Do they intend to repeat it?

The Minister of Information and Communications was quoted recently as saying that the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) would be included in the government delegation to the forthcoming London conference on Sierra Leone. If the Minister was quoted correctly then it is surprising that as of now there has been no official communication to the SLPP Secretariat on the matter. It may be that the Minister was not quoted correctly. All the same there is rumour from official sources that the APC government intend as it did before, to take the onus of deciding who should represent the opposition at the conference. Conscious of how this same government in collusion with the United Nations in Sierra Leone behaved at the time of the recent Peace Building conference at the United Nations in New York, one is compelled to treat such rumour seriously. And if it is true, then it confirms that the last incident was not an oversight. A repetition now would confirm that the APC government is determined to create chaos and confusion within the ranks of the opposition so as to divide and weaken us especially as the much over publicized defections of our membership to the ruling party has left absolutely no dent on the SLPP. But why should a government whose propaganda machines are in overdrive to convince the world that the aim of their leadership was to bring the whole country together so as to enhance development would want to repeat such a divisive behavior?  If they go ahead with the scheme would their sycophants continue to scream that it is the opposition which refuses to cooperate? If the government plans to involve the opposition in the proposed conference, then they know exactly how to go about it rather how they would like to go about it. We have just emerged from an executive council meeting which has demonstrated how resilient and united we are and how determined we are to remove the APC come 2012. That determination should involve a firm resolve on our membership not to allow any external forces, no matter how flattering they may be to divide us.

I am delighted to note that at long last Mr. Speaker has laid on the table of Parliament the Public Notice pertaining to the pension of Ministers and deputy Ministers. It is a very long time since I was a Member of Parliament and I am no longer familiar with some of the procedures, which has left me wondering what the next step is. I am not sure how long the Public Notice has been on the table nor how long it must lie there before the next step. When a colleague tried to raise my spirit by saying that we were almost there, I replied with the Mende proverb which says, “When you tell a blind man that his wife has caught a lot of fish today, he will reply that ‘I will believe it when I find it in my dinner.’”  Well we’ve waited for 25 months, what is another couple of months?” We shall continue to wait (in)patiently.   

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!

© 2009, https:. All rights reserved.