Why dress the Deputy Minister in borrowed robes?
One thing that journalists should disassociate themselves from is dressing state actors in borrowed robes, giving them the opportunity to mess up big time. Gone are the days that government officials enjoy press protection. As journalists, we are watch-dogs of the nation such that even the president is under our supervision, let alone other state actors. (Photo: Deputy Health Minister, Mohamed D Koroma)
I am outrightly questioning an inside page commentary in the Concord Times newspaper, dated 7 July 2010, titled ‘Leave Deputy Health Minister Aloneâ€.
In my view, I don’t think anybody is after the deputy minister; maybe the deputy minister has something odd that he feels someone wants to let out of the bag. As far as I am concerned there is nothing good to write home about the deputy minister.
Firstly, the first ever attempt to chase unregistered clinics, pharmacies and patent outlets countrywide realized no dividend as all those outlets that were shut down were later reopened and continued to sell expired drugs with untrained staff continuing to administer treatment to citizens.
The author should have disclosed the number of arrests made; what happened after the arrest? Were they charged to court? If so, what court were the charged? What was the verdict of the court? If they were not sent to court, were they arrested for arrest sake? According to the United Nations assessment on water companies in the country, only Grafton and Luvia were considered safe for drinking.
What has been done by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to either stop or upgrade the sanitary conditions of the other water companies? Mohamed D Koroma, owner and proprietor of the African Champion Newspaper is in the lead for exploiting journalists in Sierra Leone as he has continuously failed to pay his staff, believing that an ID card is the trump card for poor reporters to make money.
How can we rate the degree of patriotism in such a man that does not pay his workers, let alone talk of his patriotism to his country.
Being a journalist, the deputy minister is using the press to project himself on issues that are not worth writing about, considering the degree of administrative blunders he has made that has brought the name of the ministry into disrepute.
In my candid opinion, the free health care is a test case for the deputy minister, but as the way things are unfolding it goes without saying that he will not be able to stand the test of time; hence the need to appoint a substantive minister that will re-direct the ministry for the general good of all.     Â
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