Saturday September 3, 2011 - Good things do indeed come out of the mother country, despite all the lack of proper governance. Egypt goes down to our very own Leone Stars in Freetown in the African Cup of Nations tournament. Sierra Leone 2-1 Egypt.

It is not often that we receive positive and we daresay such good news from the mother country in the grips of the kleptomaniacs and supporters of human rights abusers and drug traffickers. We have decided to ignore chronological exactitude to put this story on top of the page as the Sierra Herald joins all Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone in congratulating our national team for taking the wings off the flying Pharaohs. The last minute penalty that gave our side a 2-1 victory shows that despite all the hardship faced by the ordinary Sierra Leonean, there are sections of society who will always stand up to be counted and Leone Stars have done just that. Egyptian football officials were quick to blame their defeat on the lack of "professionals" and that the players were mainly from Egypt's under-23 side. Be that as it may, this was the national team of Egypt, sent forth to defeat our boys. Imagine, imagine well if that so-called under-23 team had succeeded in defeating our boys!!!! The BBC reports that Egypt were already struggling to make it to the finals so with this defeat, it means Egypt are practically out. "A team of Under-23 players, bolstered by veteran captain Ahmed Hassan, went behind to the home team in Freetown through Sherrif Suma's early goal. The Pharaohs pulled one back thanks to Mohsen Maruwan and going into stoppage time it was tied at 1-1 but then Sierra Leone were awarded a penalty and Mohamed Bangura stepped up to earn a victory for the Leone Stars which gives them a continued chance of making it to the final. We could not get true pictures of the goal scorers for Sierra Leone. We got this from a very terrible video on the internet. At least it shows the colours of our boys.

So there you have it. Leone Stars are still in the race.

Sunday September 4, 2011 - Remembering the Mabaylla murders - 14 years ago today in 1997 murder and mayhem most foul was visited upon unarmed and innocent civilians in the east of Freetown. Why the Mabaylla massacre must be kept on the radar until the perpetrators are brought to justice.

On Wednesday 3rd September 1997, the murderous regime headed by one Major Johnny Paul Koroma held an unusually long meeting at State House. So long was that particular meeting that observers of the regime made up of rogue soldiers and their allies in the Revolutionary United Front, the RUF, tried as hard as they could to decipher what had been going on without success. Well, except for hints dropped here and there about what the main item on the agenda. It appeared to be a well-guarded secret. That was on Wednesday morning and late into the afternoon of 3rd September 1997. Residents in the capital came to realise just how far the AFRC was willing to murder civilians to get the international community to put pressure on Nigeria to withdraw ECOMOG troops from Sierra Leone. The Nigerian troops were seen as the main obstacle to the junta's plans to kill as many civilians as possible so that they can become an acceptable body, never mind the body count. Had they succeeded in that plan, and on scaled versions, Rwanda would have appeared a Sunday picnic as the mass slaughter of civilians in a project aimed at coercing a defiant civilian population into submission using sheer terror would have become a reality. The junta's deadly deception was well-known to civilians in Freetown who had witnessed the hunting down and murder of Nigerians in Sierra Leone even as junta spokespersons went on air to say that no Nigerian should be harmed and that they were "brothers". Please be reminded that after this callous disregard for the lives of civilians, the people of Mabaylla performed the "Gbom swearing" ceremony which later saw one of the chief operatives in that murderous mission being killed in a rather freak accident along Savage Street in broad daylight in Freetown. This particular operative was the first to arrive at the SLBS that morning to tell the nation of what "the Nigerians had done to our people"

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And so like in previous weeks, we would urge the high priest at the altar of the shrine dedicated to the worship of his god ernest bai koroma to craft a sermon on the theme - "Gluttony is a sin" - not forgetting our reminder of what gluttony is all about.

"Gluttony is a serious sin because it enslaves the soul to the body, even though the soul, which is superior, is supposed to be in charge. Gluttons eat not for the sake of fueling their bodies or to participate in social gatherings; but rather they eat just for the sheer pleasure of consuming...."

And whilst the high priest at the altar of deceit, chicanery and falsehood thinks about what should be in that "sermon", we have another suggested theme for this week. An apt one from the Holy Bible which has to do with the worship of two masters as found in Matthew 6:24 - Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matthew 6:24).

And we would add this excerpt from one commentator as found on the internet -

"Mammon is not just money. Certainly money represents mammon the most, because in the end, it is money that is the material power of this world. It is money that enables you to live, move, and do as you please in this world. But mammon is more than money. Mammon is ANYTHING in which we might trust instead of God. Mammon is really anything this world, apart from God, offers. In other words, mammon is the TEMPORAL"

HAPPY EID MUBARAK TO ALL OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE MUSLIM FAITH RESIDING WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE BORDERS OF THE MOTHER-COUNTRY. WE JOIN OUR MUSLIM COMPATRIOTS IN WISHING THE COUNTRY WELL, PRAYING THAT ONE DAY THE MOTHER COUNTRY WILL HAVE MEN AND WOMEN IN POSITIONS OF TRUST WHO WILL NEVER BETRAY THEIR PROMISES TO THE PEOPLE.

TODAY'S GREETINGS AND WISHES OF ALL THINGS GOOD IS ALSO EXTENDED TO PEOPLES OF OTHER FAITHS IN OUR COUNTRY WHERE TODAY WOULD BE CELEBRATED WITH EQUAL GUSTO BY CHRISTIANS AND MEMBERS OF OTHER FAITHS IN THE BELIEF WHICH BINDS ALL OF US - THAT THE GOOD LORD, ALLAH JEHOVAH OR WHATEVER NAME YOU CALL HIM IS THE ALMIGHTY, THE OMNIPOTENT AND GIVER OF ALL BLESSINGS

HAPPY EID MUBARAK......ENJOY THE DAY....HAPPY EID MUBARAK...PRAISE BE TO THE MOST HIGH ALLAH

Monday August 29, 2011 - Today is the day - the final day of the Notting Hill carnival - a festival of sound, colour, rhythm and body movement that is a demonstration of cultures stretching from the Caribbean to Europe and taking in the rich cultures that make everyone of and associated with African heritage proud.

Yes - it is that time of the year again - a time to shake your body in a natural flow that blends music and rhythmic gyrations born from the roots of natural choreography from which springs forth the joy and ecstasy of freedom enjoyed by those who know and appreciate the cultures of the world fusing in a blend unique to Europe's biggest street party. Yes - today 29th August 2011 is a public holiday, a bank holiday as it is known here (please do not worry those grey cells to remember the events of past bank holidays in the mother country, Sierra Leone which used to be celebrated on 4th August) the final day of a long weekend that had seen many leave the capital for resorts outside the reach of the confusion of a modern city even as others arrive to behold the exciting and sparkling scene that witnesses all ages and all genders dancing the hours away. The only blight on this annual event are the recent riots which tore through a number of cities and boroughs in England and which has made the police very watchful and we daresay cautious if not wary as extra steps could well have been taken to limit any form of disorder. But trust the typical Police on the beat, you are bound to find a number of them dancing with the revellers in a show of support for this wonderful eye-catching spectacle. Yesterday Sunday was a special day for families and this allowed children to have their fill of the fun that is Notting Hill Carnival. Today, as we say, is the day for the adults and trust that you are bound to find in that milling and revelling crowd bands of children doing their own thing only they know how best. We say enjoy the day....and pray that long may you live to enjoy more such days in good health. Cheers...!!!!

It is also time to remind the high priest at the altar of the shrine dedicated to the worship of his god ernest bai koroma about the theme we suggested to him - "Gluttony is a sin"...and we went as far as to give this interpretation which should help him prepare our suggested theme for a "sermon"

"Gluttony is a serious sin because it enslaves the soul to the body, even though the soul, which is superior, is supposed to be in charge. Gluttons eat not for the sake of fueling their bodies or to participate in social gatherings; but rather they eat just for the sheer pleasure of consuming...."

Last week, we reminded him of a number of false claims in academia - including all those post-graduate qualifications he claimed to possess. Then there was the case of him calling himself an "Associate Pastor" of the American Fellowship Church - a claim that was debunked many many years ago when we got in touch with the authorities of that institution. The other day he was on the internet adding ESQ after his name. When curious "forumnites" asked him why he was now adding those three letters after his name, he stated without batting an eyelid that it was because he had studied law. Yes indeed...he claimed to have studied law and was hence qualified to pontificate on legal issues - that he was in fact a lawyer!!!

Again just like last week we leave you with some food for thought - and please think carefully about this. It is a question which goes thus - Has it ever occurred to you that ernest bai koroma's high priest has never published a photo of himself preaching to a congregation in church or an image of himself with the traditional collar of a man of the cloth? And this about a man who just loves seeing his own images on the internet? We pause for now.

African leaders, some very quick to point out that African problems must be solved by Africans, must be in a bind with eggs on their faces after a special summit called by the African Union to secure pledges from African countries to help those dying and suffering from famine in the Horn of Africa got a very disappointing response. According to the BBC out of the 54 countries of the continent, only four Heads of State attended and they do not include "the jewel in Africa's crown" (that's the lowlie-ing gbatolitic tag) Ernest Bai Koroma. The UK-based Guardian newspaper noted that

"Three African countries provided nearly half of the pledges – Algeria ($10m), Angola ($5m) and Egypt ($5m). Gambia, Mauritania and Congo-Brazzaville gave more than their proportional share, while Nigeria gave only $2m – less than some of its neighbours with smaller economies."

We still have to hear about the pledge made by the Sierra Leone representative, if they attended at all recalling that in the BBC "Africa Have Your Say" programme on Tuesday August 2011, Sierra Leone's own Goebbels boasted that they would be chipping in - this after his government came under fire for doing nothing over famine and suffering in Africa, but quite ready and willing to dish out a hundred thousand US dollars to the Haiti appeal in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit that troubled country. Even Africa's newest nation South Sudan pledged one million dollars - this despite the challenges facing Africa's newest AU member. Ghanaian school boy Andrew Andasi was in Addis Ababa too to continue his appeal for victims. And so the Sierra Herald has two (2) questions for the smoke and mirrors President and his lie-londohs 1. How much has Sierra Leone pledged? 2. Who authorised the one hundred thousand dollars dished out to the Haiti appeal? We ask because the constitution ensures that no sitting President uses the country's purse as his/her personal money chest to be used at whim. For ease of reference, we have this link to a section of the country's constitution which clearly spells out how this can be done.

Wednesday August 24, 2011 - Are we missing something? Not on your life because many years ago this day was celebrated with gust and pomp with all the paraphernalia that could be thrown in using the peoples' purse as Siaka Stevens and his APC rats observed his official birthday anniversary....and believe it or not there's a link with events in Libya

August 24 in the heydays of the Stevens "rule" was a day to behold if not in disgust, but at least a study in how party "favoured" fell over each other to please "the Pa" on his birthday. Programme after programme in English as well as the main national languages were dedicated to "the indefatigable and sagacious leader" on the national broadcaster, the SLBS with the likes of Nancy Steele, Manso Mpomba Turay and members of the Youth League of the APC in full flow using state resources to satisfy personal and party greed. And the link with Libya? Forget about the items and materials discovered and looted from Khaddafi's Tripoli compound - please take a look at the weapons in the hands of the two rebel fighters below which has been reproduced on the left. The weapon with the curved ammo clip is the ubiquitous AK47 and the other? Well that is the Begian FN (Fabrique Nationale de Herstal) rifle that was handed out to the special Siaka Stevens attack dogs, the APC's armed wing cloaked in some legal cobweb and known as, at first the Internal Security Unit, the ISU, later to become the Special Security Division, the SSD. Protesters against the suffocating rule of the APC living in the east of the capital can still recall Siaka Stevens on national radio ranting away at "especially those from the east end of the city". And residents who went through it all could well remember and tell you which of these weapons were being fired by the sounds they made. It was no secret that in consolidating his grip on power Siaka Stevens spent quite a lot on weapons that would keep his perceived enemies including school children in check with the show of overwhelming force, show of force as was deemed expedient. Any wonder why Siaka Stevens has been described as "the biggest curse of Sierra Leone"?

The internet flying toilets of the smoke and mirrors President headed by Sierra Leone's version of the Nazi Goebbels Ibrahim Ben Kargbo have not hinted a word about it, neither have they acknowledged the evil visited on a citizenry that had, from day one, rejected the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of then Head of State President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The people with one voice rejected the awful horror known as the AFRC headed by Johnny Paul Koroma, refused to co-operate with the murderous regime of rapists, thieves and arsonists and with one voice called for their removal from office be it voluntarily or otherwise. Fourteen years ago today students in Sierra Leone braved bullets, machetes, bayonets and various other deadly weapons of the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil otherwise known as the beasts to tell all and sundry that they and the majority of Sierra Leoneans were not prepared to endure the murderous, rapist and human rights abusers parading as a government in our beloved country. It was a very brave and selfless action resulting in the deaths of yet to be accounted for students and their sympathisers who were prepared to openly defy the beasts in the defence of the rights of the people to live and to speak freely in their own God-given country!!! Journalists who were considered pro-democracy were brutalised and held in metal goods containers (Kelvin Lewis, Winston Ojukutu-Macauley and others) at military headquarters in Freetown while their supporters, the so-called "I am for a peaceful resolution of the conflict" were having a field day with resources provided by their masters at Cockerill. The Sierra Herald can now reveal that among those who ordered the crackdown on students and who gave orders to some of his troops to rape and murder was none other than President Koroma's chief buddy in his security detail, one Idrissa Kamara otherwise known as Leatherboot, a one-time batman to NPRC mines minister Reginald Glover. He was present at the scenes of rape and murders and did nothing to prevent them. This is a part of what happened as reported by the Peter Andersen Sierra Leone web. Nine years after that 1997 event, in 2006, we reminded you again in this article.

Tuesday August 16, 2011 - Sierra Leone's very own version of the Nazi Goebbels gets caught in his own web of lies and half truths. Why the government dished out US$100,000.00 but cannot afford a single pesewa for the famine victims of Africa. Claims Sierra Leone is "a nation of givers."

Sierra Leone's government spokesman Ibrahim Kargbo has told the BBC's Africa Have Your Say programme that Sierra Leone was "a nation of givers" when challenged on what his government had done to help ease the plight of the people of Somalia and the Horn of Africa. I B Kargbo in his characteristic "trying to dodge the issue" style woefully failed to explain why his government was quick to send one hundred thousand US dollars to the Haiti earthquake appeal but has so far failed to send a single cent to help ease the plight of fellow African caught up in the tragedy unfolding. I B Kargbo's feeble attempt at putting the blame on the lack of "PR by those in charge" rang hollow if not insensitive when he blurted out that the "PR" was not done properly to inform the world about the famine in the Horn of Africa. He was left hanging by his lying lips when a panel member reminded him that warning statements had been issued for quite a while before the famine struck and that his government's excuse at "strategising" was not what was needed to help a country where people were dying in their hundreds every day, if not every hour. At one point the hapless and directionless Information and Communication minister told the programme that he knew about Public Relations, PR, and what he was talking about when he complained about the lack of PR over Somalia and the Horn of Africa. To show just how well he knew about PR the Information minister proudly announced that he had been "a journalist for over thirty years" and therefore knew about PR job. In other words, Ibrahim Ben Kargbo was telling the world that if one is a journalist, then one is a PR expert!!!! Now you know why he chose his journalists of the internet flying toilets cabal who had no idea what a government-appointed Press Attache's job is all about compared to a PR-ing for the APC party.

Monday August 1, 2011 - Sierra Leoneans woke up this morning to the news that the main opposition ruling party, the SLPP now has a Presidential candidate for the 2012 polls. Former NPRC junta leader Julius Maada Bio is now the flag bearer of the opposition. Is he a worthy challenger for smoke and mirrors Ernest Bai Koroma?

As the winners in our national elections are prone to say on realising they now have the purse strings of the nation in their paws - the people have spoken. Only this time it is not the entire citizenry but eligible voters at the convention of the main opposition party, the Sierra Leone's Peoples Party, SLPP. They have now decided on which of 19 candidates for the top post in the party will represent them against Ernest Bai Koroma of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party. Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio will be the man in the arena in the battle for the hearts and minds of voters in the 2012 polls. The three-day caucus also held elections to fill in various posts of the main opposition party ranging from Women's Leader to National Party Chairman and deputy. The new Presidential candidate has quite a formidable task ahead and top of the agenda will be - uniting a party that still has to make itself worthy of the trust of voters. This is going to be quite an interesting political scenery that should provide all the tongue-wagging and conspiracy theories that come with it. Julius Maada Bio at the time of the ouster of the APC in 1992 was a lieutenant. By the time he left the army in 1996, he was a Brigadier. He was part of a recognised government, the NPRC and it would be quite interesting to hear the whispers in the kitchen of Ernest Bai Koroma where he had installed former members of the unrecognised and widely condemned human rights-abusing AFRC/RUF junta. We say let the games begin...and watch for the volume of articles that are already in the pipeline from various shades of opinions. Julius Maada Bio, it will be recalled tried to prolong military rule by pushing for a Bintumani II meeting because according to him then, he had received a second opinion which called for the people to decide on whether to stick to the time table to civilian rule as laid down by his predecessor Valentine Strasser or have peace before elections. The people at Bintumnai II decided against having the khaki boys continue in power and Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, then Head of State had to abide by the wishes of the people. Last-minute attempts to derail that exercise on voting day failed and he was forced to call for an extra day so that Sierra Leoneans can have the leader they wanted.

Between April 2008 and December 2009, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sierra Leone carried out a pilot project the Open Governance Initiative (OGI) aimed at increasing interaction and trust between the governed (the people of Sierra Leone) and those in authority in the three arms of governance - the Executive (President and Ministers), the Legislature (Parliament, MPs) and the Judiciary (The courts). These three very important arms are meant to be separate for good governance to be achieved in a country where the report of the pilot project noted

Open Government Initiative established a unique and solid channel of communication between the Government and the people, and fostered an important two-way communication in rural areas, which has not been fully achieved by the challenging decentralization processes. This is significant in a country where alienation from government is considered a cause of the 10 year civil war.

“If OGI was found before the war, there would be no war in the country,” said one participant.

It is to further the cause of good governance that the government of Ernest Bai Koroma was encouraged to create the OGI office - an institution that should be apolitical, independent and tasked with bridging the gap between government. Now under Ernest Bai Koroma OGI has become another arm of the ruling APC party with the hand-picked Director, one Khadija Sesay involved in one unsavoury act or the other - from accompanying the President on overseas tours to making side deals for the celebration of our 50th anniversary and hence landing herself in court where she hopes her political affiliation will get things in her favour. What business the OGI Director has got to do with engaging overseas performers only she and Ernest Bai Koroma could best explain in the very politicised and APC organisation known as the Open Governance Initiative - a misnomer for a body whose director is quoted in an official Press Release from Brussels as complaining about a member of staff thought to be non-APC and hence sacked. We would urge State House to read the report of the pilot project so that they can know that OGI should not be another cash cow for supporters of the ruling APC party.

August 04, 2010 - Central Bank is 46. The travails of the government's banker of bankers. Corruption and yet more corrupt practices.

Forty six years ago today on August 4, 1964 Sierra Leoneans were out in their numbers in the streets of the capital and all over the country to catch a glimpse of the country's new and first national currency - the leone. Much advanced publicity had been given to the launch of the new Bank of Sierra Leone, the country's central bank and so when the new notes and coins hit the streets they were expected. Those around at the time could still recall the smaller-sized 5-cents coin that was to replace the six pence of the West African Currency Board, WACB, as well as the new two leone note that was equivalent to the Pound used by the WACB. It was to be noted that the changes were merely in name as the leone remained pegged to the British pound at 2leones=Br£1. However, over the years, the mismanagement of the economy, sweeping and pervasive corruption encouraged by government functionaries more interested in self than the nation has now seen the leone devalued to unimaginable levels. Ask the re-branded and re-scented Vouchergate exposed and nation-wrecker Victor Foh, EBK's buddy how the Central Bank, the Bank of Sierra Leone, the banker of bankers in the country became a part of the corruption that made nonsense of accountability and good economic management.

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Flagrant abuse of the constitution on the rise again as President Ernest Bai Koroma ignores provisions needed in a country trying to recover from the ravages of the decade-long war. The first armed resistance to a post-April 27, 1991 government in Sierra Leone need not have happened had the governments led by Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh adhered to the provisions of the constitutions in force then, the 1978 One Party horror and the watered-down 1991 document. It is to be noted that the preamble to these vital documents clearly states that

"...sovereignty belongs to the people of Sierra Leone from whom Government through this Constitution derives all its powers, authority and legitimacy;...the State shall promote national integration and unity and discourage discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties..."

This is a wake-up call to the international community and guarantors of peace and stability. Sierra Leoneans have had enough of the terrible past and just want to enjoy what little they can within the borders of their own God-given piece of Planet Earth. They also want to be given their piece of the national cake as defined in the constitution. They do not want to be reminded of what they had been put through by uncaring and reckless governments and would want all those who worked and died for the peace to bring this evil monster to heel.

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