Breaking news from Freetown : Sierra Leone musicians to counter Emerson Bockarie's propaganda song against government

Written by Our reporter Sunday, 01 November 2009 03:33

A usually reliable source in Freetown has told COCORIOKO  that some leading Sierra Leonean musicians have got together and have decided to counter what they regard as the recent propaganda song against the All People's Congress (APC ) Government by another musician, Emerson Bockarie , who has been accused of unfairly blaming the government for the present economic crisis in the nation, though everybody knows that it is a global phenomenon. The source, who pleads to remain anonymous for now, said other musicians have been very upset since Emerson released his YESTERDAY BETTEH PASS TIDAY  because of the deliberate errors of fact  and wrong-headed conclusions in the music .The musicians will sing that TIDAY BETTEH PASS YESTERDAY.  

The musicians are said to have concluded that Mr.Emerson Bockarie, despite his fame for previous records, did not treat President Ernest Koroma and the Sierra Leone government fairly when he blamed the APC Government for the global  economic downturn that is affecting even rich and industrialized nations like the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Sweden . According to our source, the musicians feel  that Mr.Emerson Bockarie should have given President Koroma  credit at least for his achievements in only two years of governance. Before President Koroma came to power, the whole country was in pitch darkness with no electricity ,which disrupted all industrial activities and created untold problems for commerce and business, as well as hardship for the Sierra Leonean people. Sierra Leone's  industries and business houses were losing millions of dollars monthly because of the lack of electricity. However, keeping to his elections promise to make the restoration of electricity one of his priorities when he comes to power, President Koroma delivered on his promise and completed the Bumbuna Hydroelectricity Project, which the SLPP Government of the laid-back President Tejan Kabbah abandoned in all the 11 years his government ruled. Today , Bumbuna is supplying light to a large percentage of the city population and will provide more megawatts of electricity when the project is commissioned on November 6.  

The provision of electricity to the once darkest capital city in the world by President Ernest Koroma is a major achievement that will spur more industrial and commercial activities , promote economic growth and provide jobs for the country's youth. The musicians, like some members of the public, are contending that Emerson Bockarie was too hasty in his judgement because the government has only been in power for two years, which is too short a time for the government to correct all the ills of the country that Emerson complained about in his ill-conceived song.The musicians are disappointed that Emerson Bockarie , in his partisan haste to make the APC look ugly and give the SLPP an unfair advantage , degraded the integrity of the nation's musical artists .Our source said that some of these musicians believe that Emerson Bockarie was bribed by the SLPP and key operatives of the party to produce the  politically-motivated song . Some Sierra Leoneans say that with the blind desperation and lust  for power the SLPP operatives have been exhibiting, it will not be surprising when it is proved that Emerson was bribed to sing the song.

According to our source, the  musicians will sing that life in Sierra Leone today is better than yesterday and will call on Sierra Leoneans to hold their opinions yet until the government has spent one full term in office . They said that they were countering Emerson's song to restore integrity to Sierra Leonean music .

MEANWHILE, despite false claims by SLPP  operatives pushing the Emerson song, YESTERDAY BETTEH PASS TIDAY continues to stutter in the ratings as music lovers confess that this particular song is not as sweet and enjoyable as previous songs by Emerson. Even a journalist who tended to hail Emerson for the song said that Emerson could have done better with the song.

The song itself is packed with deliberate errors. For instance, Emerson wrongly states that the APC Government has been in power for three years  ! ! ! The truth is that the government only this month celebrated its second anniversary in power.