Sunday August 28, 2011 - Victory for anti-corruption campaigner in India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says it is the will of the people and sends a letter to Anna Hazare urging him to end his 12-day of fasting as his demands have now been largely met after a meeting of the Upper and Lower Houses of the Indian Parliament.

Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare has now agreed to end his fasting at 10am local time this Sunday after a joint session of the Indian Parliament agreed to meet most of his demands in his campaign to minimise, if not end corruption in his country. The anti-corruption campaigner has scored a resounding victory in a country where corruption is rampant with the legislative body to implement an anti-corruption bill that will make it possible for lower-level bureaucrats to be investigated and prosecuted for corruption, the formation of state-level anti-corruption bureaus and a citizens' charter in government institutions. One Indian newspaper reported - ""For 12 days the country's people have stood here - it is their victory," said Mr Hazare, 74, who lost 7.5 kilograms during his hunger strike. Tens of thousands of people had gathered at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi to show their support for his cause. The Statesman has published this resolution from Parliament

“This House agrees ‘in principle’ on (the) following issues - (i) citizen charter, (ii) lower bureaucracy under Lokpal through an appropriate mechanism, and (iii) establishment of Lokayukta in the states; and further resolves to forward the proceedings of the House to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice while finalising its report”

The question for Sierra Leoneans now is - who will be our own home-grown Anna Hazare in a country where the smoke and mirrors President tells his country men and women that he had declared his assets, the content of which, if he really did is only known to himself and the Anti Corruption Chief. This deception has raised many a question of just how serious and sincere the President was about tackling corruption given all the scandals he has been embroiled in since taking office. From providing a million dollar customs duty waiver for his brother to contarcts for his relations and friends to suspected deals between him and Frank Vasile Timis, the new cash cow of State House.

Saturday August 27, 2011 - Gunman thought to have fired the shot that ended the life of a police woman has been identified. UK media today identified the gun man as a junior diplomat serving with the Libyan mission at the time of the incident in 1984. Scotland has revealed that it would be sending officers to Libya to hunt down Abdulmagid Salah Ameri and his accomplices. This thing called justice.

Scotland Yard has revealed that it would be sending its operatives to Libya to hunt down and arrest a junior diplomat suspected of killing a Woman Police Officer just 25 at the time, who was doing her duty to the realm outside the building that housed the Libyan mission in London on April 17, 1984. The UK-based Daily Telegraph stated that Ameri was identified by a witness in a 140-page secret review of evidence. It would be recalled that after the murder of the law officer, law enforcement personnel could only watch, apparently helplessly as the suspected killer and his accomplices were allowed to leave UK shores after being expelled by the authorities. WPC Fletcher was killed by a single bullet that hit her in the abdomen and the newspaper adds that - an 11-day armed siege followed that ended when 30 Libyans from the embassy were deported. No one has ever been charged with killing the officer. The mother of the murdered officer Queenie Fletcher who had been waiting to see her killers brought to justice is quoted as saying this was the most opportune time to carry the investigations forward.

This thing called justice - the wheels may move sometimes annoyingly slowly, too slowly...but justice eventually gets to its destination. And that is why we continue to request victims of that awful horror called the AFRC/RUF to continue sending their eyewitness accounts to us about their individual experiences of the people murdered in cold blood - murders that could have been stopped by Ernest Bai Koroma's Leatherboot during the August 18 demonstrations but which he deliberately refused to do even though he could hear the cries and pleas of their victims...as well as the Mabaylla mass murder of unarmed civilians.

Friday August 26, 2011 - Horror of horrors - United Nations Office in Abuja is hit by Boko Haram suicide vehicle, the sect that is against all forms of "Western education". At least 18 killed. Many reported dead in this morning's attack in which a car was used as a suicide bomb.

According to the BBC's Chris Ewokor in an interview with Focus on Africa programme this afternoon, there were many wounded and eyewitnesses speak of body parts flying in all directions with blood from victims flowing like a river of death and destruction. UN Chief Scribe Ban Ki-Moon has condemned the attack and told international media including the BBC that he will be sending two top officials. The BBC's Mansur Liman told the programme that the sect had been carrying out more daring attacks naming a number of instances in which the Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for attacks on the security forces, civilians thought to be close to the authorities and others thought not to share the views of the sect. The BBC reports that

"Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed by the number of injured and have appealed for blood donations"

Friday August 26, 2011 - A General Celebrates 100 years on Planet Earth. Vietnam's General Vo Nguyen Giap is officially one hundred years today - fighter and tactician who will always be remembered mainly for his battles and eventual victories against,  first the French followed by the United States

Today, according to official documents sees Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap turning 100. An unrelenting believer in the unity of a country called Vietnam, he fought on the side of the North Vietnamese forces as a commander against French forces who were occupying the then South Vietnam inflicting a terrible loss on them in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 when forts occupied by French forces came under withering attacks with the defenders incurring heavy losses. The United States entered Vietnam with the firm belief that French military strategy could have been flawed against an enemy that wanted to seize the south and unite the country as one Vietnam. What happened, as they say is history. US forces were forced to withdraw, Saigon the South Vietnamese capital was captured and the country became one. His avid decision to fight all occupying forces from the Japanese to the United States could be gleaned from this account

Giap joined the Communist Party in 1931 and took part in demonstrations against French colonial rule in Vietnam. He was arrested for his activities in 1932 and served 18 months of a two-year prison sentence. In 1939 France outlawed communism in Vietnam and Giap escaped to China. Here he joined up with Ho Chi Minh, the future leader of North Vietnam. While he was in China, his sister, who shared his anti-French sentiments, was arrested and then executed in Vietnam. His wife was also sent to prison where she died. There can be little doubt that both these events had a marked impact on Giap who almost certainly decided as a result of these two personal bereavements to dedicate his life to removing France from Vietnam.

Although General Giap was universally known as one of the best war planners and tacticians, it was also reported that he was a writer, a poet whose stature in this arena was dwarfed by his legendary exploits fighting against those he perceived as oppressors.

Monday August 22, 2011 - The final push begins in Libya as anti-Khaddafi forces enter Tripoli. Six-month conflict appears to be over as one of Sierra Leone's own citizen and MP declares he will go down fighting. In Freetown reports of smoke and mirrors President having sleepless nights and very anxious hours fearing revelations that are to come

Recent reports from the international media say that elements of the rebel forces that had been fighting against Libyan leader Colonel Khaddafi have now reached the gates of Tripoli with several reports insisting that they have now entered the capital Tripoli where they have been joined by citizens who had been waiting for what they viewed as the liberators of the people. Amid yet to be confirmed reports that at least one of Khaddafi's son Saif Islam has been captured noisy scenes in the background of media reports on television say while the International Criminal Court, the ICC wants the son to be handed over for trial, on the ground the crowds appear to be baying for his blood. One report states " The rebels pushed into central Tripoli Sunday afternoon after a climactic few hours of breaking through the city's security perimeters. Gaddafi said he would "fight until the last drop of blood," but there has been little sign of resistance to the rebel advance. This statement of fighting to the last drop of blood was the same such made by the AFRC spokesman Allieu Kamara as ECOMOG forces advanced to take Freetown from the clutches of the AFRC/RUF during our troubles. As with many AFRC/RUF operatives Allieu was later to become a part of the team handpicked by the smoke and mirrors President in the Attitudinal Change charade. Meanwhile reports monitored from Freetown say that the chief benefactor of the near-ousted Libyan leader Colonel Khaddafi is a very worried man fearing that after the end game in Tripoli, details of monies and materials received from this chief tormentor of our people will be made public - not a good sign as preparations are made for him, Ernest Bai Koroma that is, to get a second term at all costs - never mind the planned lives and liberty of Sierra Leoneans that would be in jeopardy. Update - Green Square is now in the hands of the rebels and renamed Martyrs Square. This is the end game.

Friday August 19, 2010 - Turkey takes the bull by the horns as the country's Prime Minister visits the Somali capital Mogadishu. He did not only visit with a delegation of many interests, but took his family along too - something that should further shame the African Union and individual political heads of member countries.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has today paid a visit to the country abandoned by the African Union save for the great courage of Uganda and Rwanda that have deemed it necessary to send troops in the bid to secure the lives of people in some parts of the capital. Talking to the BBC, one of the officials accompanying the Prime Minister explained that the reason the PM's wife and children were visiting was because back at home, each time they saw pictures of starving and dying people, especially children, the people would weep. It is hoped that using the "seeing is believing" adage, the images seen in the various parts of the capital more so in the hospital and health centres where many were dying for the lack of the basics would send a very strong message to the international community. The Turkish PM's visit is also seen as a rallying cry to the rest of the world that it needs to act NOW to ease the pain and suffering of the people of Somalia and the Horn of Africa. The Sierra Herald still awaits a fitting response to the Somalia crisis from Sierra Leone whose Information and Communication minister Ibrahim Kargbo told the BBC Africa Have Your Say programme on Tuesday that his country was "a nation of givers". Please look at the right of the picture...those four kids on the floor have just died...yes died after walking for miles, trying to find food, shelter and security. The uncaring African Union and its equally cynical leaders like Ernest Bai Koroma would send a hundred thousand US dollars to Haiti, yet this "jewel in Africa's crown", according to his hired purveyors of falsehood, dare not send a single cent.

It is also a time for prayers for members of other faiths, like our Muslim compatriots who are fasting, for them to be strengthened in their faith and be desirous of doing good to every human being irrespective of race, colour, ethnicity or status in society -for in the sight of the true Most High, we are all the same. Any way we still have our suggested theme for his sermon today - Gluttony is a sin - and we start of by reminding the high priest and his kind about the dangers of the worship of material and earthly things, with the consumption of food as the central point even as they use all means necessary to satisfy evil designs in praise of their paymasters. We saw this on the internet and thought it would be useful as a starting point for our suggested theme for the high priest's "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...."

We again give thanks to the Almighty that we continue to be truly independent never depending on the government/officials for funding, perks and appointments derived from the backs and the misery of millions of Sierra Leoneans who still find it difficult to put body and soul together because they are unconnected with the powers that be. Do not lose faith people, for as Reinhard Bonnke told all of us around then at the National stadium one night during his crusade in Freetown some time back - God is with you and the yoke will be removed. We all know what happened next.

Saturday August 13, 2011 - Fourah Bay College, the oldest institution of higher learning south of the Sahara in disgraceful episode as exams are halted midstream because of a lack of paper. The wages of the lack of accountability and the overall paper story in Sierra Leone

One day this week the BBC ran a story detailing how Fourah Bay College could just not provide papers for exams causing quite a furore among watchers of the education scene in Sierra Leone at a time when questions are being asked about the standard of tertiary education in the country. The BBC reported that the institution's head one Prof Thomas Yormah promised to have some kind of inquiry to get to the bottom of things suggesting that something must have gone wrong somewhere. We would want to remind the learned professor that things had not been okay up at Mount Aureol and we are not only talking about the dilapidated and run-down structures and facilities that seem to have been denied regular maintenance and cleaning. In the Auditor-General's report of 2009, Fourah Bay College and it's allied institutions were recorded among those that had woefully failed to submit accounts for the perusal of that office's inspection. Indeed the report noted

5.0 PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND COMMISSIONS 
Non Submission of Accounts
As at 31st  March 2010, the following Public Enterprises and Commissions had not submitted their Accounts for the 2009 Financial Year:
College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences
Fourah Bay College
Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM

This is what you get in a system where accountability and transparency have become quite an anathema to those in authority. All the various branches operating under State House, from the so-called Diaspora Office through the Open Governance Initiative (OGI) of another of the President's favourites have all refused to submit their books for inspection. The Office of the President has woefully failed to present figures for all the monies used in the highest office in the land even though it is a part of the country's constitutional requirements that all these offices are to be audited. The same lack of submission of figures for auditing purposes could be laid at the doors of the various missions abroad that have been filled with the President's praise singers.

Saturday August 13, 2011 - As England cools down after the heat and noise of the looters, arsonists, police and fire sirens, the courts go into overdrive to hear cases. Those in the dock suddenly realise how isolated they have become with the yelling mobs no longer a source of safety and anonymity.

Courts in England have been sitting overnight just trying to handle the unusually high number of cases they have to deal with in the aftermath of the mayhem that gripped at first, boroughs in London and then spread to others in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and other cities. And oh...a number of unusual stories have been emerging with pictures on TV screens...there was the school assistant who in trying to hide his face after leaving court ended up smacking his face against a pole...the case of the attacked and injured Malaysian student who was stripped of his belongings by a group pretending to help him and a model who could not resist looting from a High Street shop getting jailed for six months. Into the media discussions on what could have sparked such unprecedented violence and orgy of looting and destruction steps a dinosaur who could well have been a chief spokesman for Hitler and his pogrom against the Jews or could have found good company among the extremist Hutus baying for the blood of Tutsis and less extremist Hutus. This humanoid calling himself David Starkey, a professor of history to boot had a sickening link between the violence in England and the black man. He even went on to suggest that black UK MP David Lammy if on radio sounds so cultured and civilised because he sounds like a white man!!!! We are not inventing this. David Starkey - a man who would have others believe he is a historian and knows it all could be seen in a BBC discussion programme linking the recent violence to the black man...unashamedly trying to justify his racist and putrid painting of people who are not of his pigmentation as violent and evil. Hear the fool even going as far as to say that because white have been involved in violence and looting - the whites have become blacks. Sickening. Just imagine what people of his type could have done to British colonies where they served as District Commissioners and priests!!!!!

We have come across sick ones before...but this beast of a Starkey takes the cake.

Update - Man appears in court for the theft from the Malaysian student.

This is also a day when Christians pray for the general good and well-being of all created in the image of the Most High including people of other faiths including our brothers and sisters of the Muslim and other faiths. Even as we await another of the "sermons" from the high priest at the altar of his god ernest bai koroma giver of funds, positions and appointments, even as we await our suggested theme - "Gluttony is a sin" - we cannot help bringing to your attention the claims of ernest bai koroma's high priest.

He had informed the world using various means, principally the internet that he is - wait for it - Associate Pastor of the American Fellowship Church of Lambertville, New Jersey. Enquiries so far have revealed that while there is indeed the American Fellowship Church, no one has heard of an Associate Pastor of that institution carrying the names of the high priest. Even more baffling is that the church has no branch in Lambertville, New Jersey. In other words, unless we are proved wrong the high priest could well have lied internationally and ignored an excellent piece of advice from the real Holy Bible - Luke 14: 11

"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted"

A fine piece of advice for the high priest who claims he is a holder of quite an impressive "post-graduate degrees" ranging from Law and Journalism to Special Education. And that's not touching on the many he has showered upon himself as the high priest at the altar of lies, profanities and outright chicanery. Among his post graduate degrees - 1. University of London - 1984 - Education 2. University of London - 1997 - Law 3. University of Phoenix - Masters Special Education - 2006 and that is not forgetting a qualification in journalism from the London School of Journalism in 1980!!!!

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.