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.

Among those who attended that so-called keynote-address scenario, you could not find one sitting Head of State. All those who had darkened the doors of a Presidency were former rulers including former President Olusegun Obasanjo were present but serious development-inclined figures like Kagame of Rwanda sent a representative.

The rat was the only sitting President who, after announcing his so-called austerity measures went to Nigeria taking along a yet-to-be-disclosed delegation size and composition and most of all - why they were there. There's a picture in one of the online publications of Nigeria, Bella Naija, which gave an indication of the size of the delegation that went to Nigeria. This is just an indication and does not show others who could have gone there for the ride and the daily allowances that are paid out in foreign exchange, the dollar.

It is worth noting this observation by one Dr Julius Spencer (a genuine PhD holder) and one-time Cabinet minister in the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah after the austerity measures announced by the rat. Writing in the Sierra Leone Telegraph he states -

"The two most telling items on the list, however, that to my mind amount to a clear admission of mismanagement are the one that signals a restriction on overseas travels and rationalization of delegation sizes and the one about eliminating double payments of pensions and salaries.

Coming so soon after the hue and cry over the size of the government delegation to the recent UN General Assembly where some of the members of the delegation spent some time dancing “sen am go dong” on the streets of New York, that line in the government statement is a clear admission that government delegations in the past have not been properly rationalized.

To make matters worse, the Minister of Information was on radio recently saying that now any minister wanting to travel will have to justify to Cabinet the need for the trip and what the country stands to benefit. I was surprised to hear that because I thought that this process was in place, since that was what was in operation when I was a minister.

In fact, while I was a minister, you had to submit a Cabinet paper and defend it, and on your return, you had to submit a report to Cabinet on the trip, clearly outlining the benefits to the country.

It is clear that this procedure was abandoned at some point and is only now being reinstated. I hope it will become a permanent feature of government procedure now.

I notice also that the government statement only talks about per diem for local travels being cut by 50% which indicates that per diem for international travel will not be affected. I wonder whether the system of using the UN daily subsistence rate that was in place while I was a minister is still in operation or whether it had been changed too."

The Concord Times carried this as a part of the rat's address, an address that could have been delivered by a representative of the High Commission of Sierra Leone to Nigeria -

"He said his government had taken great steps in supporting youth empowerment through entrepreneurship, including establishing the Ministry of Youth Affairs, with a mandate to addressing challenges faced by young people in Sierra Leone.

He further told the gathering that he also appointed a youth to man the ministry, plus the appointment of several youth into cabinet positions.

He concluded that it was the sacred duty of political and economic leaders to continue working together and eliminating road blocks to development in Africa, thus encouraging the young entrepreneurs to be steadfast."

The rat failed to mention the involvement of disillusioned youths of Sierra Leone in political violence and crime and that his government had already condemned a number of them to the gallows while leaving state-sponsored killers in the para-military OSD police to commit extra-judicial killings as was witnessed in the murder of Musu Conteh whose only crime was to stage a peaceful demonstration against working conditions at a mine believed to have poured quite some amount into the paws of the rat.

There are speculations that the rat could have hurried off to Nigeria in the wake of the legal action brought against him by his former Vice President Sam Sumana to the ECOWAS Court of Justice to explore means of softening any blow that could emerge from this line of action.

Already a number of fly by night charlatans claiming to know how to interpret the law have been demonstrating their rabid ignorance of case law quite believing that wishful thinking is equivalent to the words in legal documents.

The hapless and compromised members of the Supreme Court allowed themselves to be slaves at the behest of the rat throwing away all their years of experience in law and raising questions about their past conduct in the performance of duties to which they had taken an oath to defend.

The Supreme Court's decision of giving legality to an illegal and unconstitutional act for which the rat should have been tried in court was a disgrace that will always be a blot on the reputation of Sierra Leone's highest court.

Kindly take a look at some sections of the opening lines of the presentation made by lawyers on behalf of the sacked elected Vice President and why the matter was being taken to the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

v. The failure of Sierra Leone to provide an effective remedy for the violation of the rights of the Applicant has necessitated the Applicant’s resort to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice and viii. The ECOWAS Court is empowered to hear cases in which domestic courts had given judgments.

This is not the first time that Sierra Leone is being dragged before the regional Court of Justice.

In one instance, the rat's government hurriedly paid out money it was said to owe a certain Lebanese businessman over the acquisition of a patrol boat. This boat, more of a phantom than not has never been seen on the waters of Sierra Leone nor has it ever been seen in photos but there was then Information minister Ibrahim Ben Kargbo defending the need to make a payout as soon as they can.

Interestingly, the self-imposed and unelected rat's Vice President knows only too well the story behind that boat and a certain Mr Mohammed Wanza when the Tejan Kabbah government at the time refused to pay.

Then there was the case of sacked police officer Tahib Bah on whose behalf the Court had ordered the government to pay him money for his illegal dismissal by the government of Sierra Leone. The Decision of the open Court dated 4th May 2015 was in the presence of the following judges. 1- Hon. Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke – Presiding 2- Hon. Justice Micah Wilkins Wright – Member 3- Hon. Justice Hameye Foune Mahalmadane – Member Assisted by Aboubakar Diakité - Registrar.

The judgement stated in part -

...the Applicant in this case, has suffered, pain, mental, psychological trauma and deprivation. Indeed as expected, dismissal carries with it some measure of infamy and stigma and deprives the individual the right or benefits accorded by the employment and society at large. It is therefore not surprising that having been dismissed, though wrongly.

In the Courts view, the Applicant was rightly rejected at the election on the grounds of being unfit for Public Office. Above all, having been dismissed from employment, the Applicant has remained unemployable because no one is expected to engage a dishonest employee.

All these damages suffered by the Applicant are direct as well as foreseeable consequences of his wrongful dismissal in violation of his right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Art 7 (1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

For the avoidance of doubt, at this stage of development of International Human Rights Law regime, persons, including States, must be careful with regard to the treatment of their nationals or citizens and other individuals within their territorial jurisdictions. Where their acts or omissions towards such persons violate their rights as enshrined in international instruments, an international tribunal, such as ours, will have no alternative than to hold them answerable for the wrongs.

The era of gross impunity by Member States and their Governments in our sub-region shall no longer be tolerated.

In this direction, having regard to Article 4(g) of the Ecowas Revised Treaty which empowers the Court to apply the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right, more particularly Article 7(I) on the Right to fair hearing and having regard to findings of fact made herein, the Court decides that the Plaintiff has established that his dismissal by the Defendant from its Police Force is illegal, null and void and of no effect, having been done without giving the Applicant a hearing in violation of Article 7(I) of the African Charter. Accordingly, the Court DECLARES:

(I) That the dismissal of the Applicant from the Police Force of the Defendant in 1994 and confirmed on 3rd June 2013, is illegal, null, void and of no effect as it violates the Plaintiff’s right to fair hearing enshrined in Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

((II) Orders the Defendant to reinstate the Applicant in his appropriate position in the Police Force of the Defendants and pay him all outstanding salaries, benefits, entitlements, including promotion.

(III) Directs the Defendant to pay the Applicant the sum of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand US. Dollars ($ 250,000.00) as general damages for the wrong occasioned by their illegal act.

The Defendant shall bear the costs of this Action and the Chief Registrar is directed to assess the costs, taking into account the relevant provisions of Article 66-69 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure.

The government of the rat, the Defendant, remains in breach of this order even after paying out millions of dollars for a patrol boat it had never set eyes on.