My goodness – will it ever stop?
In these columns and in conversation with those friends of mine in the ruling APC who understand the concept of democracy and political opposition, I often remind them that life in this country has always been better under the SLPP than when the Red Sun is in charge. Before the 2007 Parliamentary and Presidential elections I was always challenged to wait and see.
When the SLPP headquarters was set upon, vandalized and looted on the day the runoff Presidential result was announced I was told that it was an isolated incident which would not be repeated. The Inspector-General of Police Archer Kamara told the BBC and the world that the attack had been carried out by SLPP volunteers and vigilantes who were out to collect their reward. I opined at the time that the events did not augur well for the peace of the country and expressed my fear that what we witnessed was just the beginning and that worse was going to follow. One must have lost count of the number of election related violence since then. Pundits predict a terrible scenario as the countdown to 2012 commences.
When I read a news item last week that the Police were increasing security up mount Aureol in order to prevent or control any violence that would follow the Fourah Bay College Students’ Union election I said to no one in particular that as long as there was an opposition to the unofficial but implied APC candidate violence would erupt unless all indications pointed to an APC victory. The college authorities had issued guidelines on the proposed elections but I knew that when it came to the crunch even those would not mean anything. The unanswered but vital question is, “Are there any ‘unregistered’ students in the University?†those students being allowed to attend lectures although not officially enrolled? The answer is important because of allegations that a large number of unregistered students were agitating to be allowed to vote last Saturday when in fact there was already a register of voters which did not have their names. It all boils down to the fact that the unofficial but APC backed candidate was going to lose rather badly hence the “gbungbusuruâ€.
But win or lose does it not occur to the leaders of the APC that the repeated elections violence the country is a discredit to the government and to the President’s future legacy? Will they continue to be comfortable if such a label is attached to his Excellency? What is the point of signing communiqués if they are not respected or worth the paper on which they are printed? In case there are skeptics among them about what I have stated, I will challenge them to show instances of election related violence during the 11 years of SLPP rule. Too much of a thing is good for nothing.
It was reported that it pleased his Excellency to commission the newly rehabilitated Masiaka to Bo highway which should form part of the Trans African highway project. Last Friday the African champion newspaper noted that the SLPP began the project but abandoned it until the APC picked it up again after the 2007 elections. I have given up on the newspaper’s lack of ability to state the truth and would therefore only state the facts here. The road project was undertaken by the SLPP and continued even during the 2007 election campaign. The only time when work came to a standstill was when the RUF animals attacked the quarry site and set the machinery on fire and destroyed everything. It was one of the suspended projects that the government prioritized soon after the war. The least the Minister of works should have done was to credit the erstwhile government rather than as always, stressing the importance this government attaches to infrastructural development even o n projects begun by others. But as someone has pointed out it was another ‘pull-nar-doe’ event of an SLPP incubated project.
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