Berewa is not a hurricane but a whimp bent on destroying Sierra Leone

Friday October 28, 2005

First_Name:  Alie Formeh
Last_Name:  Kamara
Address:  471 Central Avenue
City:  Albany
State:  New York
Zip_Code:  12206
Comments:  BEREWA IS NO HURRICANE BUT A WHIMP BENT ON DESTROYING SIERRA LEONE

No amount of cosmetics on his appearance or verbiage would make a naturally dull Solomon Ekuma Berewa into a lightening rod or a hurricane that stormed London, as the SLPP puts it in their recent article on Cocorioko. When Solomon Berewa was chosen to head the party, party officials knew that they would have to contend with the fact that their man is frail and on his way to a Nursing Home. To counter criticism on this attribute of Solomon Berewa, the SLPP have now resorted to making false claims about his fitness and to embellish reports about his performance on the campaign trail. Solomon Ekuma Berewa is no hurricane and can produce no storm.

Solomon Ekuma Berewa, the Vice President of Sierra Leone would want you to believe that being Vice President is a passport to the Presidency. But his political camp now knows that being the Vice President can be a liability rather than an asset because Solomon Berewa would be judged by the record of the current administration.

In his recent speech to his SLPP supporters in London, it is reported in Cocorioko that Solomon Berewa alleges that, if elected, he would make as a priority poverty alleviation, Justice for all, and the stamping out of corruption. What he failed to state was that these were the same platform that his boss ran under and in which they failed miserably. Sierra Leoneans would rather prefer a clear explanation from the Vice President on what he plans to do differently from his boss and why should any body believe in him this time around instead of his frequent hyperboles.

All vice Presidents like Solomon Berewa make the claim that they have more experience and are better placed to be Presidents. But history is beset with many examples that negate this self serving theoretical claim. President Clinton came from nowhere to beat a sitting President, George Bush Senior, and later became one of Americas most successful President in the history of the United States. President George Bush’s claim to having experience being the sitting President was not a factor and the argument that he would make a better President cannot be validated as President Clinton turned out to be one of the greatest Presidents that ever lived.

Given his publicly pronounced priorities for his administration, one would like to ask him why it is that relations between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Anti-Corruption Commission is more like a rivalry rather than cooperation. In contrast to the appalling record of non-cooperation shown by the Government towards the ACC and the menacing attitude of the SLPP government towards the ACC, Ernest Bai Koroma of the All Peoples Congress promises to give full support to the activities of the ACC and to complement the ACC’s effort by initiating development programs to raise the standard of living of citizens of Sierra Leone, something he argues is a factor in fighting corruption.

Ernest Bai Koroma, the young and vibrant leader of the APC also promises to concentrate on Agriculture in order to raise the standard of living of Farmers and to reduce dependence on imports of staple foods. How Solomon Ekuma Berewa hopes to alleviate poverty is not clear given the irresistible urge by members of his party to bankrupt Sierra Leone through corrupt practices like the recent allegation that moneys for tractors were missing.