President Ernest Bai Koroma fires warning shot

If only history is something that one can rely on, one will say President Ernest Bai Korma of Sierra Leone is the first President of Sierra Leone that spent complete five years in office without jailing any journalist in the country. I used the word ‘’if” because some histories are being distorted by bad historian politicians. Due to the fact that some of the researchers and writers of such histories are tribalists, regionalists and politician bias writers. Therefore, they are easy to twist the country’s historical facts in order to suit their hidden political ambition and the political parties; they are affiliated with at the expenses of the country and other political parties. However, there are very good Sierra Leonean historians, including one of the heroes of APC, Ambassador Eddie Turay’s recent history book. It is very informative, especially about his personal family life, his Old APC political party and part of the country’s history. (Photo: Tony Bee, author)

Let me share with you briefly the privileged conversation I had with one of my brother Sierra Leoneans that I was together at the University of Ghana. This brother is a highly blooded tribalist in nature than the others. One day he told me that he was going to write a history book about the 11 years post brutal civil war in Sierra Leone. I said to him “oh ! man that is a very good intention. But how reliable, trustsworthy and enjoyable to read will your book going to be, jokingly, we laughed together”. And he said to me, “Tony Bee, what do you mean; you think I will not write a true story about our war in Sierra Leone? I said “poodeo” in our local language Krio (sure) a tribalism man lik u da rite a history book, nar -woda go read-am. Nobody nor go read-am because e-go full with fetie, fata lie, lie stories. (A tribalist man like you who is going to read your book, nobody will read it because it will full with lots of untrue stories). Tone Bee, you like to oppose me, he responded and we laughed over that.

Anyway “nar watin” you mean Tony Bee, (What do you mean Tony Bee), he asked me again? “I mean when a tribalist writes a history book it will be a tribalist book and we laughed. I further said to him “your book will full with distorted historical facts about the country’s history, including social and political, especially in connection with the post war. It will contain lots of bias writing with untrue stories about the past war, for instance, how it started in the country. You will not really going to tell your readers with honesty how the war started and who actually started it, he laughed”. By then we were very close friends so we understood ourselves. Food for thought

Now coming back to President Koroma’s warning shot issued in the country, I will say he is one of the most tolerant, patient, courageous, and accommodating presidents as far as the history of Sierra Leone is concerned and even in Africa, especially in West Africa in terms of not over using his Executive powers at the expense of his fellow Sierra Leoneans as compare to past presidents in the country and also with other Presidents of other countries, particularly in the subregion. Regardless of what the dishonest unpatriotic, tribalist and regionalist politicians may say about that, but I do believe that it is a hard fact that is very hard to distort by any tribalist and regionalist or politician historian writers in the country. Therefore, it is always good to praise others when it is necessary and to condemn whenever necessary as honest human beings.

But for his being good “komarah” (good parent) it seems as people want to take advantage over that, especially because of his human God fearing nature that makes him to become a bit slow to get angry or in taking action. Failing to realise that human beings who are always slow to get angry and always putting on smiling faces those are people that we should not take for granted because you do not know when you have hurts him or her or when you will hurt him or her. Therefore, those are people that we should always be very careful with in dealing with them; especially when working with them or living with them in any place because sometimes their actions or re-action to issues can be dramatic or dangerous.

When President Koroma was re-elected for his second term of office, he said it abundantly clear that the five years honeymoon was over. Therefore, every Sierra Leonean should tighten their belts to get ready to work hard to improve the miserable status of the country and to also ready to change their bad attitude, including hatred and jealousy against others at the expense of the country’s progress and development. But many Sierra Leoneans took such good advice with a pinch of salt. It’s like the usual Saleone-man saying “bo nar opeecall , e-don tay wae we dayerre den-talk yaee” (Ah, he is just joking or threatening us or talking he will not do anything against us. We have used to hear such talks), especially his corrupt politicians and corrupt senior civil servants who do not want to work for the benefit of the country rather than for their selfish interest in order to full their pockets every day and also for their political ambition only

However, the immediate current suspension of the Deputy Minister of Education, Hon Mamoudu Tarawllie for an alleged immoral behaviour, the sudden dismissal of the Minister of Works, Alimamy P Koroma for his not been working to expectation and also the recent arrest of our colleague journalists, Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay is a warning shot to every Sierra Leonean that, business is not going to be as usual, therefore Sierra Leoneans should be alert and ready to work for the country’s progress and development, especially those who have been given the responsibility of the nation. Not for their individual political ambition interest or political party, tribe or regional interest but for the interest of everybody in the country.

It is also an indication that those who think they are untouchable because they are very close to President Koroma or because they formed the core membership of the APC political party should immediately put that negative thinking or feeling apart. The interest of the country should come first in their minds before political party issue. We need a very good legacy of development during President Koroma’s final term in office in the country. But not an in-fighting legacy of political party members for power or positions at the expense of the hard earned peace, progress and development of the country

It is also an indication that those who are fighting each other undercover, by using different approaches, including the use of pro-APC journalists and pro-SLPP journalists against each other in order to succeed President Koroma without doing nothing with the good jobs that been assigned to them they are doing themselves more harm than good. For the fact that some of these ambitious APC politicians cannot even put their own house in order neither they are capable of cleaning their backyards.

That is to say they cannot even boast of having done any major development in their homes or constituencies which their people can be proud of them or even he or she can be proud of or boast of. Instead, some of them are dividing their people by using the philosophy of divide and rule at their own detriment. Yet they are fighting to lead the country, thinking that Sierra Leoneans, especially the poor electorates are still sleeping in their wings or thinking that President Koroma is blind or deaf therefore, he couldn’t see or hear the grumbling or crying of the poor people that elected him to office.

When President Koroma told all the politicians in the country, especially the APC politicians that if they did not sort themselves out he would sort them out they thought he was joking or telling them a story as they usually think. Now he started sorting them out for the interest of the country and I believe he will surely continue to sort them out, especially some of the non productive politicians and saboteur civil servants, particularly those that leaking secret state documents to the opposition media and those that are going around boasting of succeeding President Koroma without working hard to achieve the millennium set goals for the country. In fact those who leak state secret documents, especially to the opposition media are great enemies of the nation’s peace, progress and development because they will have the unpatriotic devilish satanic hatred mind to leak such documents to any terrorist group at the expense of the country’s hard earned peace that our people are currently enjoying and the snail pace development that is also going on in the country.

Therefore, my advice to all Sierra Leoneans, especially the Ministers, who are head of their Ministries not to allow their subordinates to undermine their jobs in their respective ministries at their own expense, they should not allow their Directors, Permanent Secretaries, Securities, clerks and cleaners to down play their jobs in their Ministries, if you do allow them to do that, you are going to face the wrath of President Koroma without any mercy because Sierra Leone must move forward regardless of you being a core APC party member. Therefore, do not forget that some of your subordinates are enemies of peace, progress, development and secret documents leakers in the country because of their political parties’ affiliation and their unpatriotic selfish interest. They are devils incarnation politicians and civil servants in the country.

The sacked Minister Petito Alimamy Koroma might have been working very hard to please his master, President Koroma, but he might have been allowing his subordinates to undermine his progress for lack of monitoring skills. Please the time of being arm chair Ministers or Directors or Permanent Secretaries is over. Get up from your seats to go and monitor your staff to see what they are doing or ask them for results of assignments being given to them. This should start right at State House, Mr. President please frequently check or monitor your Secretaries and Protocol Officers, especially for some of the documents that may need your immediate action, especially those for the general good of the country if you really want the agenda for prosperity to succeed. Do not forget that you have some “moles” within your office that are secret state documents leakers as your SEA-Dr Sylvia Blyden used to say.

It is an open secret that many Sierra Leoneans in the country are fun of keeping clients or business people’s documents, especially foreign investors’ files, indirectly asking for bribe before attending to them. Therefore, they are too quick to sit on such documents or drag feet on them because of their corrupt and bribery nature at the expense of the agenda for prosperity.

So, if you know you will no longer ready to work with President Koroma’s “4-4-4” one touch or soft touch express electronic development train please drop from the train or resign now, so that you will not face a disgraceful sack that will destroy your future, especially your political ambition or civil servant career. Sierra Leone must move forward through the agenda for prosperity. The President‘s development oriented express electronic train will not wait for any unpatriotic Sierra Leoneans, particularly enemies of peace, progress and development like the secret state documents leakers.

However, Mr President Koroma, I have been really following up events in the country, in spite of the far distance and geographical boundaries, especially in terms of the behaviour of some media men and women in the country. It was really a great big disgrace to the noble profession in the country because of some of the media publications or stories. Many of them are too inciting stories and too divisive, including tribal and regional incitements stories in the name of fighting for political parties and politicians at the expense of the poor suffering innocent masses.

Such behaviour is not really good for a country that had undergone 11 years of terrible senseless war that destroyed valuable and precious lives, especially those of the poor and defenceless innocent fellow Sierra Leoneans in the country. It’s like we did not gain or learn any good lesson from such brutal civil war because of hatred and jealousy that put the country’s progress and development backward. Some Sierra Leoneans, including those in the social media are still writing, broadcasting and saying things that tend to be too risky towards the hard earned peace and stability of the recently post war torn country.

But as the saying goes, there is no bad bush or dustbin to throw away a bad child. Therefore, Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay are your children in the country please give them a soft spot in your Godly heart and forgive them, for the first and last time. In view of that please, let there be no further action against them, especially in terms of court issue. “When a frog in front falls in a pit, those behind will take caution”. Therefore, I am sure that others will learn good lesson from Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay’s better life experience.

In any community, society or profession, be it journalism, doctors, lawyers, teachers, police, civil organisations etc. you most have the rotten elements amongst them. But for the sake of the good ones and for your tolerance continuity by been good friend of the media for the past five years, I am pleading for my colleagues, Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay, journalists to forgive them once and for all.

Before I will conclude, I will like to appeal to all peace, unity, progress and development loving patriotic Sierra Leoneans to pray for President Koroma. So that God will continue to give him the wisdom and understanding to enable him to continue doing the right things for the country’s peace, unity progress and development, especially whenever he is ready to weed out the unproductive enemies of peace, progress and development in the country from his government.

So that he will not dismiss or weed out the good and hard working Sierra Leoneans because of pressure from those who want to see his downfall. Please Mr. President, do not allow emotion to take of your God given wisdom because of enemies of your governments that are always pretending to be good advisers. Personally I do believe that there are very hard working, honest; discipline Ministers, Special Assistants and senior civil servants that currently facing lots of unnecessary hatred and jealousy criticisms from all angles because the enemies of peace, unity, progress and development in the country saw them as a stumbling block to their nefarious clandestine satanic motives or activities against the government and the country.

However, Mr. President Koroma, what is really happening with the Matotoka-Kono road and Matotoka Bo road project programs? We are losing lots of precious lives in those two roads in the country. I think those two roads are parts of the agenda for prosperity, therefore, something should be done towards that before it will be too late.

WHEN GOD SAYS YES, NO BODY CAN SAY NO

By Tony Bee, Sydney, Australia

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