Bio’s Govt Targets Women In Top Positions_*
*_www.thetimessierraleone.com_*
Recent incident in which a Deputy Minister of Health and his Permanent Secretary, including body guards assaulted a female Doctor, Dr. Catherine Cole, at the Connaught Hospital on Tuesday 13th April 2021, for simply taking photo shots of a fracas between some aggrieved cleaners who had down tools due to the withholding of their salaries for some 12 months, lends credence to perception by the public that the Bio administration is targeting women folks in top positions in the country.
According to investigations mounted by this medium, the cleaners have been working for over 12 months now without pay and on several occasions have been persuaded to continue whilst promises were made that they will be paid. It was further disclosed that this is the third time that they have downed tools in protest over the lack of payment for the job they do. The cleaners disclosed that they had made all attempts to get the authorities to address their situation, but all their attempts have not yielded any fruit. They furthered that the Minister of Labour and the past Minister of Health and the entire Hospital management all know about their plight, but there has been no resolution to their plight.
It could be recalled that recently pictures of the filth at the main referral hospital in Freetown, Connaught Teaching hospital went viral on social media as concerned citizens posted the appalling state of the sanitary condition in the hospital to draw the attention of the government.
Unfortunately when the Deputy Minister and the Permanent Secretary in the company of the CMO, arrived on the scene, the Deputy Minister, commonly called ‘Kamajor’, attacked the female doctor in a bid to prevent her from taking pictures and accused her of posting pictures of the hospital’s disgraceful state on social media. As she refused to hand over her phone, the minister, permanent secretary and the body guards pounced on the poor lady and man-handled her inflicting injury to her arm: A clear display of contempt for women.
It could also be recalled that some officials of the Bio government also targeted the Mayor of Freetown, allegedly for using tribal sentiment, with little consideration of the fact that the very government was imposing on the mayor staff without her consent or knowledge, thereby obstructing the smooth running of her administration. She was demonised as party faithful took to the social media, delivering unprintable language against her person.
Another incident of intimidation/harassment is that of the Auditor General of Sierra Leone, who was hounded on social media by ruling party operatives for simply doing her job. Her uncompromising stance may be her wrong doing and she paid dearly with insults on her person and calls for her resignation.
All the President could say about her situation is that if you cannot bear the heat; do not go to the kitchen. An appalling statement from a President who came to power on the trump card of waging war against corruption; now failing to protect the constitutional institution of the Auditor General. This has further seen women groups lending their support to their fellow women folks.
*_@The Times SL Newspaper_*
