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Tuesday
May 20, 2014
- The moving story of a man, who at age 66
decided to go for it and four years later at 70
graduated from college. Jerry Reid is an
inspiration to all those who believe that age
should not be a barrier.
CBS last evening
broadcast the moving story of
Jerry Reid
who at 70, joined other college students in
their twenties and teens to receive his
well-deserved degree. As CBS noted on its
website -
Many college
graduates
look back at
their years
on campus as
the best
time of
their lives.
One member
of the Class
of '14 might
agree with
that. He
aced college
on his third
try. This is
not the
story of a
70-year-old
going to
college.
It's the
story of how
this
70-year-old,
Jerry Reid,
went total
immersion at
the
University
of Virginia.
He donned an
orange wing
and could
been seen
leaping up
and down at
a UVA
basketball
game. He
rushed the
passer on a
flag
football
team named
for him. You
could also
find him at
his
fraternity,
Chi Phi, and
yes, at the
library
working on
his thesis.
Four years ago, at age 66, Reid decided not just to get a degree but to live the undergraduate life. Why did he make that choice? "I couldn't see doing it any other way because I missed it. The first time around I was too stupid and too self-absorbed and too self-destructive to realize what I was giving up," he said.
There you ago - a theme and scenario that could be facing many in Sierra Leone where the problem gets even more compounded with the political, social, economic and the get-rich-quick by any means malaise.
The moving story of Jerry Reid throws the spotlight on academic frauds in Sierra Leone who claim to have qualifications they really have not earned but would still want to sit out the grand deception of having a Dr before of a PhD after their names, to give a few examples. A wakeup call for those in that category and to hear Jerry saying there's a message in what he's done - Is there a message here for people in their 60s who feel like it's over?
"That message is that you're not over until you say it's over," ...."No matter how old you are, the world is still in front of you. It's not behind you".
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Saturday
May 3, 2014
-
World Press Freedom Day
2014 - This
year's theme is - "Media freedom for a better
future: Shaping the post-2015 development
agenda." Sierra Leone is downgraded from
Free to Partly Free in press freedom.
According to
UNESCO this year the focus is on three
inter-related themes:
media’s importance in
development;
safety of journalists
and the rule of law; and
the sustainability and
integrity of journalism. In 2015,
the lofty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
will come to an end. Their influence in shaping
flows of development aid, and national policies
and practices, has been significant. In their
place will likely be a new set of goals, which
are being debated internationally under the
label of "the post 2015 Development Agenda".
It is time once
again to see how countries have been performing
with regards to freedom of the press and the
rights of journalists to report on what they
think is right, wrong or not just doesn't look
good in the countries in which they operate.
Sierra Leone has now gone from Free to Partly
Free. According to
Freedom House
Sierra Leone declined to this status, Partly
Free, "due
to persistent problems with corruption and
transparency" and that for a country where the
rat is king does not spell well for a Sierra
Leone still trying to rise from the ashes of a
very brutal, destructive and all-consuming war.
And the genesis of that war, declared over by
the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 2002,
could be traced to rampant corruption as
highlighted in the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission Report. The reports of the
Commissions of Inquiry set up by the National
Provisional Ruling Council, the NPRC also
highlighted the level of corruption that was
encouraged which made honest Sierra Leoneans
perceived as "stupid and unproductive".
This new and disgraceful status
could be traced to the
crackdown on journalists
and press houses that refused to
tow the government line because they do not want
to feed fat on the droppings from the corrupt
rat at State House. The order from above (read
the rat's directive) that saw editor Jonathan
Leigh and staff of his newspaper harassed,
detained and incarcerated before being taken to
court on trumped up charges and denied bail many
times is just too fresh in the minds of
journalists. Other media houses were ransacked
by security officials acting "on orders from
above" as the government tried to muzzle the
press in Sierra Leone.
It would be recalled that quite
recently, the government rushed through the
Right to Information Act, which according to
Freedom House - "aims
to promote transparency, good governance, and
accountability in the West African nation. It
establishes the right to access government
information and requires all governmental
departments to widely distribute a formal
strategy for making their records publicly
available. The new law also imposes a penalty
for those who fail to comply. In passing this
legislation, Sierra Leone joined only 10 other
countries in Africa with freedom of information
laws in place. In the months to come, the
government and the international community must
ensure that the law is fully implemented, as
observers have noted serious and growing
problems involving corruption and a lack of
transparency over the past year".
In a message
from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he has
noted, among others -
"Journalists
are singled out for speaking or writing
uncomfortable truths – kidnapped, detained,
beaten and sometimes murdered. Such treatment is
completely unacceptable in a world ever more
reliant on global news outlets and the
journalists who serve them...There must be no
impunity for those who target journalists for
violence, intimidation or distorted uses of
legal procedures to disrupt or impede their
work. Freedom of expression, independent media
and universal access to knowledge will fortify
our efforts to achieve lasting results for
people and the planet."
Long live
press freedom.
MORE
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Tuesday
April 29, 2014
- Good morning Sierra Leone. Just a reminder
that twenty two years ago on this day - April
29, 1992 - a historic event unfolded in Sierra
Leone that ended 24 years of APC despotic and
unconstitutional grip on power. And so was the
National Provisional Ruling Council, the NPRC
came into being, a military junta that was
recognised both nationally and by the
international community. Lessons learnt by the
rat? We think not. 
We believe that
despite the many lives ruined, lost and left in
disarray, the rat has refused to learn from the
pages of history, refused to learn from the
pages of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
report and above all he has allowed himself to
hear what he wants to hear, see what he wants to
see and feel what he wants to feel. This is a
recipe for chaos and a sure sign that if he does
not come to his senses and correct his myriad of
mistakes in his second and final term in office,
he will only have himself to blame. On our part
we shall do our best to keep reminding him and
his company of nation wreckers that they owe
Sierra Leone a duty not to tread the path that
we have been through - a path that saw for the
first time in post-independence Sierra Leone an
armed insurrection at the end of which some tens
of thousands of lives were lost, snuffed out in
sometimes extraordinarily brutal and vicious
circumstances. It was a brutal war that
witnessed rape and the disrespect for our
womenfolk, the old and the disadvantaged
reaching such high and violent levels that
international justice declared rape used as an
instrument of war - a war crime.
We have in the
past written a brief account of how this day,
twenty two years ago came into being.
Recall this 2009 article, if you
will and then this written just two years ago on
the
20th anniversary
of this historic day. Let us also remind the rat
and his train of hired praise singers about a
section of the TRC report relating to the 1991
outbreak of war on our soil.
"The Commission, as its first primary
finding, found that the conflict represented an
extraordinary failure of leadership on the part
of all those involved in government, public life
and civil society. No enlightened and visionary
leaders emerged to steer the country away from
the slide into chaos and bloody civil war...The Commission heard submissions from a variety of
authoritative sources that the war in Sierra Leone was largely the result of
failures in governance and institutional processes in the country. Successive
governments diminished the state's capacity to meet such critical challenges as
the security and livelihood of its citizens, let alone to provide for democratic
participation in decision-making processes".
The present
system of governance has seen the Judiciary and
Parliament as well as the National Electoral
Commission, independent bodies now only in name
become compromised to serve the wishes of the
Executive and this does not augur well for a
country still trying to recover from the ravages
of a brutal war. Repeating what has been warned
against in that report and by wise counsel
appears to be a deliberate attempt at not
wishing to consolidate the peace.
To end, let us
remind the rat at State House of the message
sent to the people of Sierra Leone by
US Secretary of State John
Kerry and in particular this
message - "There are still miles to go to build
durable, democratic institutions, provide
services, and improve governance. But Sierra
Leoneans will not face these challenges alone.
The United States remains deeply invested in
peace and stability in Sierra Leone and will
continue to lend its support." And that support,
we believe does not include tampering with the
constitution to stay longer in power.
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Sunday
April 27, 2014
- Today is another day to give thanks to
Almighty God as we observe the 53rd anniversary
of Sierra Leone's attainment of independence -
political freedom that would allow us to take
care of our own destiny. It has been a long hard
road with unexpected twists, ironies and
intertwined moments of joy, sorrow and sheer
grief...but we plod on hoping that at the end of
it all - all will be well for each and every one
of us. 
It's another April
27 and time to celebrate the only country that
we can truly call our very own - Sierra Leone -
the land that we should love. We state should
advisedly because we have seen quite a flurry of
"land that we love" expressions which could well
be a slogan that does not come from the heart.
Indeed if we all claim to love the country
called Sierra Leone, then we should be asking
and looking for avenues of making the lot of the
people who inhabit the land better for the land
is not just the territory defined as Sierra
Leone with international borders, but the people
who inhabit it especially the majority who are
treated as if they have no right to be within
the borders of the country.
If indeed you
love the land called Sierra Leone as well as its
peoples, then as from today start thinking and
actually planning on how to lift them - from
being the dregs of society to be used for
political gains - on to a people who should be
proud that they can still live life to the full
in the country without the benefit of political
connections. If indeed you love the land and the
people of Sierra Leone, then as from today
kindly put a stop to all the manipulations and
shenanigans that see you and your ilk becoming
rich at the expense of the poor - simply put,
start becoming honest in all that you do and put
the country and people first rather than
personal bank accounts and wealth. If you start
doing this as from today, then "Land that we
love" becomes more than a slogan but something
which means that you care for your neighbour and
we don't mean the person next door but neighbour
as explained in the pages of the Good Book, the
Bible and the
parable of the Good
Samaritan.
We would not
bother you about the details of how Sierra Leone
got to this stage in 1961 nor about why the
government of Sir Milton thought it a wise move
to have a group of people including one Siaka
Stevens who were opposed to independence at that
time, firmly locked up at Pademba Road until all
celebrations were done in peace and harmony and
in a joy-filled atmosphere. Could this be the
reason why Siaka Stevens tried to impose April
19 as the day to be celebrated instead of our
true date of independence as he had declared
Sierra Leone a republic on April 19, 1971?
We would urge
you to read the whole text of the last
independence day speech in
2007 delivered by the one and
only Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the man who, together
with true and determined patriots brought the
peace that we all now enjoy within the borders
of Sierra Leone, never mind the fact that a
chief operative of the destructive and murderous
Revolutionary United Front, the RUF, one Omrie
Golley has now been appointed Sierra Leone's
envoy to some country. Yes indeed. It was this
man who was on the international media, the BBC
in particular who told the world that the RUF
does not commit atrocities and that if any of
their commanders are involved, would be brought
to trial and punished!!!. Yes indeed.
MORE
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Friday April 25,
2014
- The thieving games of the rat and his
cohorts - manipulating tax and other concessions
in secret deals. The APC and the duty free
money-making machine. One fine day the truth
will out as Sierra Leoneans discovered in the
matter of one Michael Abdulai who went as far as
to bequeath payment deals from the Sierra Leone
Ports Authority. 
The government of
the rat as well as all his operatives must have
read the recent report from Christian Aid titled
LOSING OUT REPORT
in which the
government's attention was brought to something
it already knew about and failed to do anything
concrete to correct because the entire scheme
was in place to benefit the corrupt. The report
notes, among other issues that -
"transparent tax system supports good governance
and the accountability of policy-makers towards
the public. But the granting of special tax
incentives in opaque deals, at the discretion of
individual ministers, without public scrutiny,
undermines good governance and can increase the
risk of corruption"
"There are three
major problems with government policy on tax
incentives. First, too many tax incentives are
granted to individual companies at the
discretion of a very small number of ministers
and officials. Such a system can lead to an
increased risk of corruption and the possibility
that deals will be offered to companies that are
outside or go beyond national legislation. In
fact, Sierra Leone’s constitution requires tax
waivers to be approved by parliament. Secondly,
related to this, transparency is extremely poor.
Many of the tax incentives are negotiated behind
closed doors between government and companies,
with no effective parliamentary or media
scrutiny. The government does not publish any
figures on total tax expenditure. Thirdly, the
government has produced no solid economic
rationale for offering widespread tax incentives
in Sierra Leone."
We would again
remind the nation wreckers sailing under the
flag of the rat that one fine day, there will be
initiated many hours of reckoning that will
reveal all that is done in the dark as we
witnessed in the wake of the historic event of
April 29, 1992 when the autocratic, despotic and
human rights abusing citadel of the "Live
Forever" APC was brought down. We predicted and
we know that if given State House again, those
who benefited from twenty four years of misrule
would still be clamouring for the heads of those
who dared to boot them out of power. We would
again ask them to re-read the revelations
recorded in documents of the Commissions of
Inquiry instituted by the National Provisional
Ruling Council, the NPRC so that they may know
how the country was taken to the cleaners during
twenty four years of thieving and undemocratic
behaviour that made corruption the core of
governance in those terrible days.
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Tuesday
February 25, 2014
- Save the Children releases new report on
ending newborn deaths as well as ensuring every
baby survives. It is a crucial report which puts
the spotlight on maternal and child health
picture throughout the world. The report is not
only critical of health delivery systems, but
offers a way out for governments that have fared
badly on the scales as Save the Children reveals
that "One
Million Babies Die Globally on the First Day of
Their Life". 
The Children's
Advocacy group, Save the Children has issued
a report
that clearly puts the spotlight on why, for
example, Africa has scored so badly with
specific examples that should guide government
on how best they should go about saving the
lives of mothers as well as the newborn on a
continent beset by many problems. In a statement
issued by Save the Children, the organisation
notes
- "The new report,
"Ending Newborn Deaths," shows one
half of first day deaths around the world could
be prevented if the mother and baby had access
to free health care and a skilled midwife. The
children's aid agency says the deaths happen
because of premature birth and complications
during birth, such as prolonged labour, pre-eclampsia
and infection, which can be avoided if quality
health experts are present. The research also
found an additional 1.2 million babies are
stillborn each year, their heartbeats stopping
during labour because of childbirth
complications, maternal infections and
hypertension. In a bid to save millions of
newborn lives, Save the Children has
called on world leaders to commit in 2014 to a
blueprint for change – The Five Point Newborn
Promise – which focuses on training and
equipping enough skilled health workers to make
sure no baby is born without proper help, and
removing fees for all pregnancy and birth
services.
In
a part of the report titled -
"Ten
countries with the highest rates of first-day
deaths and stillbirths during labour"
Sierra Leone
has been ranked near the top of this group after
Pakistan and Nigeria - a clear indication that
more needs to be done in this direction by
backing words and intentions with real action on
the ground.
We
were impressed to hear today's report from
Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital that things
appear to be improving as narrated by the BBC's
Umaru Fofana when he visited the Ola During
Children's Hospital where mothers says they were
not being charged or harassed for fees and other
needed support services. We hope that this was
not a show for the BBC reporter and that the
same could now be said of the many health
delivery systems in the country.
MORE
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Wednesday February 19, 2014
-
Human Rights Watch slams London Mining in report
out today. A new 96-page report throws light on
a number of issues relating to the company's
operations and its treatment and relationships
with workers, traditional authority, labour
unions and that Bumbuna protest in which Musu
Conteh was murdered by a Sierra Leone police
armed with weapons of war. "Sierra Leonean authorities should also meaningfully address
longstanding human rights problems such as corruption, opaque
governance, unrestrained security forces, lack of clarity in land
ownership, and abuses of authority by powerful local chiefs." 
According to Human
Rights Watch, The 96-page report,
“Whose
Development?: Human Rights Abuses in Sierra Leone’s Mining Boom,” documents how the government
and London-based African Minerals Limited forcibly relocated
hundreds of families from verdant slopes to a flat, arid area in
Tonkolili District. As a result, residents lost their ability to
cultivate crops and engage in income generating activities that once
sustained them. Police carried out a bloody crackdown in the town of
Bumbuna in April 2012 to quell a protest by workers who went on
strike after being barred from forming a union of their own
choosing.
The report's
author
Rona Peligal, deputy
Africa director at Human Rights Watch insists that "the African Minerals Limited case shows that, unless the government
puts a stop to mining operation abuses, the people who most need to
benefit from development will be excluded from it.”
Human Rights
Watch slammed the government for what the
organisation sees as a deliberate ploy by it to
please extractive companies rather than the
people whose resources were being exploited - "The government also did not take action in response to apparent
African Minerals Limited violations of Sierra Leone labor laws
concerning employment, termination, and benefits for its workers.
The government’s narrow reading of national labor law as well as
political wrangling denied the company’s workers the ability to form
a union of their choosing, rather than belong to an established
union that the workers regarded as ineffectual." For its part
London Mining
has provided answers to questions raised by
Human Rights Watch. It is a written response and
we would not be wrong in assuming that it was a
well-thought-out document that provided answers
to questions the government should have been
asking of the company rather than having a
rights group taking up matters on behalf of the
disadvantaged people of Sierra Leone whose
natural resources are being depleted all the
time. Kindly read through the African Minerals
answers and you decide what picture we have here
in one of the many extractive concerns that
operate in Sierra Leone...and ah yes, they were
asked about the
shooting incident in
Bumbuna in which
Musu Conteh
was murdered.
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