorating even before it is complete. Bottom line, I doubt the durability of the work being done at Wilkinson Road.

This latest false assurances and flimsy excuses by the Works Minister did not come as a surprise to some of us who have long detected the lies being spilled out for public consumption by government officials with regards the Wilkinson Road project. In summary, the Wilkinson Road project started with lies and irregularities and the continuation of such lies and irregularities must not surprise anyone.

By Abdul Karim Fonti Kabia

Advise for Youths in Sierra Leone

If ‘great’ is the love we have for thee - Mama Salone - its high time the youths of this country started regarding themselves as the nation’s only instrument of hope in the future by participating productively in the drive to move this nation forward.
 

Youths should not be dependent on the government, but must realize the fact that they owe this nation their loyalty, love and protection. As a former American President once told his countrymen, ‘Ask not what America can do for you, but what you can do for America.’ So Sierra Leoneans must also ask themselves the same question.  They must bear in mind that a disservice to the nation means a disservice to God and posterity will hold them to ransom.

It is no hidden secret that a large percentage of the youth population disgracefully makes living by robbery and other petty crimes. Little wonder that cases of pilfery and mobile phone snatching abound in our city centres.
 

Many of these youths hold the wrong view that they want to work but it’s the government that is reneging on providing employment for them. The question that begs for answer here is what type of employment precisely do these youths seek?
 

Let our youths bear in mind that not everybody can either be educated or employed by the government. I suggest that those not fortunate to be formally educated engage in learning other skills for self employment.
 

A typical case study of youths who have decided to live by their modest trade is seen at Garrison Street where these young men have employed themselves in the art of manicure and pedicure to earn their daily living.
 

Even though the work they are doing will not easily fall into the category of skilled labour, they do earn enough to take care of themselves and their wives and children. “This is what I want other young men to emulate,” Mohamed Kamara who is one of the members in the informal cosmetology trade told this writer who was griped by admiration when he visited their corner at Garrison Street. With an aura of pride, Mohamed also disclosed that they do earn handsomely daily, as he revealed that for a complete pedicure and manicure treatment, it costs a few thousand leones and considering the rate at which women go in for the ‘nail treatment’, these youths are sure to be making fabulous money!

Mohamed again told this writer that the day’s profit is what they use to tip the boys that go in search of customers, pay their rentages and also take care of their livelihood.
 

In spite of the fact that they are faced with challenges in the business, their reputable status can definitely not be compared to those who prefer going about pick pocketing and snatching  people’s mobile phones for these latter ones always risk being sent to jail.
 

Though the government did not provide jobs for them, the reality is that they are making a genuine living out of self employment.
 

Youths of this nation, how long would you allow yourselves to be frustrated by the government for purportedly not meeting your expectations? Is this what has dragged you into indulging in crimes and parasitical way of life?
 

Help this nation by helping yourselves so tomorrow we all will proudly say “this is the land that we love, our Sierra Leone.”
 

If we wish for the blessings and peace of this land to descend on us all, we must keep our pledge of love and loyalty to our country by developing our livelihoods all by ourselves.
Thanks for not only listening but for also heeding to this short advise.

Abdul Fonti