BY Ezekiel Nabieu
The sackings of the minister and deputy minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs came as a shock to many students of men and things owing to the fact that such unseemly behavior by top government officials had not in the past elicited such robust response.
The president has the prerogative of hiring and firing ministers and other officials in his wisdom and not mindlessly. As a result it is expected that he appoints citizens of integrity especially where there is no shortage of such a cadre in the country.
To this end he chose a former post master in the United Kingdom, Moijueh Kaikai, and a former entertainer in the United States, Mustapha Bai Attila, who have now proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they are unfit for high state offices. We may safely conclude that this unholy brace could have been behaving much worse to their lower level public contacts that would not emit a whimper for fear of dire consequences. Where there was circumspect appointment of officials under previous governments, fights, obscenities and animosities even under APC, were unheard of, which is one of the reasons why incumbent government officials lift the trump card for thuggery.
There is something in the character of every man which cannot be altered: it is the skeleton of his character. The question to be answered by apologists for Attila is: can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? (Jeremiah 13:23). Attila is a Sierra Leonean and cannot change his skin. He has aptly described himself as “dangerous” and he has acted dangerously.
By now we have grown accustomed to the odious practice of sacking ministers and recycling them in other ministries after some incubation periods. This time round the sackings have been done after abominable cursing and some serious allegations that should not be swept under the carpet. Aside from that the deputy minister alleged, among other things, that he had little or nothing to do by way of assignment and had to create work for himself. This simply points out that there are other Deputy Ministers 1,2,3 who are enjoying sinecures at fat salaries because they can shout “owai, osai”.
Readers can best determine our leaders’ penchant for profligate spending by comparing our cabinet for six million citizens with that of Nigeria with more than 130 million.
You nar SLPP
All those who have been following the reckless innuendoes and farragoes of nonsense of Attila would not be surprised at his outpourings. By his utterances he is one Sierra Leonean who would want us to invest to the one to one party status quo ante belle. People who think that Attila behaved the way he did because of his handicap are thinking outside the box.
There are instances of rulers in the Arab world who have ruled normally in spite of their blindness. In fact there was a blind cabinet minister in Britain who behaved with decorum. What is wrong with an SLPP member being appointed a Cabinet Minister in an SLPP government? Attila is a coarse, foul-mouthed remarkably licentious bigot who has behaved blasphemously. He deserves neither recycling nor forgiveness.
Environmental Protection Agency
That the world is fast revolving to an end is being evidenced by the rate at which environmental depletion is taking place without adequate replacement. In this country governments have been so lax that we have been classed as one of the three countries in the whole wide world of over one hundred nations that are most vulnerable. What form that will take is not exactly known. In these days of flash floods and earthquakes it could be cataclysmic. Who can tell when disaster will strike judging by the fact that our meteorological instruments are outdated?
Meanwhile, denudation and deforestation are going on regardless. Why should fruit trees in towns and villages be needlessly felled in the name of cleanliness when they have nothing to do with filth? Were the recent floods in Freetown and the provinces not a wakeup call to authorities?
Kudos to NATCOM
Natcom seems to be coming on stream. For too long, far too long AIRTEL has been and is still fleecing the public at will. They cheat as they like it. The company should be proscribed from functioning in this country as long as there are other companies that are doing what is required more efficiently. I keep wondering why AIRTEL is always being referred to as the leading company.
(C) Politico 24/03/16
