It was eighteen years ago today January 6, 1999 when the awful horror known as the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil, otherwise known as the beasts launched their murderous invasion of the capital in a bid to seize power, by whatever means, from the democratically-elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Eighteen years ago, Sierra Leoneans came face to face with what one survivor called - Satan walking the streets and alleyways of the capital Freetown. By the time they were again forced out of the capital, close to six thousand, if not more, lay dead murdered by a gang that was determined, using all means at its command, to punish civilians who had refused to recognise the illegal regime that was set up after the overthrow of the Tejan Kabbah government on May 25, 1997.

Many accounts have been written about January 6, 1999 and the awful horror unleashed by a vengeful band of killers wanting to punish civilians for not only refusing to co-operate with them while in power from May 1997 to February 1998, but for their support for the ECOMOG intervention force that had helped push them out. Throughout all the stories run one thread - all agreed that the rebels of the AFRC/RUF were bent on extreme violence on civilians in the form of rape, mutilations and summary executions. They entered Freetown - well armed and prepared and knew exactly what to do with civilians caught in their bloody nets.

Remember this? We have testimonies of those who enjoyed this distinct "privilege" and were spared and protected. One witness told us - "They knew we supported them while the junta was in power...and so helped protect us during the January invasion and its aftermath" These were the people who pointed out and fingered all those perceived to have been anti-junta. We continue to see the beneficiaries of this mayhem in their justification for the mindless mayhem insisting that it was all the fault of the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah - that he should have had a dialogue with the beast Foday Sankoh and that if he had done that Sierra Leone would have been spared. This is like saying that because Winston Churchill of England refused to sit at a table with another beast named Adolf Hitler, the persecution of the Jews, the enslavement of many of the peoples of Europe in countries that were overrun by the Nazi war machine, the horrors of the concentration camps should be put squarely at the foot of Winston Churchill.

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Sunday December 18, 2016 - Two years ago today Sierra Leone lost a great son in the battle against the vicious Ebola Virus Disease. Dr Victor Willoughby lost the battle against a disease that killed more than three thousand Sierra Leoneans

Two years ago today in 2014, all caring Sierra Leoneans were shocked to hear of the passing away of one of Sierra Leone's caring and dedicated medical doctors, Dr Victor Willoughby. Despite the prayers of many that he be spared the fate of ten other doctors that had succumbed to the ravages of the disease, it was not to be as he went to the great beyond before an experimental drug could be used to ward off the terrible attacks of the ravaging and unrelenting disease that had earlier claimed an expert in such diseases, the brave and committed Dr Sheik Umar Khan whose work on the Lassa Fever outbreak in Sierra Leone is internationally acknowledged.

He succumbed to the ravages of the disease while waiting to be flown out from Sierra Leone for proper medical attention and treatment.

One online news outlet, the Daily Telegraph has this reminder in an article dated July 30, 2015 at it paid tribute to all those doctors and other health delivery staff who risked their own lives in trying to comfort and save the afflicted.

"Like a murderer’s hand lurking in the shadows and clasping a dagger, Ebola has struck down up to 11,279 helpless victims sometimes one after the other and other times en masse across three West African countries in just 14 months. Since the outbreak first appeared in Guinea in May 2014, up to 510 health care workers have fallen prey to the marauding beast of a disease, leaving many more uncared for or with limited prospects, as signs of the epidemic waning begin to surface across the three most affected countries. Eleven senior doctors out of Sierra Leone’s meagre pool of 120 doctors have lost their lives to Ebola.

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Friday December 9, 2016 - After hours of speculation, nervous commentaries and mind games, it is now official. Nana Akufo-Addo has been elected Ghana's next president at the third time of asking. Incumbent President Mahama concedes and wishes his successor well.

After hours of nail-biting wait, all is now made clear by the Electoral Commission of Ghana as the official results of the Presidential polls show that the man who was running for the top political post in the country for the third time in a row, Nana Akufo-Addo is now the President-elect of Ghana beating into second place incumbent President John Mahama who was gunning for a second term in office.

The BBC reported -

"President John Mahama called Mr Akufo-Addo to admit defeat, a spokesman for his party said, as the Electoral Commission announced the result. Mr Akufo-Addo has promised free high-school education and more factories but critics have questioned the viability of his ambitions.

"Ghana's main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won the country's national election, defeating President John Mahama, electoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said.

The electoral process in Ghana once more highlights what good governance is all about. The head of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei was appointed by President Mahama but that did not prevent her from declaring the main opposition candidate as winner and in effect telling the nation and the world that the man who appointed her to the post had lost his job as President. Lessons for Christiana Thorpe and a certain bewigged Justice Showers in having two ruling party APC candidates in Parliament representing Constituencies 005 and 015 instead of ordering a bye election that those candidates would never had stood a chance. This was an illegal move endorsed by the judiciary, the first in Sierra Leone's annals of political chicanery.

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The United Nations' (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day is annually observed on December 9 to raise public awareness of corruption and ways to fight it and this year's theme - "United against corruption for development, peace and security" should send a message to the rat and those feeding fat from his droppings that they are not only nation wreckers, but are enemies of the people especially the poor and unconnected.

In a message commemorating the day, the watchdog Transparency International has observed - "People are dying because money meant for health care is stolen. The proceeds of large-scale corruption laundered in luxury property. Women and girls subjected to sexual demands in return for passing exams. Democracy undermined by money in politics. Factory workers losing their lives when unsafe buildings certified by unscrupulous inspectors collapse. Hard earned tax payer money misappropriated.

Directly or indirectly, rich or poor, male or female, all of us are affected by corruption. But it does not have to be this way. All of us also have the power to fight corruption."

Tell that to the APC Majority Leader in Parliament, one RASSin Bundu who would not want anyone to ask them to account unless they are registered in Sierra Leone!!!

Given what obtains on the ground in Sierra Leone, one would think that the above observations are clearly a spotlight on corrupt practices in Sierra Leone where the nation wreckers use ill-gotten gains to wreck the homes of poor families, entice the daughters and wives in economically-challenged families to gratify sexual and other desires as the poor are held hostage by the vultures of corruption whose power of deceit and the impoverishment of the masses are derived directly from the rat at State House in Freetown.  At State House you need to show just how adept you are at stealing the peoples' resources. Put simply - you become a part of the kitchen cabinet of the rat if you are perceived by him as a crook, dishonest and can invent any smoke and mirrors situation to deceive the public or could feel comfortable in the den of thieves, pretending that you don't understand until the fan gets hit.

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Tuesday November 29, 2016 - Sierra Leone Parliament concludes debate on 2017 budget. Another charade by a compromised Parliament more interested in what can be siphoned into individual pockets as the rat proves us right again. He's off on another junket on the peoples' resources.

The website of Parliament gave this insight into the debate, which in effect will be a rubber-stamped document by a Parliament whose so-called Majority Leader, one RASSin Bundu had always made it clear that Parliament would never go against the wishes of his godfather, the rat. This man, who feeds fat on the droppings from the rat was on international display in New York contorting and gyrating in dance moves that shamed the famous lantern parade dancers of yore. And he was goaded on by an urchin of an Information minister who has been defending every and all unconstitutional moves imposed on the suffering masses of Sierra Leone.

But back to the budget and here's what a report from that once august body, Parliament states -

"For his part on the ensuing debate, Hon. Ibrahim Ben Kargbo said that the budget is consistent with the policies and programmes of Government, whilst pointing to the challenges the austerity measures had, on the implementation of the Government’s development programmes. He described the budget as an “austerity economic restructuring” aimed at tightening our fiscal and monetary policies which is not peculiar to Sierra Leone, noting without which the economy may run into serious difficulty.

Hon. Gladys Gbappy-Brima said, as representatives of the people to whom power and sovereignty belong, it behoves MPs to “speak” people instead of party, describing it as an act of “lawlessness”. She recalled President Koroma’s speech where he pronounced that “elections are now over and it is now time for development”. She also opined that 65% of funds allocated to MDAs are yet to be received for service delivery and that for the past six months; Paramount Chiefs have not been paid. The total amount scheduled to be spent by the regime of the rat is over four and half trillion leones - Le 4,797,498,207,900 - (four trillion seven hundred and ninety seven billion four hundred and ninety eight million two hundred and seven thousand nine hundred Leones) shall be and "is hereby granted to His Excellency the President for and during the year two thousand and seventeen to be applied and expended in the manner herein described and for the several services set forth in the Schedule."

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Friday November 25, 2016 - Cuba's enduring and charismatic revolutionary is no more. Fidel Castro is reported to have gone to the great beyond at about 10pm Cuban time. He was 90.

He had been ailing but nevertheless when his passing away was announced by his brother who had been in charge of the country it came as a shock to Cubans within and outside the country as well as those who remember him well in the struggle for freedom, especially in Africa.

One international news outlet, the BBC reported - "Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90. His younger brother and successor as president Raul Castro announced the news on state television.

His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. Critics saw him as a dictator. Ashen and grave, President Castro told the nation in an unexpected late night broadcast on state television that Fidel Castro had died and would be cremated later on Saturday.

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening (03:29 GMT Saturday)," he said. "Towards victory, always!" he added, using a revolutionary slogan. A period of official mourning has been declared on the island until 4 December, when his ashes will be laid to rest in the south-eastern city of Santiago.

Relations between Cuba and Sierra Leone remained cordial under Siaka Stevens - so cordial that both countries had diplomatic missions in Havana and Freetown and it was a common sight to see the Cuban flag flying at the Cuban embassy along Pademba Road with Cuban mission staff sporting diplomatic plates with numbers such as CUB 1, CUB 2 etc.

President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah paid a three-day visit to Cuba where he met with and had discussions with Fidel Castro. It was deemed a controversial visit at the time as Cuba was regarded by the West, especially the United States of America, a pariah state. His spokesman Septimus Kaikai told journalists that the UK, the US and other Western countries knew about President Kabbah's visit and did not see any negative repercussions from "friends in the West".

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Sunday November 20, 2016 - The beasts in human form, the RUF/AFRC gang of infamy clamps down on free expression in Sierra Leone as protests on social media banned.

The authorities in Sierra Leone have arrested and detained a number of people thought to be behind plans to organise a massive nation-wide protest against living conditions in the country in the wake of recent steep hikes in the price of fuel. The government has ordered all internet and social media providers to monitor and block, where possible, all messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms in a move that is been seen as a sign that the rat and his gang are becoming increasingly paranoid about free speech and expression in Sierra Leone especially when critical of the government.

The latest news from the empire of the rat is that one student from Fourah Bay College, Theresa Mboma who was arrested by the authorities for what they called sharing messages relating to a planned protest march against unwholesome and degrading conditions in the country has been charged with "incitement".

The fate of others arrested by operatives of the oppressive regime is yet to be revealed creating the same atmosphere that existed during the days of the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil, otherwise known as the beasts.

One news outlet, Concord Times stated - "Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Rtd. Major Sengu Koroma has disclosed to newsmen at the weekly Ministry of Information and Communication press briefing that two people have been arrested and detained by the police for allegedly inciting the public on social media platforms. The Deputy Minister, who refused to disclose names of those arrested said the duo posted on social media that there was going to be a demonstration and that people should stay at home."

A rights group in Sierra Leone, the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI) is reported to have slammed the attitude and behaviour of the Sierra Leone Police force towards citizens, who raised dissenting views with regards to the hike in fuel price. Cockerill military headquarters and an unknown number to the CID headquarters in Freetown.

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Sunday November 6, 2016 - We always knew we were right - that the so-called austerity measures were never intended to be implemented. That the shady deals would still go on, hyper-inflated vouchers would still be manufactured and paid and travels at state expense would continue.

We stated before and will say it again. The so-called austerity measures announcement was just that - an announcement by the smoke and mirrors exponent at State House, the rat.

It was the usual calculated deception to show international financial institutions that those fiddling with the country's finances meant business in curbing the excessive unbudgeted and reckless spending that has become an integral central core of the nation wreckers' plans to scrape and steal every morsel their thieving paws can lay hands on.

Kindly recall that among the austerity measures was this -

•Restrict all overseas travels and rationalize delegation sizes.

Believe this and you are likely to believe that the moon is made of cheese manufactured at the rat's college of science and technology and all things mechanical. Take a careful look at the cabal members recent movements and you would notice that the nation wreckers are still jetting all over the globe on one excuse or another.

Why was the rat in Nigeria recently to deliver what his hirelings called a keynote address? What was so keynote about that address that it could not have been delivered by Sierra Leone's diplomatic mission in that country? The size of the delegation that was with the rat remains unknown as State House officials would not want the public to know how much money was wasted on that unnecessary trip.

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Sunday October 30, 2016 - Rehearsal of Sierra Leone's neck-tie party as the rat and his cronies prepare to hang those convicted by a compromised not fit for purpose judiciary.

Its another Sunday, a Holy Day in the Christian calendar that witnesses those of the faith attending places of worship, mainly churches, to give thanks to the Good Lord for His mercies and to ask for divine intervention into problems, both personal and global that would make life worth living. Among those who would be attending could be found members of the rat's cabal whose main reason for making their way into churches is to con their way into positions of respectability using ill-gotten wealth, stolen from the coffers of the people.

Among them would be the rat's minister who has taken upon himself the role of ensuring that the long dormant gallows at the central prison at Pademba Road in Freetown is oiled and made ready for planned executions, one Palo Conteh, a former operative of the feared Military Intelligence Branch, the MIB.

The hanging theatre at the Pademba Road central prison contains one single trap door through which the condemned slipped as their body weight ensured that their spinal cord gets separated from the brain in the countdown to another life snuffed out by the authorities. Sources close to the central prison say as there was only one set of trap doors there's an hour's pause between the condemned. When on 7th October 1989, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of former Vice President Francis Misheck Minah and others, the government of the day then wasted no time in carrying out the executions which started at midnight of 7th October and ended at 6am on 8th October with three members of the Kaikai family including one demoted Police top gun, one Gabriel Tennyson Kaikai and one soldier from Makeni Conrad Iniss. The speed with which the executions were carried out surprised many and as news filtered into town that the former Vice President and the five others condemned with him were facing the gallows, a kind of unease spread throughout the capital.

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Sunday October 16, 2016 - Even as the continuing rape of the country's resources gets exposed by the hour and Sierra Leoneans get increasingly weary of the future, the rat and his gang have shown no remorse, no apologetic move, nothing to indicate they are listening to the people rather than their own voices.

It is another day when Sierra Leoneans of the Christian faith go to places of worship to give thanks to the Good Lord for His mercies and to seek divine direction in a country where life for the vast majority is becoming unbearable by the hour - gripped in the claws of an uncaring and thieving cabal headed by the rat and his gang of uncaring and reckless nation wreckers. Among those who would be spoiling the picture of a serene scene of devotion, supplication and repentance would be the dirty rats, hobos to the core who would be displaying their ill-gotten so-called wealth in the faces of real and true Christians who know that there is, within the pages of the Holy Bible instructions that forbid stealing, violence and dishonesty in general.

As soon as the government statement was published admitting that the economy was in shambles, there arose from the putrid gutter of dishonesty, lies and licentiousness, a number of articles written by those who feed from the droppings of the rat that all will be well - that very soon, a new paradise will emerge from the wreckage of the deliberate and systematic plunder of the peoples' wealth. You only have to take a good look at all his close associates that he has put in places where there's money to be made and you would realise, much to the horror of those who care about Sierra Leone that the rat and his kitchen cabinet are interested in one and only one thing - stealing from the coffers of state.

The reports of the three main Commission of Inquiry set up by the National Provisional Ruling Council, the NPRC led by one Captain Valentine Strasser and his deputy who ousted him one Julius Maada Bio are worth reading to grasp the extent to which nation wreckers are willing to go in the exploitation and looting of state resources. They are the Mrs Justice Laura Marcus-Jones Commission of Inquiry, the Justice Lynton Nylander Commission of Inquiry and the Beccles Davies Commission of Inquiry. If the government of the rat can still continue to vigorously pursue the same ills exposed in these reports, then Sierra Leoneans are in for a rough ride.

The APC of those years as painted in these reports is the same hardened and unrepentant beasts of no nation that now occupy seats of governance in a rich but extremely poor Sierra Leone. This is no new APC. It is an APC in the incarnation of the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil otherwise known as the beasts of 1997-98.

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Friday September 30. 2016 - The earthly remains of a great colleague were interred today in Freetown. Samuel John, Junior as he was fondly called heeded the Lord's call on 12th September 2016.

How do you begin to write the sad news of a fallen colleague, brother, family man and someone who would go the ends of the earth to help you out? How do you begin to write such when you still shake with incredulity when the news was first made public that Samuel John, Mr Junior, Junior John was no more? It has been difficult, almost impossible as we fought the tears and the shaking body to take in the sad fact that our great brother, father and family man has left us with our earthly suffering, without giving us due notice as to when he would depart. As one stupefied colleague stated - "How can he? And without any warning?"

And so as we mourn the passing away of the great man, let us bring you the many tributes paid to a man who would easily give up an arm if that was needed to make you stay alive. This reaction on the Facebook page of a colleague and brother sums things up we think. It's from the one and only Babatunde Roland May former top gun at the SLBS - "Finally, I can bring myself to fully accept a fact that I am absolutely powerless to overturn. For the past week I've been saying to myself that it can't be true, willfully ignoring enquiries as to whether I've heard.

Yes Aroun Rashid Deen, yes Kwame Streeter I heard alright. Only I did not want to believe, or better yet accept, that my friend, brother and colleague Samuel Junior John had really passed on. The truth is it's not easy to accept that someone who's been with you in the trenches since school days through adult life can just go away like that, forever.

Another colleague Joseph Musa, like the rest of us was taken by surprise - "This world is full of surprises; we live with them and of course we die with things slapping you in the face that are the least expected.

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Sunday April 10, 2016 - Lessons from South Africa for Sierra Leone - Accountability, the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution sees President Zuma and Parliament slammed over corporate deception and fraud.

Recent events in South Africa have clearly demonstrated just what can be achieved when the tenets of democracy, the rule of law and the separation of powers are adhered to as enshrined in the Constitution. On Thursday March 31, 2016 the Constitutional Court of South Africa gave its ruling over a simmering brew of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma with a hard-hitting judgement which clearly highlighted the efficacy and supremacy of the country's Constitution.

It all started off with the opposition and the press wanting to know just how much of the peoples' money had been spent in a massive refurbishment of the residence of the President. All those who were in the camp of the President including Parliament investigated and did not find any wrong-doing on the part of President Zuma as he and his cronies insisted that the works carried out at his private residence was a security upgrade needed to keep him safe and happy and that included a swimming pool, additional ranches and a few expensive additions all carried by the tax payer, the people of South Africa. The BBC carried this bit when judgement day broke on Thursday last week -

"The highest court in South Africa has ruled that President Jacob Zuma violated the constitution when he failed to repay government money spent on his private home. It gave the treasury 60 days to determine how much he should repay. The ruling is a victory for the opposition, who said they would push for Mr Zuma's impeachment. They accuse him of using "ill-gotten wealth" to upgrade his home with a swimming pool and amphitheatre." It is to be recalled that even before this ruling by the highest court of South Africa, a body that acts as the overall Ombudsman, the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, had ruled that the President should pay back a part of the money that was used for the upgrade of his private residence as some of the expenses were not security-related. President Zuma dismissed the orders of this Constitutionally-authorised body tagging its role as merely advisory and that its orders had no legal weight.

In Sierra Leone, findings of the Auditor General are treated with levity by both the Judiciary and Parliament and even though quite clearly public documents, are not acted upon by the Anti Corruption Commission, a Constitutional body.

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