What Sells?

Today, Friday November 6, 2009, the great Bumbuna Project which has taken some 34 years or so to complete and which has now been completed only after two years by the All Peoples Congress, APC government of President Ernest Bai Koroma will be commissioned today. His Excellency had made the provision of electricity to the darkest city in Africa, if not the world as his number one priority.

First there was the rush to generate electricity from Thermal power and although that partially succeeded it was done at a great an unaffordable cost. We shall probably never know the true figures for the two contracts, but suffice to say that both, especially the Income Electric one came in for a critical review from all sources including the Anti Corruption Commission, ACC.

Electricity supply to the city was at best irregular which did not please the President and therefore he pushed on with Bumbuna, visiting the works some three or four times, the famous ministerial retreat not included. Houses along the right of way of the high tension cables, including, according to rumours, (oh Salone and rumours!) those belonging to his Excellency in Makeni and the honourable Vice President Alhajie chief Sam Sumana in Freetown. Bumbuna has had quite a few hiccups but it is to be commissioned today when in the words of his Excellency and the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, ”uninterrupted and CLEAN ELECTRICITY, (no one has up to this moment told me what unclean or contaminated electricity is) would be supplied to Freetown.

And so today Puawui will be joining all Freetonians in general, and especially his friends and brothers of the red sun in celebrating with his Excellency for this spectacular achievement of the APC barley 25 months after taking office. If past experience is anything to go by, as my friends of the print media like to say, then the matorma will be there; will Sampa also join in I wonder. But we shall all be present, although in view of the recent threat to JOB, BW Bockarie, Kadie Sesey, IJ Kabbah and others, I shall refuse to make myself visible.

The late Charles M Schultz wrote and illustrated the famous comic cartoon strip Peanuts between 1950 and 2000. It was one of the most popular; at its peak it ran in over 2600 newspapers with a readership of 355 million in some 75 countries. Charlie Brown was its main character with Lucy, the wonder dog Snoopy, no relation to a later day fifi, and Linus among others. In one famous strip, it is the first day of the new school year and students are asked to write an essay about returning to class. Lucy wrote,”Vacations are nice, but it is good to get back to school. There is nothing more satisfying or challenging than education and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge.” Coming from Lucy the teacher was impressed and showered her with praises. Lucy then leans over and whispers to Charlie Brown, “After a while you learn what sells.” 

After two years in which this government has claimed credit for every project that it is completing, without any acknowledgement of who began it or took it quite some way, it is making Bumbuna the showcase among all its achievements. Believe me, as I have indicated it is going to be a big claim. But, in the absence of Bumbuna what else have they to sell to a disenchanted public? Bumbuna is what sells, Bumbuna is the showpiece that the APC is going to dangle before the eyes of skeptic public over the next twelve months.

Our stomachs may be empty, the rest of the country may continue to live in darkness; few people can afford a square meal a day, armed robbers will continue terrorize; there may be unfulfilled election promises to the youth, but we the lucky people of  FREETOWN HAVE CLEAN ELECTRICTY, halleluyah! 

QUOTATION OF THE YEAR:- “let it be known that you, (that is the President) inherited a battered Economy, a deprived nation and a nation that lingered too long at the bottom of the development index, but that within the tenure as President of this Republic, things have not only improved but that the citizens of this nation are living better lives and they can stand anywhere in the world and raise their heads up in pride of having been and are Sierra Leoneans. (Editorial in the Standard Times newspaper.) Absolutely no comment!!!       

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