J’taccuse!

I travelled up country from the middle of last week right up to Buedu in the Kissi Tongi chiefdom which constitutes Constituency 04 of the Parliamentary constituencies. Before my trip I had read the conclusions of a workshop organized by Christiana Thorpe of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). That workshop was reported to have recommended that the Election laws should be amended to authorize the NEC to invalidate the votes from any polling station which it deems to have over voted in any election. Previous to the workshop the notorious lady was quoted as seeking authority to be able to do just that. All of it means that she had ABSOLUTELY NO AUTHORITY TO HAVE INVALIDATED the votes of 477 polling stations as she had given herself the authority to do and which helped Ernest Bai Koroma to be declared the winner of the 2007 Presidential runoff. Readers may recall that that illegal action notwithstanding, she and her computer agent Carlos Valenzuela had been unable to collate the voting figures which would have been consistent with her announcement that the APC leader had won the race. In order to cover her dishonest track, NEC had then with indecent haste removed all the voting figures from their website. And yet she had got the new President to dismiss Eddie Nyallay and Winston Minah, the only two people of integrity from the Commission. The same chairman of NEC Christiana Thorpe who had displayed indescribable callousness in the whole affair, is now seeking credibility and authority to do even worse in 2012. There are indications that the courts might uphold the SLPP’s case that she had acted illegally, but will she show remorse? (Photo: Dr Sama Banya)

The Civil Society organizations had come into prominence particularly following the horrible invasion of Freetown in January 1999. Who can forget their concern and the energy they exerted to seek relief for the suffering public. Many of the organizations have continued to be watchdogs against unnecessary and unauthorized actions against the public interest. One of the more self-seeking ones, who has some self-styled high faluting title has over the years made himself an expert on every subject matter of public interest. That has now taken him to the role of spokesman or coordinator for the Korean construction firm ISU. The outfit that allegedly won the contract for the construction of the first phase of the Kenema to Koindu motor road. This is the firm which AFTER TWO YEARS of being awarded the contract now comes up with the fairy tale that the drawings and specifications for the contract for which had bid and been awarded were faulty. Consequently they had now brought experts from Korea who were revising all the alignments and specifications so that they would do a better job. Whoever heard of such bull…? And yet both this APC government and the Sierra Leone Roads Authority which was supposed to have done the evaluation of the various bids keep mute over the whole dubious procedure.

What is worse Charles Mambu who is supposed to be a watchdog for society in order to seek the public interest, has allegedly become the PRO of the Korean company. According to those who attended the so-called briefing meeting in Segbwema he plans to set up office in Kenema and in Segbwema to monitor the construction work. Whom does this man think he is fooling? Should he not be the one who should be asking relevant question such as, how the contract was awarded to ISU? And who were the other firms that bid, did they include the Chinese, SALCOST, CSE etc? Was there any provision for revising the plan and drawings after the award? Of equal public interest would be a request FOR THE PROFILE, THE TRACK RECORD of the Korean company, where they have done a similar job etc. Let Charles Mambu do the rest of us a favour by getting his friends to give us their website so that we could get the details for ourselves. And like I asked the other time, who are going to pay for the cost over-run, the original Donors, the Korean Government or our cash strapped government the salaries of whose law makers are reported to be in arrears?

The government has been silent over a number of issues of public interest including the India rice saga, the future of those involved in the NASSIT ferry affair, the out-of-court settlement of those held responsible, the generator contracts to D & S Associates, the interruption to the supply of clean and continuous electricity supply to the city and many more. We have already told the people of Kissi Bendu the facts about the road, the rest of Kenema and Kailahun district are not moved by it all. We will not give up simply because the government refuses to make comments; we shall seek these facts legally the moment the Freedom of Information Bill is enacted by Parliament.

As for the whole of Kailahun district having gone Red, only the APC can comment on that. In the meantime, (the compulsorily retired) Colonel Fallah Sewa can continue his vile threats against decent people because they wear SLPP green
I have decided that the rubbish written in the for-di-people newspaper about me and Olu-Gordon does not merit the respectability of comment from me.

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