TRUMP SURVIVES ASSASINATION ATTEMPT BUT WHAT’S GOING ON?
By the grace of God, Donald Trump is still alive and pushing hard towards re-taking the White House from Democrat Joe Biden. The young who shot and wounded Trump wanted to take him out of this world and obviously out of the race. As we write, crime investigators have still not come up with a motive to help explain why a 20 year old would go to such extraordinary length to stop a presidential candidate from pursuing his ambition. It is even more confusing to see a document showing the man as a registered Republican.
Great America is now coming to terms with the very serious events of the last few days. As Trump was being taken off stage by secret service agents with blood dripping from his ears, he raised a clenched fist to his supporters as he shouted FIGHT, FIGHT, and FIGHT. We don’t even want to imagine what would have happened had Trump died at the scene. The whole world was going to catch a cold from that sneeze. In America, they say “In God We Trust.” That trust probably paid off when Trump spared the pain of death at the hands of the 20 year old assassin.
So far politicians and their surrogates have handled the affair reasonably well.
1. Biden immediately pulled back from active campaigning and called Trump to wish him well
2. Biden spoke to the nation from the over office, symbolizing the seriousness of what had just happened in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
3. He called for all politicians and media groups to tone down the divisive rhetoric that generally appears to be dragging Americans towards political hatred and violence and it appears as if the nation got that message. It’s been suggested that Trump actually changed parts of his acceptance speech to reflect the new mood of the nation.
4. On our side, we wish the American people all the best as they go into elections in November. If anything goes wrong in America, the world suffers. That’s a fact.
ANOTHER RAINY SEASON: SAME STORY IN FREETOWN
It’s July again and we are in the middle of the annual rainy season facing the same challenges year on year. Homes, in fact whole communities are being flooded out in Freetown in particular, affecting mostly people on the edge of survival. Cities around Sierra Leone are also facing an increase in armed robberies as criminals take advantage of the heavy rains to distress people.
The mayor of Freetown has put a lot of women on the streets with brooms to clean up but the kind of brooms we see are just fit for domestic use. This must be changed immediately. We love their rain gears anyway.
Once again we have to call the mayor’s attention to mounds of rubbish being piled up in street corners where none existed recently. What’s going on? The mayor needs more personnel for her so-called Flood Mitigation drive. Clearing the clogged up drainage system is not a job for half a dozen or so people.
The mayor appears to be ignoring our persistent call for companies selling soft drinks to and water in single use plastic to be made to pay part of their huge profits towards cleaning after them. We cannot continue like this.
As far as armed robbers are concerned it is up to the police to deal with them. That means robust patrols in vulnerable communities, making use of high quality intelligence.
LAWYERS ON STRIKE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS IN GUINEA
Things are happening next door and we are not sure many in this country are taking notice. Lawyers in Guinea have gone on strike. They say they will be away for two weeks to highlight the growing threat to human rights in that country. The gripe is about people being arrested and kept incommunicado these days by the military junta.
The thing is Guinea is undergoing a transition from military rule and the people suspect that Col. Mammady Dumbouya may not be sincere with the process and is in fact involved in an elaborate process of manipulating his way to hold on to power. The civilian politicians who have been deprived of power all these years are itching to return. The junta itself is facing a lot of disgruntlement from within as some key members have become disillusioned after their expectations were not met.
People in Sierra Leone have to constantly pay attention to what is going on in that neighboring country. Take out the Yenga question for now and conclude that Guinea has never been hostile to Sierra Leone. There are huge migrant communities across the borders and all along our long and porous border people interact freely.
Given all of this, we should be able to use our friendship with Guinea to make the following points:
1. Col. Dounbuya has no choice but to implement his own transition plan in an unambiguous way and on time.
2. In this 21st century world, nobody should be detained incommunicado. If people are held on suspicion of committing a crime they should be provided with all what it takes to defend themselves – they should have access to their lawyers and family members. Democracy in Sierra Leone is not perfect but detaining people incommunicado has never been part of how we behave in this land that we love.
3. The junta in Guinea should know by now that trying to hold on to power against the wish of the people can only happen for a while. The last thing they want is for people to get fed up and decide to take direct action.
4. Today lawyers are on strike and their clients are suffering. When other professional groups decide to join in, it will be something else.
5. Anyway, we don’t know if lawyers can really stay out of the courtroom for two weeks. They are losing a lot of cash.
WILBERFORCE STRIKERS: THE PROTECTED OF THE EARTH
The good people of Freetown are furious this morning following the absolutely unfair relegation of the municipal council’s football team from the Sierra Leone Premier League. Freetown City Football Club or FCFC are not the capital’s equivalent of Bo Ranger but they are certainly a decent enough side to be able to hold their place in mid-table. This morning they find themselves at the receiving end of one of the most corrupt decisions ever made in world football.
On the last day of the league, FCFC – facing a crucial relegation dogfight were up against the MOST PROTECTED club in the league, WILBERFORCE STRIKERS. A result elsewhere clearly favored FCFC as Ports Authority FC was busy executing a ruthless demolition job on Real Republicans in the far east of Freetown. FCFC only needed to respect themselves by getting a draw. Then some people unleashed the gods of manipulation for selfish political motives.
We will not bore you with the gory details of the provocation that the so-called referee pushed towards FCFC just to fulfill his own side of the grand plan. He called a disgraceful penalty and forced some FCFC players to resist the corrupt act by unleashing a few verbal salvos. He then abandoned the match alleging threats to his life. Those in the SLFA darkroom have now completed the project by severely punishing FCFC and passing the three points over to WILBERFORCE STRIKERS who were in the losing position on that day.
Last season, the same WILBERFORCE STRIKERS received SIX points on the table to force Kamboi Eagles of Kenema out as they squeezed their way in. Here is the lesson to learn until 2025;
1. Never allow your team to be involved in any argument with WILBERFORCE STRIKERS.
2. Always sing the praise of TD Brima and signal your intention to make 2025 a stroll in the park for him (You are free to do otherwise when you enter the voting booth).
3. Say on social media that BBD of Bo Rangers will never be SLFA Prexy. Hold that line until 2025 when your ballot paper lands in your hand.
4. FCFC should simply forget about fighting this in court. They are now being lured into a trap from which they may not emerge alive. When Kweku was flying around the world, TDB was busy doing his yearly Shabba thingie.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (22/07/24)
