By Abdul Hashim Daboh
January 25, 2006
Dear bro.Kallon,
Certainly, I have never been short of breath by your kind for always asking the unobvious, but your recent piece at ?Rico sent me gaping for air. Of interest, here is your recent reaction to S.I. Kamara’s piece regarding Tejan Kabbah’s alleged Conakry estate. Your obnoxious question ?to show evidence or proof ?to S.I clearly depicts how much of your kind have been schooled to think as if we should rather think and live like communist school loyalist. It is Just a clear manifestation of how politically and morally malnourished Berewah sympathizers like those that you have become in this new age of political and social awareness in our country.
As usual, the messenger rather than the message is attacked .Your vague insinuation of S.I Kamara ?to prove your allegation’ is actually nothing new in our political circles. Moreover, it is no hidden secret that your die-hard sentiments about Solo do not reflect the aspirations of the wider SLPP realists. Ngor Kalilu Totangi in a well-written piece at the ?Vanguard’ in a measured intellectual coup on his beloved party decimated your uncensored support for the party leadership. Had you matched Totangi to Berewah in that kahlow hkalow makeni convention, given them equal opportunity to sell their agendas to the masses, and, without any back door hand wringing, surely kalilu would have thrown your standard-bearer into political oblivion.
Those very pertinent questions Kalilu raised in that piece have been flying high off the lips of every patriotic Sierra Leonean except the Parliament, which has abrogated its fundamental duty as guardians of our individual Rights, and the balancing organ within our constitutional framework to the Executive. Those lawmakers who have been entrusted a constitutional mandate to act as a counter balance between us and the other two branches of government is more of a contract-seeking gathering of men and women, rather than a body of intellectuals paid to work for the good of the nation. The only famous act the parliament is known for the speedy summon and dismissal of Val Collier for the offence of calling things by their name. The culture of misnaming things in Sierra Leone is so prevalent that even the pa. named his high flying ?going to bed hungry as ?food surplus’ ? come his retirement in 2007.
The John Leigh pre -convention allegations of financial impropriety within the party hovering over the President and Berewah should have underscored an urgent in-house investigation of the party machinery, but as usual, who dare ask solo and the Pa. – ask JBD, Pujeh or Harry. Worst of all is the induced failure, if not a blatant refusal of parliament to cause a special commission to investigate the Abass Bundu allegations especially the question bordering on his ?factual exonerating’ evidence that further detaches him from all those charges read before magistrate Tunis in 1997.
To crown it all, Bundu’s press conference was a devastating blow to the political convenience the SLPP arraigned for his re-entry into the political atmosphere, and more so, on the SLPP government’s credibility as an honest and reliable entity. It seems, and as Berewah and Kabbah would want us to believe, that the matter was a political discretion between Bundu and the two power brokers, not necessary the state vs. Bundu. Such manifestation of the new government should have ranged an alarming bell to all sierra Leoneans that the first mis-step was a political and moral disaster, which may a general characteristic of that leadership. Nevertheless, as usual, no one paid attention to that unwholesome development as we were all too overwhelmed by the Pa’s UN credential and the resurrection of the palm tree. But this time around until the issue is properly addressed in a public forum, nothing will change the course of a precipitated legal action against both the parliament and Solomon Berewah for misleading the nation in an effort to score personal favor from Abass Bundu and hoodwinked the nation into believing that Abass Bundu had intentionally sold our passports and fraudulently converted proceeds to his personal use and benefit.
It is unfortunate, if not a contemptuous attitude from Tejan and his men that they tend to swiftly respond to matters they consider personal blow to their character than anything of national interest. If the recent Paul Kamara’s allegation of Kabbah’s Conakry real estates report can be so swiftly addressed, why should national issues such as Abass Bundu’s indictment of the government cannot be addressed? Is our bristling Harvard schooled intellectual kanji Daramy around to talk to the nation on this? Solo where is the ?bounced cheque ?you had referred to in your famous 1997 statement on the matter? Moreover, can someone please show the receipt of Abass Bundu’s money paid into the consolidated fund? Of course Mr. Vandi, I am sure Solo and bra. did pocket that money. Otherwise, is there any independent way to establish that such money was deposited into the national treasury ? I dare the Anti Corruption commission to stray into that ?Green Zone’ of power to establish receipt of that particular money.
Back to basic. Asking S.I.Kamara to substantiate what you may refer to as allegation is like asking Ghadaffi to substantiate his RUF/NPFL connections.
However, to put it succinctly, it would rather be a folly hardy for kabbah or any of his looting appointees to store their loots under their names. As history would show you, all most all of our corrupt officials have time and again used the names of children, close relatives and trusted friends to tie up the loose ends in their thieving spree. In fact, some even have more than one passport and such traveling documents are usually issued with different names- not the known name of that official. Alternatively, are you in position to tell the suffering masses why Kanja Sesay only built his Freetown place after few years at the then triple R ministry rather than when he owned an NGO with offices No.5 lamina Sankoh Street. It is high time you buffoons stop abetting these state looters just for the luxury of riding high whenever you land at lungi.
Your incomparable comparison of Bush to Kabbah is a sound display of intentional dishonesty, ignorance and contempt for all progressive Sierra Leoneans. Firstly, Bush has never been addressed in the states as His Excellency (a hallmark of corrupt and anachronistic authoritarian display of power) – a simplistic style and assurance to the people that the leader is not a monarch.
Compare that with Kabbah’s bags full of titles – titles that must precede his presidential title. More over, Bush was only taken to an undisclosed location within United States, and not somewhere else like the Pa. who thought that Conakry was a safer haven for him and his cabinet whilst the masses bore the scourge of the marauders. That simply is an abrogation of his constitutional oath of office to ?protect and defend’ the nation and its people.
Coming to the Omarie Golley debacle, I doubt if is any News to any Sierra Leonean that Golley was a staunch RUF man until the end of Sankoh. Unfortunately, this was a man the president hailed as a partner in progress and probably he was, one way or the other. However, I have a hunch for the charges against him, but let the trial move on albeit our corrupt and unreliable judiciary. Nevertheless, there is something about recent disturbances in Sierra Leone that we all should watch carefully. That is since the makeni convention every trouble the police have uncovered is around Berewah. There is something fishy about these occurrences. Why in heavens sake can Golley and co plan the assassination of Solo and not Kabbah? Quite a strange development eh! I hope solo is not stage managing events that will name Charles in his quest for power. I hope not, because that will not augur well with all of us. However, there is something fishier about this treason against Berewah and I would advise every Sierra Leonean to go deeper than the police statement in court. Solo did that to Abass Bundu just to keep him quite. He is not new to such maneuvering.
On Norman, though I remain in his defense for being wrongly indicted at the Special court yet, I am fast coming to grip with his wild political ambitions. He might have, in his rambling state of mind unintentionally uttered those infamous lines to both IBK and Ernest Koroma in frustration. His age and sagging health coupled with his loud mouth spokesperson Sam Foray could have played role in this saga. Again, it remains to be established from the police the degree of his involvement (if any) because the utterance should be backed by an agreement between two or more persons to constitute conspiracy. Unless legal luminaries in this and other forums educate me, but I doubt the offence itself was complete. The cops should have rather established a mechanism through which the entire allegation would have been in the clear. However, if just telling one or two people who were never going to be part of the allege conspiracy, then I should be on record to say that the police went too fast too soon. Nevertheless, poor Aicha and Lappia too were implicitly ordered to get him, I feel for you Aicha.
I know your force could have done it in a more professional way.
I still recall those days when cabinet ministers and high ranking party officials can see Tom and friends on the beach and alarm the police that they?re engaged in subversive activity. The newly appointed ministers in a rush to establish their loyalty and niche for information endlessly maligned those poor people whose heroic efforts ushered in our current democratic atmosphere. Most of them (the ministers) faked events and coaxed people to fake incidents as a means to scare all NPRC boys. Well they did succeed temporarily and probably bought the pa’s attention through those bogus claims of security threats from Tom and co. However, every one of them missed that infamous January 6, onslaught. Probably that one was too authentic to reach them or their bogus informants. Therefore, I pray and hope that no witness manufacturing will occur with these recent claims. Is there a Margai connection to the Omrie Golley party cha cha that could have triggered such a speedy blow against the former RUF man? I hope this is not the case.
Lastly, I implore the Attorney General Carew not to invite the two alleged conspirators Bah and Kaitongi to become state witnesses against Mr. Golley. Knowing what I know, both could have been used to net Golley with the promise of being compensated and released form jail immediately the intended fast tracked trial is over..
Anyway thanks again to our foreign partners particularly the EU, British High commission and the Embassy of the United States of America for that unwavering statement on the resurrection of the Political Party Registration commission. I hope Momodu, Vandi and others will soon summon those embassies for ?clarity.
Ketamai
Hashim
Leave a Reply