Missing the target … a rejoinder
It is rather unfortunate that I have to renege on a cardinal principle I hold in the realm of journalism, that one should refrain from responding to attacks from individuals whose sole intention in writing is to curry favors from the powers that be. But in order to clarify certain lies told by Mr. Tamba Gborie in an earlier article carried by the Sierra Express Media, titled “Missing the Target”, in which he was responding to previous articles I had written about the political situation in Kono, vise -a vie the incumbent Vice President of Sierra Leone, the Honorable Sahr Samuel Sam-Sumana, I will endeavour to break the rule.
It sounds rather ironic that articles dismissed by Mr. Tamba Gborie as fabrications conceived in the desire for character assassination are at the same time described by him as “worth reading”. It would have made sense for him to dismiss them as material for the garbage can. I am not surprised at Mr. Gborie because history and common sense has taught us that one reason for the success of dictators and political tyrants in a political system is the presence of political sycophants who will put their life on the line to glorify their tyranny as benevolent gestures for the good of the oppressed. So with the likes of Mr Gborie in the life of Kono, potential tyrants like the honorable Vice President is going to have a field day in coming down on his opponents because they are poised to come to his defense should any one attempt to speak against him. Usually coupled with this dishonest praise singing is the tendency to fabricate lies in defense of their master, with the view to distort the facts on the ground, so I am not taken aback by Mr. Gborie’s blatant lies that I have been sent a “strong message” by the people of Kono disproving the facts in my articles as “biased criticism. Unless he Tamba Gborie is the conduit of such message through his article, I still remain to look forward to the said message. Besides, I want Mr. Gborie to understand that If anything, it is the honorable Vice President not myself that is assassinating his own character because it is him, not me that is masterminding despicable acts calculated to hurt his perceived “enemies”.
I pity Mr Gborie that he is very glittery about the Vice President’s position in the light of my articles. If he can stop praise singing for a moment and face reality, all he should do is to communicate with his boss, if he ever has access to him, and tell him to stop being petty and live up to the expected standard. I consider it ridiculous and laughable that Mr. Gborie believes that I am perturbed by the effect of the Kimberlite blasts and the V.P’s inability to satisfy my personal desires that makes me levy criticisms at him. All I am doing is speaking the plain truth in the light of the prevailing situation. As a matter of fact, there is only one thing to do with the truth. You either say it or you tell a lie.
I am very grateful to Mr. Gborie for reproducing excerpts from my original articles because those that did not read it will at least get a gist of what I am saying. What throws me off my guard is the fact that Mr Gborie does not consider the V.P’s tendency to antagonize party faithfuls, most of whom are even more popular and respected by the Kono people than him, attack political opponents, foment discord between the traditional rulers and their subjects, promote lawlessness, as acts unbecoming of an individual of his status, and sufficient reason for him to be sidelined. To every right thinking individual, such acts are sufficient recipe for political instability and as such whosoever harbors such inclinations is not fit to be a leader. You should note besides, that Kono at this point in time is an S.L.P.P stronghold, in spite of the attempt by political sycophants and praise singers to distort this reality to His Excellency, the President, Ernest Bai Koroma. So in order for the tables to turn, it takes more than a political buffoon and a band of praise singers. If Mr Gborie is not blinded by his penchant for political praise singing, that renders him myopic, he would not have skipped my mentioning of names like Ambassador John Yambasu, Mr George Pessima, Mr Aiah M’briwa and Diana Konomanyi, as possible candidates among known APC faithfuls, for the possible replacements for our Vice President. Thanks to the article titled “A Canker Worm In The Flesh of The APC.”. I can even make the list longer to include people who might not be known APC. members but may be willing to come onboard. People such as Mr F.D Konomanyi, Justice John Kamanda, Professor Richard M’bayo, Dr Morie Manyeh and your humble self, Mr. Tamba Gborie, or am I being ridiculous? Mind you three months before him being chosen as a running mate to His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, The honorable Vice President was one of the major financiers of the Solomon Bereway campaign in Kono.
Mr. Gborie, let me hasten to enlighten you that my articles were not intended to “test the resilience of V.P. Sam Sumana”, if there is any, as you conjecture. If anything, they were intended to bring to light the inadequacies and excesses of the latter, and to make my case that he is indeed a misrepresentation of the interest of the APC in Kono with regards to winning the district over come 2012. I believe I do not stand alone in this but maybe the first to materialize my thought to the objective scene.
It is not for me to believe that the V.P is the patron of a band of hooligans in Tankoro known as “Long Bench” for it to be true. If my Gborie does his home work well, it will take a split second to know that.
I had forgotten that during my days as a student at Fourah Bay College, I was believed to be a student activist. Thanks for reminding me, Mr. Gborie. In that capacity, one thing I can recall very well is that myself and the likes of Comrades Ansumana Sillah, Nabilai Musa Kamara, Sammy Nyandemoh, Alpha Lebbie, Tatafway Tumoe, J.C. Haword, Umaru Bah, Solomon Bah, Ramatu Kamanda, Osman Bah, the late Michael Vandy, to name but a few were never manipulated by politicians for the sake of self aggrandizement. We were well informed and we strived to talk about things we understood and did it honestly. So if being a student activist entails distorting facts and resorting to acts of vandalism, then throw it to the dogs.
Although my articles were not intended to take a broad view of the numerous problems that face our district but to throw light on the activities of the V.P., I agree with Mr. Gborie that the blame cannot be put squarely at the door steps of the politicians. The traditional rulers also share part of the blame. But whether Chief Paul Ngaba Saquee is corrupt and enmeshed in corruption or not, I will suggest that Mr Gborie pick up the issue with his hero, the V.P for onward transmission to the Anti Corruption Commision like he did to PC Shieku Fasuluku of Sando Chiefdom, another perceived enemy of his.
It is true that as Konos we need to rally round the few successful ones for the betterment of our district. This is why we feel let down by the Vice President, who happens to be the second most important man in the politics of our country. Instead of bringing people together he is busy using all his energy to settle personal scores. This being the situation, I once more reiterate my firm conviction that he is a mismatch and not an embodiment of Kono political representation, a canker worm in the flesh of the APC.
By Samuel Tamba Musa Saquee, U.S.A.
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