News Story

FREETOWN: DR. SAMA BANYA - PUAWUI: At last someone is bold enough to do it; to say openly that "the King has no clothes on." I listened to Babadi's interview with Dr. Mariam Matembe on UN radio's teabreak programme last Friday morning with much interest. I don't know how many people listened to the programme or are aware of why she and some other colleagues from other parts of Africa are currently in Sierra Leone. It is to assist our women who are aspiring to political participation in governance with particular reference to the imminent local council elections. Those women, in association with the national Democratic Inststitute have been conducting a workshop mostly for women candidates, the majority of who are independent candidates. As a follow up of what they had been discussing, they have, by various methods, been monitoring the campaign trail and the conduct of the political parties and their supporters in general and towards women candidates in particular.

Dr. Matembe expressed her disappointment and indignation at the widespread violence and intimidation particularly against women candidates. She referred almost with anger to this and to the violence in Kono and in Tongo. The reports that she and her colleagues had was absolutely deplorable and unacceptable; it was not based on hearsay, but from evidence gathered in the field. She was at pains to point out that in deed there was a difference between national politics and politics at the local level which required the participation of all, especially grass roots people.

In the end, she pointed her accusing finger at the ruling APC party, who were harrassing every other candidate, and particularly those independent women candidates who had dared the APC by going ahead with their campaign. She expressed disappointment that such was happening and pleaded with the ruling party to respect the political rights of others. But, and this is the important point, was the APC listening and if so will they pay any attention?

My dear distinguished, good lady, I have to disappoint you at once and say that your plea will definitely fall on deaf ears. Even before that interview, SLBS had reported the by now familiar platitudes of the Minister of Information at his weekly jamboree that goes for a news conference, that the government of President Ernest Bai Horoma was totally opposed to violent elections. Fine words, but with reports of the various ugly incidents perpetrated by the party's task forces what positive steps have been taken to curb them? By the way I see that the party's vocabulary has evolved. No longer do the APC have thugs; they have been replaced by task forces. Their function of terrorising and intimidation with a flair for violence
remains the same. Afterall what's in a name, you may ask? Good question too.

This takes me back to the Tongo hooliganism. Firstly is it really true that LUC commader Aiah Komba telephoned Hon. Francis Konuwa who was in Freetown, and asked him to remove erstwhile Vice President Solomon Berewa's poster from his (Hon Konuwa's) residence? If so what inexcusable impertinence. Secondly, did those thugs, I mean the members of the task force go on the offensive because the Hon. member had allegedly referred to Vice President Sam Sumana as a liar? What if the Vice President did lie, should Hon. Konuwa have described him either as one who was stingy with the truth, or one who had no respect for the truth? But here I forget that we are dealing with members of the task force. The APC leadership may wish to borrow from me, a book by Al Franken with the title, Lies and the Lying Liers who Tell Them.

In all of this, the ruling party leadership owe it to the people of this country to have a free, fair and peaceful local government election. They should leave all other anomalies to the expert in that field, I mean the NEC boss, Christiana Thorpe, whose computer experts realising that fiddling with polling station figures was not going to prevent Solo-B from winning, suddenly advised their boss with the brilliant idea of invalidating 477 polling station results. Even with that manouver, the figures did not tally at 8.30 nor at 9.30 on that fateful Monday September 17 morning. This time, we shall be watching her with the eyes of a hawk.