How Sad!

It used to be such a readable newspaper; its editorials were always vibrant and relative. It also had a special attraction for some readers who enjoyed its peep column then edited by Olu Ritchie Awoonor Gordon, although some of its satires were in bad taste. One could feel the handprint of its editor on those editorials. Sadly over the years, the shine appears to have worn off the editorial as well as the format of For di People newspaper. Apparently for reasons which I could not fathom, I thought that Paul Kamara was losing his grip. The names of some of the writers, like Olokodor appears strange. More recently editorials and staff commentaries have given way to what is reminiscent of Atunda Ayenda of CTN radio. They have taken the form of a dialogue among Makuta and others under the title of Mama Salone en Pikin. The discussion hardly varies with much of it on the Judiciary especially on the character of the honourable Chief Justice, as well as Justices Tolla Thompson and Edmond Cowan now Ombudsman. I wonder whether it has occurred to Paul that with the exception of those who wish to flatter him, the public must be tired of repeatedly reading about these people when nothing new is added to what has gone before. Mama Salone en Pikin has recently been playing up to President Ernest Bai Koroma in much the same way as the African Champion and the We Yone newspapers. Has Paul still got his eyes on the chairmanship of the Youth Commission even as he is approaching 70? I hope not because I have read in some other newspapers that the youth would prefer a much younger person for that position.

In the Monday October 26 edition of the newspaper the editorial has gone into really deceiving its readers and embarked on a mischievous adventure. Not knowing how to respond to the factual statements about the political prostitution finger pointing, the paper alleges that it is the people of the south and east who are tribalistic and intolerant. That the Mohamed Sorie Fornah coup was not really a coup, and that the RUF revolution, the AFRC and the NPRC coups were all southern inspired because the same south-easterners are always hungry for power. It was they who inspired or instigated Foday Sankoh to start his revolution. It went further to allege that the 23 year misrule of the APC was the fault of the same people. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I read those words and wondered whether they could have come from the pen of someone whose views I used to respect although quite often not in agreement with them. The editorial/discussion alleges that it was Issa Sesey and not Tejan-Kabbah who ended the rebel war. They might as well say that it was Goebells and not Winston Churchill who was responsible for ending the second world war. Those who have not read the particular installment are advised to do so and conclude for themselves where this country is heading with this kind of journalism. Could it be part of the symptom of our regime change?

The ink is hardly dry on my column about political interference and how it has always been an avowed policy of the APC not to allow the people a free choice in elections. We find this in Parliamentary and local government elections, in Students’ Union affairs, within the trade union and so forth. Now there are disturbing reports of the deputy minister of Labour Moijueh Kaikai and the deputy NaCSA commissioner Charles Rogers wanting to impose their preferred candidate on the youth organization in the Pujehun district causing the planned election of youth chairman to be postponed. If these people believe that the government’s policies are paying dividends everywhere, why would they not allow the poor young people a free choice? Could they be struggling to impress his Excellency that they have truly delivered the district into his hands? We recently heard reports of a worse situation in the Kambia district where the district council chairman is alleged to have annulled the election of a youth leader because the successful candidate was not a member of the APC. I hope members of the international community who clamoured so much for regime change are taking note. Free, fair and transparent elections are not confined to election campaigns. The malpractices and intimidation begin well before then and are factors which ought to discredit the credibility of the actual ballot box. We are waiting for the response of the APC leadership.      

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