for most of yesterday and today it has rained and rained and rained. joshua told me the rains have set in early this year and now it will rain solidly until the end of august. i woke this morning to the deafening roar of rain slamming into tin roofs, plastic sheeted huts, palm trees and finally landing onto the muddy road below the hostel, where it made its way into red-brown torrents of water rushing down gutters & roads. while most people i could see were sheltering under road side huts and little homes, some intrepid school kids with great big umbrellas carefully picked their way among various streams running along the road. one woman carrying crates of eggs on her head had no defence against the rain and walked with a look of grim determination on her face. mangy dogs appeared to laugh at her from the comfort of their shelters.
then it was time for me to face the rain. the hardest thing is negotiating ankle deep streams of water rushing across roads while wearing flip flops. i nearly lost them several times. the boys sheltering in the huts kept shouting out ‘white gyal white gyal, how you?’ and i kept answering ‘wet’ and i could smell their ganja in the air.
we had enough money for diesel for the generator at the youth centre today which was exciting, because that equates to internet access. but the most endearing thing was watching the kids sit at the computers before the generator was turned on, practicing typing on the keyboards with all their fingers. typing messages into thin air. some are quite good, others struggle. when they get a chance to type properly, most of them type ‘my name is hawa, i am 17 years old, i live on wilberforce road and i have three sisters’. or something like that. a few actually surf the net and open yahoo accounts and all the spam mails that come with them. the computers are riddled with viruses.
i had an enjoyable conversation with precocious 12 year old jaz who gave me the low down on the differences and similarities between the three main political parties running for the presidential elections in august. according to jaz, they all promise to provide electricity, piped water and roads and so voting comes down to who you think is being the most honest. when i asked him where he learns about politics, he answered that his grandmother teaches him everything about ‘politricks’ and he wants to learn all about politricks so he can be a president one day. it seems a common ambition.
when moses turned up, we headed off to meet his friend in the military barracks in wilberforce. i met alvie sitting outside a house with some of his friends. i told him about what i’m interested in and what i’m studying and he offered to help me out by getting a group of people together who i can talk with. once practicalities were out of the way, talk descended into sierra leone politics, as always. we mostly talked about freedom of speech (and lack thereof), journalists, corruption, ‘what is a bribe’, and most of the boys seemed to agree that military dictatorship was preferable to the current system because ‘at least when the NPRC (?) overthrew APC, things got done, electricity came back’. alvie said you need someone strong, even if brutal, to get things in order and that to call the current system a ‘democracy’ is a farce anyway.
when the rain died down enough to leave, moses and i made our way to his aunty’s house in the slum behind the barracks. i love going there because it is so crammed with life. everything is done in the open. cooking, washing, cleaning, talking, arguing, playing, listening to the radio. there are washing lines strung about and clothes also hang from useless electricity wires. chickens dart about the place, hopping across sewers and narrow rocky steps to find little bits of rice. most dogs just lie about looking faintly amused. the kids there are really not shy at all. it seems they all want to hold my hand, i just don’t have enough hands for them all. and i just seemed to collect more of them as i walk along. moses and i talked to a few ladies about joining my group for talks. most of them said no. i’m not sure if they are shy or don’t like me or maybe just suspicious of white girls wanting to talk about politics. but then we talked with aunty who, although shy, agreed to help me get a women’s group together. we start tomorrow morning.
we sat outside moses aunty’s hut and i had kids draped all over me. fatu took special dibs and instructed all the other children not to touch me, i belonged to her. a bossy 6 year old. like 6 year old girls anywhere in the world. i watched moses’ sister cooking plasas. she had two coal fires going outside. one for the rice and one for the plasas. she finely chopped up potato leaves, pounded chillis (peppers) with a large mortar & pestle, added small pieces of dried fish and a she emptied a little knotted plastic bag full of bright orange palm oil into the mix. i think she added an onion and a few other things, but i’m not sure what they were. moses said every meal is plasas. they cook once a day in the afternoon and then have cold leftover rice for breakfast. moses and i shared a plate of very oily plasas. when moses finished he had orange lips. i probably did too. afterwards i gave the kids a lollipop each. they all sucked happily and when i wasn’t looking, fatu stuck her lollipop in my mouth and i briefly wondered how clean her mouth was... and then decided best not to worry.. and handed her lollipop back. it was nice to lean back on the little wooden stools and just watch life go by. moses step sister warmed some water on the coals and went to wash. some military men walked by and looked surprised to see me sitting there. moses and i talked about the relative merits of australia and england and sierra leone. and then his artist friend came by and i pulled out my laptop and showed him some banksy pictures. then they looked at my other pictures and i learned that there are no horses in sierra leone, or so they said. apparently there might be one left at family kingdom restaurant in aberdeen, all the others died. moses seemed outraged that family kingdom charged people 2000 leones (less than 50 pence) to sit on the only horse in sierra leone. i also played them ‘beds are burning’ on my laptop and we talked about aboriginal issues in australia. a few guys found it funny that we don’t have many black people in australia. they think it would be strange to be surrounded by all white people. then jyoti rang and it was late and i had to go home. reluctantly.
4 July 2007
2 July 2007
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RICE THAT MAY HAVE COST THE SLPP GOVT. THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN
(Starring Muamar Gaddafi, Phillip Neville, and President Kabbah)
The past week in Sierra Leone has been incredibly interesting and somewhat chaotic. As you probably now know, Libya’s Gaddafi rode into town via Conakry in a fleet of SUVs and hundred people plus entourage. Banners and signs were hung all over Freetown welcoming Gaddafi to Sierra Leone. I must confess that I did not realize the depth of our relationship with Gaddafi and by “our” I mean president Kabbah.
Gaddafi arrived into F/town late into the night and the radio station voice of Islam was proudly broadcasting every bit of his procession. Calls came in from listeners in areas like Wellington, Grafton, and Kissy to indicate that he was in their area. According to one caller, Gaddafi got out of his car and started walking on foot shaking hands of locals. Ah propaganda!!!! Its amazing how easily we believe. Of course now, knowing some Salone Man Dem they will say “Gaddafi da man wondaful, im even comot na im motoca fo cam shake pipul dem an”. If there’s one reason why I respect Gaddafi, it’s that he knows how to present himself as the people’s man. He can appeal to the masses.
Anyway back to his visit. Besides causing a 3 day traffic jam in F/town, Gaddafi held a huge rally at the National Stadium with President Kabbah. I didn’t listen to the radio broadcast neither did I attend but the following day a rumor began circulating about an incident that supposedly occurred during the rally and cause president Kabbah some embarrassment.
The story I heard went something like this: “Gaddafi announced at the stadium that he had given 2 ships of rice to Kabbah for the people and asked him what he did with the rice. Kabbah then for the first time had to come to the mic and explain that he had indeed used the rice aid to invest in a social security safety scheme under NASSIT”.
As the rumor circulated, many SLPP supporters and skeptics alike were disappointed. Even I used this story to discredit Kabbah’s regime in an argument with friends that evening.
The following day on a personal visit to the Presidential Lodge to visit an uncle who works at the presidential lodge, I realized the rumor had shaken the government to the core. The president was furious at the story. I turned to my uncle and asked “so this rumor with the rice is it true”? My uncle’s response “No, its not…”
It was at the Lodge that I found out the source of the rumor was actually a newspaper article written by Phillip Neville in the Standard Times Paper. It was Neville who claimed that Gaddafi had asked about the rice at the stadium and that Kabbah had never informed the public of the rice. The article hinted at corruption and lack of transparency.
Refusing to just take “no” for an answer I asked for any documents that could be produced that indicated that the president had indeed informed the public of the rice aid and its use.
In a document titled: “Statement by his Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan-Kabbah on the occasion of the launching of the social safety net (social assistance) scheme”, dated June 29th 2006 the president did indeed state and I quote:
“When we were setting up NASSIT, we realized that it needed to be complemented by a social safety net scheme. However, we encountered severe resource constraints to finance this scheme…when we received ship loads of rice from Chinese, French, Libyan, and Italian governments as commodity aid in 2001 and 2002, we sold it at concessionary rates to our people, with the following amounts realized:
Libyan Food Aid---Le. 2,027,684,370 Italian Food Aid---Le. 579,260,100 French Food Aid---Le. 558,364,154 Chinese Food Aid---Le. 961,599,184. The funds were invested, yielding an interest of Le. 345,487,497.24…part of the funds from these sources was later utilized as seed money to set up NASSIT…today NASSIT being in good financial standing, had been able to pay back over Le 5.3 billions towards the establishment of the Social Safety Net Scheme”
This document shows that contrary to the allegations of Phillip Neville in the article “BOMBSHELL-Colonel Gaddaffi exposes government—June 27’ 07 that the president did in fact inform the public of the utilization of the ship loads of rice from Libya and elsewhere.
The president’s office had a press conference on Thursday and released a document and one Sorie Fofanah written a special commentary with title “Kabbah-A victim of Transparency”.
I hate to admit it but I was eager to believe the rumor as I was suffering from a quick bout of a contagious disease commonly known in Sierra Leone as P.H.D- Pull Him Down Syndrome. This is a condition that causes one to believe and say negative things about other Sierra Leoneans. Not being a supporter of the SLPP regime, it was incredibly easy for me to believe the rumor was true.
In actuality selling food aid at reduced prices to the people and investing the profits in a long term scheme is amazing. I am happy to give kudos where it is due. If the rice had been given to people for free the whole story would have ended there. Plus I’m from the school of Sembene Ousmane’s Guelwaar, I don’t believe in giving a nation of people free food….commodity aid turns the people into beggars. That is dependency of the worst kind.
Back to Phillip Neville---As of yesterday, he has been arrested and will most likely spend the next couple months in jail. I doubt he will be out before the elections. The truth is his paper is usually quite good adding necessary critique where it is due. I enjoyed an article he wrote recently linking Gaddafi to the RUF though I would not have reprinted those horrific pictures of amputee victims. Rice is to Sierra Leone as Oil is to America. It is a very serious matter, and you don’t play with a hungry man’s rice. Because of the article (rumor) a lot of people thought that the SLPP govt had misused or confiscated rice that rightly belonged to them it’s sometimes a challenge to get people who need to eat today to invest their food in the bambais of tomorrow.
Anyhow, I think it was a horrid mistake to arrest Phillip Neville. Even if the man may have fabricated the story about the rice the government should not have arrested him. The govt should have sued him in civil court or found some other legitimate way to discredit him as a journalist. Instead what they have done is arrested him and possibly charge with criminal libel. By arresting the man has been martyred. Some in the international community and the Salone Diaspora will eat it all up…outgoing SLPP govt arrests journalist to curb dissent and win elections.
I guess the lesson to all of us if we didn’t already know is don’t believe everything negative you hear or read, or positive for that matter, and resist the PHD—Pull Him Down Syndrome. I will be on a panel for a radio discussion reflecting on Gaddafi’s visit later on today on radio democracy 98.1. I hope I can gain more insight on this rice affair.
Look out for the post on the radio show with me ( as an independent observer), Septimus Kai Kai (minister of information), Alpha Kanu (former MP & Speaker for Earnest Bai Koroma)
Gaddafi arrived into F/town late into the night and the radio station voice of Islam was proudly broadcasting every bit of his procession. Calls came in from listeners in areas like Wellington, Grafton, and Kissy to indicate that he was in their area. According to one caller, Gaddafi got out of his car and started walking on foot shaking hands of locals. Ah propaganda!!!! Its amazing how easily we believe. Of course now, knowing some Salone Man Dem they will say “Gaddafi da man wondaful, im even comot na im motoca fo cam shake pipul dem an”. If there’s one reason why I respect Gaddafi, it’s that he knows how to present himself as the people’s man. He can appeal to the masses.
Anyway back to his visit. Besides causing a 3 day traffic jam in F/town, Gaddafi held a huge rally at the National Stadium with President Kabbah. I didn’t listen to the radio broadcast neither did I attend but the following day a rumor began circulating about an incident that supposedly occurred during the rally and cause president Kabbah some embarrassment.
The story I heard went something like this: “Gaddafi announced at the stadium that he had given 2 ships of rice to Kabbah for the people and asked him what he did with the rice. Kabbah then for the first time had to come to the mic and explain that he had indeed used the rice aid to invest in a social security safety scheme under NASSIT”.
As the rumor circulated, many SLPP supporters and skeptics alike were disappointed. Even I used this story to discredit Kabbah’s regime in an argument with friends that evening.
The following day on a personal visit to the Presidential Lodge to visit an uncle who works at the presidential lodge, I realized the rumor had shaken the government to the core. The president was furious at the story. I turned to my uncle and asked “so this rumor with the rice is it true”? My uncle’s response “No, its not…”
It was at the Lodge that I found out the source of the rumor was actually a newspaper article written by Phillip Neville in the Standard Times Paper. It was Neville who claimed that Gaddafi had asked about the rice at the stadium and that Kabbah had never informed the public of the rice. The article hinted at corruption and lack of transparency.
Refusing to just take “no” for an answer I asked for any documents that could be produced that indicated that the president had indeed informed the public of the rice aid and its use.
In a document titled: “Statement by his Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan-Kabbah on the occasion of the launching of the social safety net (social assistance) scheme”, dated June 29th 2006 the president did indeed state and I quote:
“When we were setting up NASSIT, we realized that it needed to be complemented by a social safety net scheme. However, we encountered severe resource constraints to finance this scheme…when we received ship loads of rice from Chinese, French, Libyan, and Italian governments as commodity aid in 2001 and 2002, we sold it at concessionary rates to our people, with the following amounts realized:
Libyan Food Aid---Le. 2,027,684,370 Italian Food Aid---Le. 579,260,100 French Food Aid---Le. 558,364,154 Chinese Food Aid---Le. 961,599,184. The funds were invested, yielding an interest of Le. 345,487,497.24…part of the funds from these sources was later utilized as seed money to set up NASSIT…today NASSIT being in good financial standing, had been able to pay back over Le 5.3 billions towards the establishment of the Social Safety Net Scheme”
This document shows that contrary to the allegations of Phillip Neville in the article “BOMBSHELL-Colonel Gaddaffi exposes government—June 27’ 07 that the president did in fact inform the public of the utilization of the ship loads of rice from Libya and elsewhere.
The president’s office had a press conference on Thursday and released a document and one Sorie Fofanah written a special commentary with title “Kabbah-A victim of Transparency”.
I hate to admit it but I was eager to believe the rumor as I was suffering from a quick bout of a contagious disease commonly known in Sierra Leone as P.H.D- Pull Him Down Syndrome. This is a condition that causes one to believe and say negative things about other Sierra Leoneans. Not being a supporter of the SLPP regime, it was incredibly easy for me to believe the rumor was true.
In actuality selling food aid at reduced prices to the people and investing the profits in a long term scheme is amazing. I am happy to give kudos where it is due. If the rice had been given to people for free the whole story would have ended there. Plus I’m from the school of Sembene Ousmane’s Guelwaar, I don’t believe in giving a nation of people free food….commodity aid turns the people into beggars. That is dependency of the worst kind.
Back to Phillip Neville---As of yesterday, he has been arrested and will most likely spend the next couple months in jail. I doubt he will be out before the elections. The truth is his paper is usually quite good adding necessary critique where it is due. I enjoyed an article he wrote recently linking Gaddafi to the RUF though I would not have reprinted those horrific pictures of amputee victims. Rice is to Sierra Leone as Oil is to America. It is a very serious matter, and you don’t play with a hungry man’s rice. Because of the article (rumor) a lot of people thought that the SLPP govt had misused or confiscated rice that rightly belonged to them it’s sometimes a challenge to get people who need to eat today to invest their food in the bambais of tomorrow.
Anyhow, I think it was a horrid mistake to arrest Phillip Neville. Even if the man may have fabricated the story about the rice the government should not have arrested him. The govt should have sued him in civil court or found some other legitimate way to discredit him as a journalist. Instead what they have done is arrested him and possibly charge with criminal libel. By arresting the man has been martyred. Some in the international community and the Salone Diaspora will eat it all up…outgoing SLPP govt arrests journalist to curb dissent and win elections.
I guess the lesson to all of us if we didn’t already know is don’t believe everything negative you hear or read, or positive for that matter, and resist the PHD—Pull Him Down Syndrome. I will be on a panel for a radio discussion reflecting on Gaddafi’s visit later on today on radio democracy 98.1. I hope I can gain more insight on this rice affair.
Look out for the post on the radio show with me ( as an independent observer), Septimus Kai Kai (minister of information), Alpha Kanu (former MP & Speaker for Earnest Bai Koroma)
22 June 2007
In The Mist of Power: President Kabbah's Farewell Speech, Waking Up The Vice President, True-Lies
THIS LITTLE PIGGIE WENT TO PARLIAMENT
On Tuesday June 19th, I had the privilege of entering parliament to witness president Kabbah’s farewell speech. Prior to this day, I never had any reason to enter this building before it was quite amazing. I must confess that I was proud to be there. All SLPP supporters and MPs were sporting the party colors of green while APC MPs were decked out in red. I was sitting up in the balcony in a section set out for bank executives and permanent secretaries. When I took my seat my mother was to my left, the Executive Director (who I had met on previous visits to F/Town) of Nigerian owned Guarantee Trust Bank to my right and the presidents two sons sat behind me.
I sat there taking in the sights and gossiping as people took their seats. I asked my mom tons of questions: “who’s that in the big gown?”, “why is that man so fat?”, “why are they wearing those wigs?”
Eight High Court Justices walked in and I was surprised to note that about six of them were women…..beat that US Supreme Court.
A projector was turned on with an image of president Kabbah sitting in a chair much like a King. Several minutes go by and a man shouts: His Excellency the Vice President of Sierra Leone…..trumpets, and horns play the first verse of the national anthem and Berewa enters with the Speaker of the house (wearing his regalia including lock of white wig). Everyone stands up…..end of the verse we sit down.
Next up….the man of the hour “His Excellency the president of the Republic of Sierra Leone Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah”, as di PA enters behind him I notice the opposition party leader Ernest Bai Koroma.
Everyone stands and the national anthem plays in its entirety. We sit down. Muslim prayers are said followed by Christian prayers. The president starts to speak almost as soon as he sits down.
There is something about all the formality that made me feel proud to be there. I don’t know what I was expecting but I was actually impressed. There are many things that may not work in the country but this definitely did.
NOTABLE POINTS FROM THE 3 HOUR SPEECH
--war casualties- 20,000 killed, 2 million displaced
--SLPP govt. inherited the civil war, only regime to bring peace
--Though donor funding for TRC Recommendations were not forthcoming they were implemented nonetheless
--Pademba Road Prisions will be moved o Masankeh on the outskirts of Freetown. The space currently occupied by the prison will be turned to a Shopping Mall. 2 million dollars has been secured from the UN Peace Fund for this project
--They public can purchase Shopping Mall stocks from the soon to be established Sierra Leone Stock Exchange
--The dispute over Yenga is almost resolved as indicated of the completion of a Mano River Union Bridge
--US Peace Corps will resume operations in September after a 30 year hiatus
--Anti-Corruption has hired foreign expats to fast track prosecutions
--SLPP govt created a minimum wage act to ensure that no Sierra Leonean makes less than 21,000 leones a month
--Soon to be implemented is an Executive Senior Service to improve the condition of civil service with management training etc.
--UNICEF is working to strengthen the juvenile detention system
--The Press & Media more free during this regime and any in previous history (as the president said this everyone burst into laughter including Ernest Bai)
--SLPP achievements in education include the construction of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS-form1-3/grade7-9) in 46 chiefdoms of which 25 have been completed with the rest ongoing
--300% increase in girl enrollment in school
--Teachers have increased from 17,000 in 1996 to 33,000 in 2007
--Number of children enrolled in school increased from 400,000 in 1996 to 1.2 million in 2007
--Creation of the CREPS program…so that over aged children and young adults can complete their primary education in 3yrs instead of 6
--“Unlike the previous APC govt education is not a privilege but a right” (everyone laughs again)
--The SABABU education project---has created 800 primary schools
--Starting in September of this year, primary education will be compulsory
--SLPP only regime to give free primary education
--Government hospitals operational went from 16 to 24 under SLPP regime.
--51% of all children are now sleeping under nets from a mere 2%
--In 1996 inflation rate was at 66%, the govt had 10 million in foreign revenue, GDP was -17% and the overall deficit was -7%
--As of 2006 GDP is 7.5%, Inflation is 11.6%, and foreign revenues stand at $200m
--NASSIT, NACSA, NRA…etc….etc….etc….I had to stop listening to the speech as something much more interesting was unfolding to the left of the president
My impression of the Speech can best be summarized by quoting my 20 year old cousin Mohammed ( 1st year student studying Business at IPAM) whom I saw reading a copy of the speech I brought home. When I asked him what he thought of the speech he said “Well it is TRUELIES…some of the things in this speech are true and others are not…so it is truelies”
BEREWA SLEEPS THROUGH MOST OF THE SPEECH
As I looked through out the room trying to not fall asleep during the very very long speech, I noticed that our very own VP had given up the ball and was sound asleep. His head slightly tilted to the back, eyes closed, and hands laying loosely on his thighs. I started wondering if anyone else had noticed but not before I shared the information with my mom. She smiled……
Slowly, I realize that the police officer in white regalia sitting next to the VP had also noticed. He goes behind the VP’s chair to whisper something in Senior Protocol Officer Soulay Daramy’s ear otherwise known as SCOPE….(dare I say that Mr Daramy is one of the hardest working men in this country)
Anyhoo…Mr Soulay then finds book and tries to hand it to the VP in hopes that this would keep him up. He taps Berewa on his hand as discreetly as possible (thought not discreetly enough for someone like me who was focused on their every move). He hands the VP the book…Mr. Berewa opened the book, closed it, and simply went back to sleep….this time bending forward so it was easy to notice his head when it nodded deeper and deeper into sleep.
Noticing that the plan had been foiled, the police officer whispered in the VPs ear. I imagined he said “Pa, you day sleep?” The VP simply waved him away as if to say “Bo lef me”. He leans back into his armchair and closes his eyes again. Meanwhile Earnest Bai sits in his seat with a smile on his face. I am not sure if he notices his opponent asleep.
Did I mention that Earnest Bai is HOTT? The man is simply beautiful. Rumor has it that he loves the ladies….but with a face like that of course Ladies Gotta Love Earnest Bai….hehehe…LGLEarnest B…....LLCoolJ Who?? If we had to vote simply on looks, he’d definitely get my vote. He has creamy dark skin and a head full of distinguished graying hair. Ah yes, Earnest is a cutie.
Anyway, back to my favorite VP. So I began to wonder how they are ever going to get this man awake. Then I saw the vice speaker of the house (a lady) whose name I cannot remember but had noticed because of her beautifully large head tie call over the police officer who was sitting next to the VP but had left his seat heading outside.
A little while later the Police Officer reenters the chamber and heads to his seat. He hands and envelope to Vice President Berewa….WHAT WAS IN THE NOTE????
A LETTER?? NO!!!!
I saw the Vice President remove KOLA NUT from the envelope and take a hard bite….he chewed it down….and that ladies and gentlemen is how you keep a Vice President from falling asleep during parliament.
JOKE OF THE DAY
I was at a friend’s place of business and some of the employees were debating over whose responsibility it was to turn on the generator.
There was some debate going on but then one of the employees went to turn it on.
Employee1: “This is what you have done from the beginning”
Employee2: “That is what you say now….just leave me”
Employee1: “you are always acting like palm oil”
Me: “What do you mean that he is acting like palm oil?”
Employee1: “he is always asleep”
Me: “Palm oil sleeps”
Employees: “yes of course, it[palm oil] just lays there”
………………………….I laugh……………………….
On Tuesday June 19th, I had the privilege of entering parliament to witness president Kabbah’s farewell speech. Prior to this day, I never had any reason to enter this building before it was quite amazing. I must confess that I was proud to be there. All SLPP supporters and MPs were sporting the party colors of green while APC MPs were decked out in red. I was sitting up in the balcony in a section set out for bank executives and permanent secretaries. When I took my seat my mother was to my left, the Executive Director (who I had met on previous visits to F/Town) of Nigerian owned Guarantee Trust Bank to my right and the presidents two sons sat behind me.
I sat there taking in the sights and gossiping as people took their seats. I asked my mom tons of questions: “who’s that in the big gown?”, “why is that man so fat?”, “why are they wearing those wigs?”
Eight High Court Justices walked in and I was surprised to note that about six of them were women…..beat that US Supreme Court.
A projector was turned on with an image of president Kabbah sitting in a chair much like a King. Several minutes go by and a man shouts: His Excellency the Vice President of Sierra Leone…..trumpets, and horns play the first verse of the national anthem and Berewa enters with the Speaker of the house (wearing his regalia including lock of white wig). Everyone stands up…..end of the verse we sit down.
Next up….the man of the hour “His Excellency the president of the Republic of Sierra Leone Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah”, as di PA enters behind him I notice the opposition party leader Ernest Bai Koroma.
Everyone stands and the national anthem plays in its entirety. We sit down. Muslim prayers are said followed by Christian prayers. The president starts to speak almost as soon as he sits down.
There is something about all the formality that made me feel proud to be there. I don’t know what I was expecting but I was actually impressed. There are many things that may not work in the country but this definitely did.
NOTABLE POINTS FROM THE 3 HOUR SPEECH
--war casualties- 20,000 killed, 2 million displaced
--SLPP govt. inherited the civil war, only regime to bring peace
--Though donor funding for TRC Recommendations were not forthcoming they were implemented nonetheless
--Pademba Road Prisions will be moved o Masankeh on the outskirts of Freetown. The space currently occupied by the prison will be turned to a Shopping Mall. 2 million dollars has been secured from the UN Peace Fund for this project
--They public can purchase Shopping Mall stocks from the soon to be established Sierra Leone Stock Exchange
--The dispute over Yenga is almost resolved as indicated of the completion of a Mano River Union Bridge
--US Peace Corps will resume operations in September after a 30 year hiatus
--Anti-Corruption has hired foreign expats to fast track prosecutions
--SLPP govt created a minimum wage act to ensure that no Sierra Leonean makes less than 21,000 leones a month
--Soon to be implemented is an Executive Senior Service to improve the condition of civil service with management training etc.
--UNICEF is working to strengthen the juvenile detention system
--The Press & Media more free during this regime and any in previous history (as the president said this everyone burst into laughter including Ernest Bai)
--SLPP achievements in education include the construction of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS-form1-3/grade7-9) in 46 chiefdoms of which 25 have been completed with the rest ongoing
--300% increase in girl enrollment in school
--Teachers have increased from 17,000 in 1996 to 33,000 in 2007
--Number of children enrolled in school increased from 400,000 in 1996 to 1.2 million in 2007
--Creation of the CREPS program…so that over aged children and young adults can complete their primary education in 3yrs instead of 6
--“Unlike the previous APC govt education is not a privilege but a right” (everyone laughs again)
--The SABABU education project---has created 800 primary schools
--Starting in September of this year, primary education will be compulsory
--SLPP only regime to give free primary education
--Government hospitals operational went from 16 to 24 under SLPP regime.
--51% of all children are now sleeping under nets from a mere 2%
--In 1996 inflation rate was at 66%, the govt had 10 million in foreign revenue, GDP was -17% and the overall deficit was -7%
--As of 2006 GDP is 7.5%, Inflation is 11.6%, and foreign revenues stand at $200m
--NASSIT, NACSA, NRA…etc….etc….etc….I had to stop listening to the speech as something much more interesting was unfolding to the left of the president
My impression of the Speech can best be summarized by quoting my 20 year old cousin Mohammed ( 1st year student studying Business at IPAM) whom I saw reading a copy of the speech I brought home. When I asked him what he thought of the speech he said “Well it is TRUELIES…some of the things in this speech are true and others are not…so it is truelies”
BEREWA SLEEPS THROUGH MOST OF THE SPEECH
As I looked through out the room trying to not fall asleep during the very very long speech, I noticed that our very own VP had given up the ball and was sound asleep. His head slightly tilted to the back, eyes closed, and hands laying loosely on his thighs. I started wondering if anyone else had noticed but not before I shared the information with my mom. She smiled……
Slowly, I realize that the police officer in white regalia sitting next to the VP had also noticed. He goes behind the VP’s chair to whisper something in Senior Protocol Officer Soulay Daramy’s ear otherwise known as SCOPE….(dare I say that Mr Daramy is one of the hardest working men in this country)
Anyhoo…Mr Soulay then finds book and tries to hand it to the VP in hopes that this would keep him up. He taps Berewa on his hand as discreetly as possible (thought not discreetly enough for someone like me who was focused on their every move). He hands the VP the book…Mr. Berewa opened the book, closed it, and simply went back to sleep….this time bending forward so it was easy to notice his head when it nodded deeper and deeper into sleep.
Noticing that the plan had been foiled, the police officer whispered in the VPs ear. I imagined he said “Pa, you day sleep?” The VP simply waved him away as if to say “Bo lef me”. He leans back into his armchair and closes his eyes again. Meanwhile Earnest Bai sits in his seat with a smile on his face. I am not sure if he notices his opponent asleep.
Did I mention that Earnest Bai is HOTT? The man is simply beautiful. Rumor has it that he loves the ladies….but with a face like that of course Ladies Gotta Love Earnest Bai….hehehe…LGLEarnest B…....LLCoolJ Who?? If we had to vote simply on looks, he’d definitely get my vote. He has creamy dark skin and a head full of distinguished graying hair. Ah yes, Earnest is a cutie.
Anyway, back to my favorite VP. So I began to wonder how they are ever going to get this man awake. Then I saw the vice speaker of the house (a lady) whose name I cannot remember but had noticed because of her beautifully large head tie call over the police officer who was sitting next to the VP but had left his seat heading outside.
A little while later the Police Officer reenters the chamber and heads to his seat. He hands and envelope to Vice President Berewa….WHAT WAS IN THE NOTE????
A LETTER?? NO!!!!
I saw the Vice President remove KOLA NUT from the envelope and take a hard bite….he chewed it down….and that ladies and gentlemen is how you keep a Vice President from falling asleep during parliament.
JOKE OF THE DAY
I was at a friend’s place of business and some of the employees were debating over whose responsibility it was to turn on the generator.
There was some debate going on but then one of the employees went to turn it on.
Employee1: “This is what you have done from the beginning”
Employee2: “That is what you say now….just leave me”
Employee1: “you are always acting like palm oil”
Me: “What do you mean that he is acting like palm oil?”
Employee1: “he is always asleep”
Me: “Palm oil sleeps”
Employees: “yes of course, it[palm oil] just lays there”
………………………….I laugh……………………….
21 June 2007
Nataša's Sierra Leone Adventure - Part 13 - A Stopover in Freetown on Way to Port Loko
Coming back to Freetown I was heading to The Place Guest House. I called them in advance, I had to try many times, to make the reservation of the room, which was a good idea, as the place was quite popular, and often full. I got a small single, self-contained room. There was a bed, a fan, a chair and a small table. There was just enough space to open the door. It was right at the end of the hall, which seemed nice, but quite soon, when the evening approached, I found out that the hotel's generator was positioned somewhere on the ground floor, right under my window. The roar was loud, some of the fumes came up, I couldn't hear my thoughts, so I searched all over my bag for a pair of ear plugs, thought I had them somewhere in there. Next day I tried to change my room, but without success, the place was full. I could manage for another night I thought, and then I did for another one as well, and used my earplugs, that stayed in my bag from one of my last flights.
That evening I met for dinner at Angel's with my American friends, one of them doing his research here in Sierra Leone. We had a lovely night, talking, about Sierra Leone, about our impressions, also about my adventure. We ordered some fresh baracuda. It was nice to meet them, we first met in Fes, Morroco several years ago, in Accra, Ghana a month before, and now here, but never yet in our home towns. I started talking, and realised I couldn't stop, I had been accumulating so much all this time, it just started erupting. And they were patient listeners. Later on my flight friend, who just got back from Gambia called, to meet for a drink. I was leaving Freetown the next day, and he was flying back home to Europe, so this was a goodbye meeting. I wanted to give him something for his birthday. I had the book I finished reading, it was a novel by a Scandinavian writer, which won awards, but not really an easy read. I was not sure if he would like it, but didn't have another one at hand. He wanted me to write something on one of the front pages, so I used one of the sentences from the book: “If you want to live in the world you have to sometimes live out of it.” Wasn't that more about myself? We somehow knew we would not meet again. Our worlds were different. We talked a bit, and out of courtesy exchanged addresses, he tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, hunched in the chair, but people still noticed him, and kept coming over to greet him.
***
I came to the bus station early next morning, to take the bus to Kabala, but it wasn't leaving. At first they said they weren't sure, and suggested me to wait another fifteen minutes. But there were no other passengers than me. Later on I found out, that a government bus to Kabala hadn't left Freetown in a while, I wondered why didn't they tell me right away. I was at the station a couple of times before, enquiring about the schedule. Two young street boys behaved a bit delinquently, showing off, and tried to engage into a conversation with me. They acted as they were in charge, and supposedly wanted to help me, a man waiting at the bus station walked over to me to warn me to be careful. I wanted to catch a taxi to Kissy, the boys followed me, one of them grabbing my bag. I asked a standing-by police officer where could I stop a taxi, and he told the boys to go away. He asked another police officer to accompany me, and gave me his own cell phone number, to call him, if anything went wrong. I was wondering if I really needed it or if he just wanted me to have it. I gave the boys a couple thousand leones, and they started a bad fight for them, when I left. Sometimes I don't know how to do the right thing I thought. On the way to Kissy I saw the overcrowded bus, and changed my mind in an instant, taking a shared taxi to Port Loko instead. I wasn't in a mood for long travelling just yet.
The journey to Port Loko was smooth. Arriving there, I mounted a motorbike, and the boy driving, took me to one of the guesthouses. It was full, inhabited by some construction workers, working on one of the sites. The next one was basically a family home, where they rented out one or two rooms. The rooms were still inhabited by the family when I arrived. I wanted some more privacy. There were a couple of more guesthouses. One was occupied by a group of Canadian teachers. Someone on our way suggested to check out the Education College. The place was right at the edge of the town, it was quiet, with nice sorroundings, but I would have to buy fuel for the generator, if I wanted electricity at night. I checked another place, which looked like a regular guesthouse, it was busy, and more in town. In the end I opted for the college, I thought I would maybe get to see some of the college life, and get to know some teachers, but it was actually very quiet and laid back. There were some young women in the next room who were just leaving. They came to have an interview as prospective students, would-be-teachers, they were lively and bubbly, wanted to be my friends right away, even though we just met. We talked for five minutes, and they all wrote down my European address. Then they rushed to catch a podapoda back home. One of them in the short time we had, invited me to her house in Lungi to be her guest. All three of them waved me goodbyes, sent me kisses and told me they loved me. My, that was like a fast forward motion film scene, I thought. Slovenians are usually nice and friendly but much more reserved. One of the young women called me next day to ask me if I was coming, and then later again, and had her mother speak to me as well, but unfortunately I couldn't come to visit in the end, my time was running short. When they left, the place became really quiet. Now I wished I had some more of their company. So I set off to town, which had a lot of Portuguese architecture, houses with front verandas. Many of the old houses in Portuguese style were just skeletons overgrown by plants, sometimes they served as a small field, a newer simple house at the back. The porches were lively places, inhabited by children and adults alike. The children called me “opoto” and waved me, and I waved back.
I took pictures of the children and whoever wanted me to, and many did once they realised, that's what I was doing. I took a picture and then showed it to them on my digital camera. They thought it was a lot of fun, and laughed, and thanked me. And I got a lot of family portraits.
Port Loko was also full of Guinean traders, as we were near Guinean border. They were selling all kinds of goods, from posters to plastic slippers. Often they were just passers by in town, travellers stopping by just like me, and hoping they would get something sold there. The profit was mostly meager, as they told me. There were too many of them.
Much of the day some of them would spread out their products at the side of the road, and then sit in the nearby tea or coffee shack, have a drink and talk. One day I sat on the other side for quite a while, one of them was selling some obscene posters. None got sold in that time, but it was an interesting exhibition.
Port Loko was the place where I got to see the final FIFA match between Italy and France. I chose to watch it at one of the public venues. I asked the organisers when to come, and when I came back just before the game started, the place was packed full, hot and stuffy. There were two TVs for our convenience, one next to another, ready for our viewing. The boys at the entrance took me to a great aisle seat they reserved for me right in the middle without my asking for that. I was greatful.
It's great to watch the game in the collective euphoria as well. I found it interesting that spectators seemed quite equally divided pro-France pro-Italy. Therefore there was a lot of cheering all the time. When either team gave a goal, people lifted their hands and shouted for half a minute. Great. I took some pictures of the spectators, in the end I found them even more interesting then the game itself.
I walked back to the college in the dark of the night, and called the Honda driver to come pick me up early in the morning. I was moving on.
17 June 2007
WELCOME TO SIERRA LEONE, HELICOPTER CRASH UPDATE, EVERYONE WAITING FOR ELECTIONS
SAFE ARRIVAL
I arrived in Salone at 5:15pm on the dot on Friday evening after a short 6 hour trip on Astraeus Airlines. The man sitting next to me on the plane announced before we landed that he wasn’t going to let his luggage be searched by SL customs officials. I asked him “why not” as opening up suitcases was well within their responsibilities. He replied: “because they shouldn't”. My response: “How is it that living in London you would never question airport officials’ right to open your bags but in SL, it is unacceptable?” He smiled and I thought….. “Ah Salone, this is going to be an interesting year”.
When we stepped off the plane the passenger bus carrying people the very walkable distance to the airport building was full so I had to wait. I exclaimed half joking that how wonderful that we have a bus.....whilst in London it was a 20mins walk to the departure gate…..and people say Salone is not developed. A couple people laughed….one man responded with a question also joking: “but what about actually getting to Freetown…”? I stopped him before he could finish, “lets focus on the present, we’ll cross that bridge later”…..laughter again….Nice to know my sense of humor wont be wasted here.
HELICOPTER CRASH UPDATE
Until very recently, there were three alternating ways to get across river Sierra Leone which separates lungi airport and the capital. By ferry, hovercraft or helicopter. Two weeks ago 22 people died in a Paramount helicopter that crashed a couple minutes after it left Freetown headed for the airport. Most of the people who died where members of the Togolese contingency that had beat the Sierra Leonean team 1-0 in a football match.
Supposedly there was a commission (international Civil aviation organization) that had evaluated the helicopter’s services a couple weeks before and presented a list of 99 things that had to be done that would make Paramount’s Helicopter Services safe for use (i'm trying to get my hand on a copy of this list). It appears that none of these recommendations were met but services resumed.
As of last night the Minister of Roads and Transport PRINCE HARDING, and the permanent secretary to the ministry Mr. ABDULRAHMAN WURIE, and the director of Civil Aviation and his deputy (whose names I cannot make out at this time) have all been arrested. The PRO (Public Relations Officer) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) announced on the radio that investigations show that the individuals arrested may have accepted bribes from Paramount that allowed them to resume services. I think we can safely say that the helicopter crashed because they did not meet the recommendations.
GoSL SCHOOLS CLOSING EARLIER THAN USUAL
In other news, all schools in the country will close on JUNE 29th 2007, a month earlier than usual because of the impending August 11th elections. This may seem bazarre but I understand the need for caution. Sierra Leone is HOTT right now…..many young people are unhappy…many excombattants are unhappy, Sierra Leone Army is unhappy, Civil Defense/Kamjor are unhappy (their leader Hinga Norman died recently…some people suspected foul play).
MAN DEM NO GLADI....a song by the BAW WAW SOCIETY are the most popular words of dissent. The words simply say…..WE’RE NOT HAPPY…..who told them Sierra Leone was about the pursuit of happiness???
PRESIDENT KABBAH EXIT SPEECH......TUESDAY
Yesterday I was at the presidential lodge…the president will be making his farewell speech to parliarment on Tuesday 19th JUNE. I got an invitation….i’ve already read the two hour speech…..but cannot comment until its made public. I’ll let you know how it goes
WELCOME TO 20 BOYLE LANE
My house is as exciting as ever…..my auntie Haja had a new baby and she’s the cutest. Her name is Hawanatu…This morning my aunty Mabingty was washing out the bottles she uses to sell homemade ginger beer. My mom was hand washing some laundry. My cousin Mabingty was collecting water in a bucket to take to her mom…Aunty Sallay who lives close by. My cousin Sahr, went to church alone….he’s a mormon now….Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints….I laughed….all I could think of was Julie from the Real World.
JOKE OF THE DAY
Also this morning I looked at my cousin MONCHICHI…it noticed she’s developing eczema on her face. Aunty Mabingty looked at her and said “haven’t I warned you not to use your Haja’s crèmes on your face”? Monchichi: “I don’t use her crèmes”.
Aunty Mabingty: “Then what did I smell on you the other day”
Monchichi: “Deodorant”
Aunty Mabingty: “Are you sure?” “I smelt crème on your body it wasn’t deodorant”
Monchichi: “I rub the deodorant all over my body and on my clothes so that the smell stays longer
……………….we all laughed…………
I arrived in Salone at 5:15pm on the dot on Friday evening after a short 6 hour trip on Astraeus Airlines. The man sitting next to me on the plane announced before we landed that he wasn’t going to let his luggage be searched by SL customs officials. I asked him “why not” as opening up suitcases was well within their responsibilities. He replied: “because they shouldn't”. My response: “How is it that living in London you would never question airport officials’ right to open your bags but in SL, it is unacceptable?” He smiled and I thought….. “Ah Salone, this is going to be an interesting year”.
When we stepped off the plane the passenger bus carrying people the very walkable distance to the airport building was full so I had to wait. I exclaimed half joking that how wonderful that we have a bus.....whilst in London it was a 20mins walk to the departure gate…..and people say Salone is not developed. A couple people laughed….one man responded with a question also joking: “but what about actually getting to Freetown…”? I stopped him before he could finish, “lets focus on the present, we’ll cross that bridge later”…..laughter again….Nice to know my sense of humor wont be wasted here.
HELICOPTER CRASH UPDATE
Until very recently, there were three alternating ways to get across river Sierra Leone which separates lungi airport and the capital. By ferry, hovercraft or helicopter. Two weeks ago 22 people died in a Paramount helicopter that crashed a couple minutes after it left Freetown headed for the airport. Most of the people who died where members of the Togolese contingency that had beat the Sierra Leonean team 1-0 in a football match.
Supposedly there was a commission (international Civil aviation organization) that had evaluated the helicopter’s services a couple weeks before and presented a list of 99 things that had to be done that would make Paramount’s Helicopter Services safe for use (i'm trying to get my hand on a copy of this list). It appears that none of these recommendations were met but services resumed.
As of last night the Minister of Roads and Transport PRINCE HARDING, and the permanent secretary to the ministry Mr. ABDULRAHMAN WURIE, and the director of Civil Aviation and his deputy (whose names I cannot make out at this time) have all been arrested. The PRO (Public Relations Officer) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) announced on the radio that investigations show that the individuals arrested may have accepted bribes from Paramount that allowed them to resume services. I think we can safely say that the helicopter crashed because they did not meet the recommendations.
GoSL SCHOOLS CLOSING EARLIER THAN USUAL
In other news, all schools in the country will close on JUNE 29th 2007, a month earlier than usual because of the impending August 11th elections. This may seem bazarre but I understand the need for caution. Sierra Leone is HOTT right now…..many young people are unhappy…many excombattants are unhappy, Sierra Leone Army is unhappy, Civil Defense/Kamjor are unhappy (their leader Hinga Norman died recently…some people suspected foul play).
MAN DEM NO GLADI....a song by the BAW WAW SOCIETY are the most popular words of dissent. The words simply say…..WE’RE NOT HAPPY…..who told them Sierra Leone was about the pursuit of happiness???
PRESIDENT KABBAH EXIT SPEECH......TUESDAY
Yesterday I was at the presidential lodge…the president will be making his farewell speech to parliarment on Tuesday 19th JUNE. I got an invitation….i’ve already read the two hour speech…..but cannot comment until its made public. I’ll let you know how it goes
WELCOME TO 20 BOYLE LANE
My house is as exciting as ever…..my auntie Haja had a new baby and she’s the cutest. Her name is Hawanatu…This morning my aunty Mabingty was washing out the bottles she uses to sell homemade ginger beer. My mom was hand washing some laundry. My cousin Mabingty was collecting water in a bucket to take to her mom…Aunty Sallay who lives close by. My cousin Sahr, went to church alone….he’s a mormon now….Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints….I laughed….all I could think of was Julie from the Real World.
JOKE OF THE DAY
Also this morning I looked at my cousin MONCHICHI…it noticed she’s developing eczema on her face. Aunty Mabingty looked at her and said “haven’t I warned you not to use your Haja’s crèmes on your face”? Monchichi: “I don’t use her crèmes”.
Aunty Mabingty: “Then what did I smell on you the other day”
Monchichi: “Deodorant”
Aunty Mabingty: “Are you sure?” “I smelt crème on your body it wasn’t deodorant”
Monchichi: “I rub the deodorant all over my body and on my clothes so that the smell stays longer
……………….we all laughed…………
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