Seeing more of Sierra Leone - Educational Trip to Gola Forest and Tiwai Island

Every time I head up country, the same thought inevitably occupies my mind for most of the journey. There’s just so much unused land up country but yet it feels like 40% of the population resides in Freetown. There’s something very wrong with our land laws.

Nevertheless, heading up country is always an adventure, especially when you’re heading somewhere for the first time. This would be my first trip to Gola, Bonthe and Turtle Islands. Ok, I’m not going to lie, I was looking forward to the Turtle Islands the most, followed closely by Bonthe. We also visited Tiwai and spent one night in Bo, but these areas I’d seen before. I know what those up country roads will do to a vehicle,  so I said my prayers because breaking down in the middle of the bush is not something I’d particularly consider fun.

Day 1 – Gola Forest Reserve

We decided to head to Gola directly from Freetown. Some had suggested staying the night at Kenema but because of limited time we figured we could probably do it in a day. In total the trip took nearly 12 hours though we did stop at the Gola Rainforest Programme Office in Kenema to pick up a guide, briefing and also lunch at the SLRA canteen in Kenema.  I like Kenema, something about the tow n’s layout appeals to me. It doesn’t feel as compressed as Bo though it’s probably not as much fun either. We picked up our guide and continued on our journey. Kenema to the Gola Rainforest (SLETI/Zimmi end) took longer than I anticipated. We got to Gola Rainforest after dark and the first mission was to go get the dinner of potato leaves prepared by folks from the nearby village. We ate settled into candle-lit dinner washed down with some Heineken, water and vodka depending on your like. The night was passed in the building normally reserved for researchers and the like. You have that ‘middle of nowhere’ feeling at this spot. The night was blessed with all sorts of exotic sounds from the forest while fireflies showed off their lighting abilities, adding beauty to the night.

In the morning you see you’re surrounded by forest but you probably don’t realise the vastness of the forest around you. The three forest reserves, which comprise Gola Forest (Gola North, 45,800 ha; Gola East 22,800 ha; Gola West 6,200 ha), are located in the Eastern and Southern Provinces, about 330km southeast of Freetown. Gola forest covers parts of the Gaura, Tunkia, Nomo, and Koya Chiefdoms in the Kenema District; Barri and Makpele Chiefdoms in the Pujehun District; and Malema Chiefdom in the Kailahun District and also forms part of Sierra Leone's border with the Republic of Liberia. Small areas of forest remain outside the reserves and connect the reserves to each other and to forests in Liberia. It is the largest tract of closed canopy, lowland rain forest in Sierra Leone.

Our mission in the morning was a forest walk. You know, take some nice pictures of wildlife and maybe some birds. Well, it also decided to rain all morning (then again, it is a rainforest right?). The most we got to see were trees. Well, we did hear some birds and our guide from Freetown, Joseph always comes alive at the sound of birds.  Quick to tell us what that was backed up with pointing it out in his ‘birds of West Africa’ book. We always knew this wasn’t the best time of the year to visit but this was when we could do it.  So we walked down to the river and back up, totally drenched. It was back to camp, where I had a shower (yes, they have running water which is just cool!) and time to get ready to head back out. Nevertheless, we enjoyed Gola. The folks on the programme were really serious about their work, our guide Alhaji obviously knew his stuff and it was great to have finally visited.

Day 2 – Gola to Bo

Bo was an overnighter. We were able to do the essentials… have wider choice of food, charge phones etc. Country Side Guesthouse was to be our home for the night. At this point, I heard from the office in town that Equatorial Guinea was coming to play the Leone Stars and require the same sort of service we offered to Bafana Bafana. I was going to miss that bit of fun.

Day 3 – Tiwai Island

Getting from Bo to Tiwai via Potoru was not difficult and the roads didn’t seem as bad. I was last in Tiwai in 2005 as part of that documentary we did for the BBC. The boat ride from Kambama is only 10 minutes before setting foot in the island with dreams of seeing the elusive pygmy hippo. The Tiwai project has come some way since 2005. The biggest improvements are undoubtedly the solar power and also running water. I tell you folks, being able to take a  shower in the middle of nowhere could be the difference between spending the evening on your hammock reading a book… and strangling someone.  Ok, I exaggerate but you know what I mean.

Soon after arrival, we were joined by another group of about a dozen Chinese tourists/workers who had decided to come spend the afternoon probably a team building exercise or so. Apparently, they were the guys responsible for building a stadium around Bo. They seemed to have a great time, even though I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

The first afternoon was spent was spent during the boat trip up the river. We saw mostly birds (you go Joseph!) but unfortunately no pygmy hippos. I’ve being told that would probably entail spending the night up a tree or something… and you’re still not guaranteed a sighting of this shy, elusive creatures but they do exist on the island!

The island doesn’t have a dedicated restaurant but I understand this is in the plan for the not too distant future. We had dinner of potatoes, rice and stew prepared for us in their outside kitchen by their chef. It was enough to get us through the night before embarking on the forest walk early in the morning.

The walk in the morning was quite similar to the last time I was there (seem to have made it a habit of visiting off peak), we saw monkeys, Red Colobus, Diana Monkeys etc but   I’m starting to think the wildlife in Sierra Leone are quite shy. This may be as a result of the war or hunting but I do think they hide when they see or hear the craziest, wildest animal of them all. Man.

Tiwai is a community conservation programme, managed by the Tiwai Island Administrative Committee (TIAC), which represents both communities, government, Universities & conservation organizations. All funds raised go towards running the project as well as supporting the Community Development Fund, to help finance community initiated programmes.

All People's Congress: One Year and Counting...

It has been one year now since last year’s elections and over the past couple months, I have been trying to assess the differences between this and the old regime. During the colour coded, rally, and manifesto infested campaign period, we were bombarded by promises and catch phrases the likes of “kaka wi noh wan yeri”, “loose u face”, and so forth. And like many others, I was inspired and moved by Sierra Leoneans determination to participate in the electoral process and use it to change the status quo. Despite the Court Barray, rumours that Kabbah was being indicted, and the infamous transitional team report which has yet to make it into the public hands, things went on as usual, nominations and assignments of APC supporters to key government positions.

I have been reluctant to speak of the APC government because I like others believe that change is a process and that results take time to manifest. However, I think that even before you see results we can look at planning and projections get an idea for possible outcomes. I have been asking myself, what is the difference between the APC govt and the SLPP? What can the APC government show us now or have shown that would let us know what kind of results to expect in the short term i.e next 12months and long term in by the end of the 5 year presidential term? So far I am still waiting for the party to formulate its ideology and hence guidelines/steps to develop the nation influenced by the ideology. SHOW ME THE PLAN? SHOW ME THE PLAN? Or are we using the PRSP as a framework for national development?

It is my belief that what we lacked in the SLPP regime we continue to lack in the APC regime as well. But fortunately for the previous government much was handed to it under the post war peace building agenda. Theoretically the SLPP could survive in office without a political ideology and still provide results and claim them as government led initiatives while in actuality, it was the UNDP, UNAMSIL, World Bank etc. So while the SLPP ideology was more “donor tell me what to do and give me money to do it and I will eat di moni and do some fekehfekeh version of what u want me to do because if I do it right the first time I cannot come back and begabega u fo more money to do what u have told me again” the APC is not so lucky. We have consolidated the peace process and have transitioned from the post conflict emergency phase.

When I was in college I tried everything I could to not take a course in political theory. Some how I thought that I wanted to know more practical stuff about case studies and present day questions of statehood and international relations. The thing is though it dawned on me that from political theory come political ideology and state development agenda. Sierra Leonean governments since before independence have neither had an agenda nor ideology. Governments have only been concerned with staying in power and manipulating ethnic and regional primordial ties for their political advancements and we the people uneducated as we are have followed suit. But that has got to end if we have any hopes for actually developing this country. Sierra Leonean school children should know as young as possible whether they live in a socialist, capitalist, Marxist, Pan-Africanist, or communist country. These political ideologies provide guidelines for development. Depending on which u choose to follow it lets you know the “how to develop” the country. Without ideology then u can promise to bring electricity, or build a road or schools, and if u do manage to do all those things there’ll be no synchronicity to their development. Someone looking at what has been done, will not see the correlation between the different accomplishments.

Our political parties do not have ideology, a belief system that guides government actions and decisions. Recently, I have been making more frequent visits to Accra and staying for longer periods of time. Each time I visit I become more and more aware that what they have and probably always had, has been ideology. Ghanaian governments democratic or military have all had a plan and though some deviated from the plan the guidelines for state development from my perspective have always been Africanist. The different political parties in Ghana stand for different things and just as Democrats and Republicans know what to expect with each government so too do they. Through out the months that led to the elections last year I was in limbo for whom to support because neither party had clearly stated what they stood for. Instead they made promises of what they would do when they got elected. What I learned in college and hope to remember for as long as possible is that development can happen in the variety of ways and that state’s especially poor ones need to have a clear concise vision of where they want to be and they must ensure that they have ownership over the development process. Basically, there are various models and we need to know where we want to go and but most importantly, how we gonna get there?

While the government should be focusing on these issues it is instead plagued with news worthy only of gossip columns. For example, did you know that someone in the APC administration tried to get a pay raise for president Koroma and VP Sumana that would have increased their salaries to somewhere close to 9thousand dollars a month? Its not that I disagree with the idea of a pay raise rather it turns out that neither the president nor the VP were aware of the effort to increase their salaries. The whole situation was such a mess that the request which was placed before parliament had to be withdrawn and word on the street is that the Secretary to the President had to resign over the issue. So on the eve of the APC one year anniversary all I can say is, I am not impressed although I still love Earnest Bai like my Daddy and I believe that he’s capable. Yet still, I think that the government lacks direction and vision and the only consistent message that I hear is that the country is ready for and needs foreign investors...last I checked we had loads of foreign investment in Sierra Leone, infact a bit too much. If Basha Bakery is an example, it seems the Lebanese seem to be on an expansion project and very soon they’ll own all of Freetown. How many former peace keepers and ngoers have now started their own business…or better yet you need only visit paddies to know that foreign investment is overwhelming in a certain industry. The government desperately needs to get a clue cause man dem still noh gladi, dem noh day talk am right now but di system way wi all bin day manage don ton global

Maybe where we need to start is a national dialogue with all stakeholders from paramount chiefs to market women…all focused on developing a national plan for development…..or like a friend said the other day…BO Vickie Lef mi…a year is too soon to tell

Wusum Hotel - Makeni - Probably the best hotel in Sierra Leone

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.”
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A few weeks after returning to Sierra Leone, someone casually mentioned that a new hotel was being built in Makeni. I made a mental note that I should check it out when I could fit it in. This person neglected to mention that this isn't just a hotel, Makeni was about to benefit from probably the best hotel in Sierra Leone!

Wusum Hotel, located along Teko Road has 51 rooms and 5 chalets (each with 2 rooms). The chalets are fully equipped with a kitchen, dinning area, the living rooms with 50inch plasma TV set and modern Italian furniture. Each chalet is equipped with a 19inch wireless broadband laptop.

The also has a conference centre, wine bar/bar/night club (APEX), 3 swimming pools, business centre (with good Internet speeds) and are planning to do car rentals from within the compound. It will also house Eco-Bank in Makeni. Every room is air-conditioned, comes with a double bed, fridge and safe. It's a beautiful hotel. It isn't officially open until later in the year, but some areas are open for business.

As even more people told me about it and I came to learn that this was the work of Vincent Kanu, former Managing Director of NP. Another Sierra Leonean contributing positively to the tourism industry.

I eventually paid a visit to the hotel a few weeks ago and it lived up to all the hype. The hotel is fantastic, but more than that I was comforted that maybe Sierra Leonean entrepreneurship is not dead. This hotel could comfortably sit in Freetown, that would have been the safe choice but being born and schooled (St. Francis Secondary school) in Makeni, Vincent Kanu thought he'd give back. Make no mistake, he's a businessman who prior to the Wusum Hotel project spent all his career in the oil industry (over 40 years). He also worked for Agip Spa, Italy, BP, before retiring in 2005 as Managing Director of Sierra Leone National Petroleum Company. He is a private sector man through and through. When asked what his inspiration was he replied:

"Several factors - foremost being the moral obligation to pay back. I was one of the few and lucky students who benefited from three scholarships from the district and it is only fair that 'I GIVE BACK TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESARS'

During construction and for two years 94 people were employed and currently we have a hotel staff strength of 32. The second one is Nationalism. Nobody will develop our country if we don't do it ourselves. Donor countries,will encourage us to wake up, but it is left with us to decide our own future. By such ventures we are enhancing the capacity of the tourist industry, without which real economic growth will not be achieved."

Amen.

When asked why Makeni, he went on:

"Makeni is a hub with a massive tourist potential which had to be unlocked. With no modern hospitality facilities, this potential is unachievable."

Damn, I like this guy! He's on to something here. The North has enormous potential for Eco-Tourism which as yet is largely unexplored. If the Lungi-Rogberi road is constructed (oh no! he's on about the road again!), this would mean that you could go straight to Makeni and comfortably spend the night before heading off on Eco-Tourism adventures. Makeni's a hub alright. It's easily accessible from attractions like Bumbuna Falls, Wara-Wara Mountains, Loma Mountains, Lake Sonfon and Outamba Kilimi National Park. In theory, you could have an eco-tourist holiday without even coming to Freetown. If you do decide to come to Freetown from Makeni, the road is perfect all the way and should take you just over a couple of hours.

Besides tourists (who are still in short supply here), I can see this hotel being very popular with NGOs and travelling business people who cry out for some good quality accommodation in the provinces. It doesn't get much better than this. The hotel has already started taking bookings for the conference centre - and it isn't even complete yet.

Personally, I'd love to be able to just drive out of Freetown and spend a comfortable weekend in some other part of the country. This is now possible with Makeni, I also hear the night club (which started out as a bar) is rocking. "There's nothing to do here" is a complaint I often hear from some folks. Well, jump in a car and go spend a couple of nights in Makeni. Makeni town itself is not exactly rocking like the centre of Bo, but I tip it to be a transformed town in the next few years. Now all the district needs are other individuals to exhibit the same sort of vision and belief displayed by Vincent Kanu - and invest in other activities in the region.

Good luck to Mr. Kanu, as they say - Fortune favours the brave!

You can make your reservations for Wusum Hotel here

The 10th Accused in the Cocaine Scandal: Bo na Lie Bo Ahmed Noh Go Mix Pan dat

I met Ahmed Sesay last year at Cafe De La Rose. We didn’t really meet per se but we both went there everyday for lunch separately until one day we were actually introduced. After the introduction we would exchange hellos and goodbyes whenever we happened to be lunching at the same time.

When I stopped going to Cafe I would bump into Ahmed at Chez Nous in the evenings. He seemed to me more quiet and sensible than the regular Wise Guys. One day I met him sitting at the Bar and i sat next to him while i waited for my spring rolls and sweet and sour soup. Like most conversations during that period we talked about politics. He was an APC supporter and from the way he responded to my skepticism I could tell that he wasn’t just a supporter rather…he was deep in it. I told him that while I was certain that the Sierra Leonean people needed a change, I wasn’t sure the APC was going to take us where we needed to go. Eventually realizing that I wasn’t going to change my position he said that the party is looking forward to changing minds and showing us that they meant well. I ate my food and we changed the topic.

While we were still at the bar 3 buffoon looking ohlangba’s showed up to speak to Ahmed about something that had happened but between their temne and krio I could barely understand what was being said. All I remember is that they were bragging about having taught someone a lesson. Ahmed’s phone which rang non stop kept on ringing. Finally he answered a call…he left me at the bar off to a “strategizing meeting” with Cheri Coco, a lawyer who then was running for MP (he won). As the weeks rolled by Ahmed and I exchanged more hellos whenever we came across each other and I must confess I respected him. He always looked very well put together with his crisp button downs and slacks.

When the APC finally did win the election Ahmed was in the very very inner circles of those very first weeks. He was part of the presidential contingent at the airport on inauguration day that welcomed and ushered presidents into the country. And during that period a wise civil servant referring to Ahmed called him “one of the King makers” in the party. His opinions highly regarded by the power that be. When the president announced his cabinet, Ahmed’s half brother other times referred to as his cousin Kemoh Sesay was appointed as the Minister of Transport & Aviation. Soon after his nomination like several other ministers like him Kemoh was frequently out of the country “trying to bring investors in the country”. Once he went to North Africa and there were speculations in the paper that he had built a brand new house only several months into his appointment as minister. I remember Ahmed mentioning that they were sued the journalist who wrote the article. Kemoh hadn’t built a new house but I presume finishing it was much faster than it otherwise would have been if he hadn’t been minister.

One day in December a friend and I happened to be lunching at Café De La Rose after some weeks of absence. Fortunately Ahmed was there as well and we sat together. It was his birthday he said and we were happy to celebrate with him over lunch. He told us he was soon to head back to the UK to see his family. During the conversation however I had mentioned that my digital camera had broken, the random chit chat of how I need to get out of sierra leone to buy certain things. I didn’t see Ahmed again until after the holiday season. When I did see him, he had a gift for me…a digital camera. A small gesture that went a long way with me because it had all been done so casually. I thought….hmmm…how thoughtful of him, this Ahmed he’s nice oh…

As we became better friends and actually made plans to have lunch on a regular basis, I asked Ahmed what kind of business he was in. One time he said that he was in real estate in the UK, buying and selling property ( a line that I’ve heard several times from many guys in town from the UK) however, that he had formed a company with some investors and they were going to get into mining. He said he was in town doing the surveys and research etc…until they got their license etc. It all made a lot of sense to me then and I did not question his legitimacy.

I saw Ahmed many many times after and when I thought of my close friends in Sierra Leone he was certainly included. He was a confidant, someone I spoke to often, usually over food. We even talked about going on diets together etc. I was invited to his house for dinner with another friend and I was there again another time witnessing the construction of a second property in the compound. Ahmed said he had to expand because his business partners and his family could not share the same house. As you may know, the Sesay’s are a big family.

In April, I invite Ahmed to my grandmother’s 70th birthday celebration. He came and we sat about keeping company for a while until he left and as usual questions are asked and it happens that Ahmed and I are related by marriage.

I was told that my great grandmother married Ahmed’s father so that she could make the pilgrimage to Mecca. She had already passed childbearing age at the time of their marriage but she and Ahmed’s father who my granny described as a dark skinned Imam spent several years together before Ahmed’s dad passes. He was killed by an infection from his pet cat who scratched him one day when he accidentally laid on it. Anyway, I told Ahmed the story and we had a running joke that he was my grandfather

Early in the year FIFA banned the national stadium and I had mentioned that in a previous post. By then Ahmed had been appointed as the manager of the national football team; Leone Stars. When GoSL decided to renovate the stadium, it was Ahmed who got the contract. It seemed like a conflict of interest to me but then that is how political lobbying works, the party in power has to be loyal. Same in the US with campaign financing & contributions same in Salone with party supporters and GoSL contracts.

Ahmed was incredibly stressed during the period of the stadium’s renovation. He confessed that he was afraid they might not meet the deadline for FIFA re-inspection. So I saw less and less of him as he worked hard to implement on time. But by the time FIFA did come to town, the stadium was deemed up to par and opened for international matches.

When I asked Ahmed about being Leone Stars team manager he said that he had promised His Excellency my favorite president Earnest Bai that he would make sure that the team qualified for the World Cup & 2010 Nations Cup in Angola. We talked about the teams limitations with funds. To raise money for the team, Ahmed had a fund raiser at State House with major corporate bodies invited to pledge support for the team. I heard that total pledged was about $200,000 (le 600,000,000). I am not sure if they were able to get all the money but that is what was pledged.

The last time I saw Ahmed before he was arrested and implicated in the Cocaine saga was the finals for the EURO 2008 at Chez Nous. When the game was over a couple of us including Ahmed sat at a table and talked a bit. Ahmed said he was going to London to see his family the next day.

Two weeks later, I’m at the shop and someone tells me that my friend, confidant, lunch buddy, Leone Star team manager, Kemoh Sesay’s brother and among other things personal assistant to Vice President Sam Sumana was being held in relation to the Cocaine bust at Lungi. When I heard I sat down. I was in shock that Ahmed, this dapper extra clean fresh to death friend of mine was actually at Pa Demba Road. But never once did I think “bo na lie bo Ahmed no go mix pan dat” I was not surprised that he was implicated because this is Sierra Leone and wealth is unaccounted for. You declare what u want if u bother to pay income tax. All I knew for sure about Ahmed was the he was a close friend and I respected him. I didn’t know what he did for a living or how he managed to have several very beautiful cars.

I will not get into the details of the cocaine story or what happened or how it happened because there are enough speculations in the local and international press to that effect.
Last week Kemoh Sesay was asked to resign and Ahmed is being held in Murraytown. If you pass by you will see the remaining of the Sesay brothers outside of the prison.

Also implicated in the Cocaine saga was a fellow named GKI who’s building a massive rubbish of a structure that’s supposed to be a hotel across from Bunker at the beach. He had a couple of very expensive cars as well and he’s left the country.

If the government wants to find possible drug traffickers and money launderers in the future two indicators would be OWNERSHIP OF A FLEET BRAND NEW CARS & CONSTRUCTION/PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT.

And the government especially my president should be very careful with these young men who tend to have all the answers and an unlimited amount of financial resources to contribute to campaign efforts or connections with potential investors. Because one could easily speculate that if Ahmed Sesay is found guilty, then the President’s campaign to which Ahmed contributed money was partially funded by his drug money. Also if Ahmed is found guilty, that may mean that the potential “investors” that Ahmed introduced to the president and the vice president could also be involved in the same drug trafficking business and they have been given full and complete access to the highest powers in the land. If Ahmed is found guilty then we might also be able to speculate that Drug Lords do not leave 600kgs of cocaine to land in the “poorest” country in the world if they do not feel that they have assurance in very high places. This then might implicate Ahmed’s brother Kemoh the minister of transport and aviation who has since been asked to resign and was taken in for questioning. If Ahmed is found guilt speculations could get worse and implicate those in positions higher than the minister.


Like most things that happen in Sierra Leone, the Cocaine saga has turned into a big joke but we’ve moved on. After all the Global is killin us with high prices and slow cash flow



I wonder if I will be taken in for questioning after this :-)

Visit Sierra Leone plays host to South Africa's Bafana Bafana

After a relatively quiet May, our June schedule was already beginning to look busy even before the month commenced. It's strange how everything just seems to happen at the same time and I was beginning to suspect it was going to be one of those manic months - not complaining though, in these parts you appreciate all the business that comes your way. So when  last week we received a request to handle the South African Football Association's 47 strong delegation due to arrive in Freetown in only a few days, my 'one of those months' assertion was confirmed. Nice!

Visit Sierra Leone was basically responsible for everything outside the remit of SLFA's responsibilities. So we sorted out their hotel, hovercraft charter and vehicles as well as used our valuable contacts to deliver any very short notice requests, such as pulling additional vehicles from our hat.. that kinda thing.

arrival...

Following the arrival of an advance team of two on the Monday before the match, the rest of the delegation arrived by chartered flight on Thursday, 03.30. Seeing as the hovercraft has been chartered this meant crossing over to the airport at 4am to transfer the team and their 5 tons of luggage. Mohamed, our man at the airport facilitated this and by the time we got their they were just waiting to board. What struck me immediately was how much stuff they travel with. Everything! They prepare their own meals which meant they had their own chef, brought their own fruits, pots, spoons.. everything! Cannot fault them on preparation! I guess the life of football teams is not all glamour - especially for the backroom staff. Those guys work their socks off to keep the players 'happy' and focused.

the hotel...

The first day was quite hectic as everyone was understandably tired, plus it seems everyone at Bintumani Hotel was asleep even though they knew of the arrival. Ok, in their defence the original ETA was 06.30 so everything had to be brought forward when we learnt they were arriving 3hrs ahead of time, but they did know of the time change. We also had to insist they made some changes in the meeting room, replace stained table cloths, chair covers and the like. From then on, things mostly flowed.

I could - and maybe should - write an entire blog on the hotel. Spending so much time there let see for myself just how much work needs to be done. I mean it's an ok hotel but in need of maintenance in areas and raising of standards in other areas. For the amount you pay a night, I really don't know if every time the lobby is empty staff should switch off the TV and lights.. or in the business centre where they must switch off all machines and AC. Even if only empty for 5mins?! Common. There's cost saving but for $138 a night? I felt like playing a game with the barman who operated the TV. A game of come and go... he must have switched it off and on so many times in half an hour. Poor guy. As for the communication with the Chinese Management.. well it's a challenge.

the match...

Anyway back to the team and match. Watching them train, a couple of things struck me.. firstly they're a young team which makes me think they're building towards 2010 and secondly I thought they might have a problem if it was really hot on match day.

I had a sneaky feeling Leone Stars might just edge it with the odd goal. I'd seen Bafana play against Nigeria and thought they lacked cutting edge up front. They could do with a Benni Macarthy who isn't in the team at the moment. It proved to be the same against Leone Stars - Especially In the second half when they had their chances. It wasn't particularly a high quality match but we'll take the three points thank you. I must admit, I had felt like part of Bafana's preparation for the match so even though I was elated with the Leone Stars win, there was also a tinge of disappointment for Bafana.  Still, Leone stars hadn't won for so long that you had to be happy for them.

Right after the match it was back on the convoy to plan their hasty exit. It sucks to lose, but hey someone had to. No doubt they're planning their revenge on Saturday. They simply cannot afford to drop points.

the feedback...

“We were extremely happy with the service that you provided. There is no doubt that if we had not used your company, we would have found great difficulty to move around and to know the right facilities to utilise. We were impressed that you were able to help us at such short notice! We were happy with your work and we would have no hesitation to recommend your company to anybody who wanted to visit Sierra Leone in future.”

Safe to say they were happy with the service provided.