It's amazing how fast things happen within a week. Just imagine how many people have died in Israel and Lebanon over the past week. And the cross-retaliatory attacks are continuing. The president of the Lebanese association in Sierra Leone is crying for intervention from the international community. But the international community seems not to be bothered. Well, TECH this seems a parallel story to what happened in Sierra Leone until the country was on the brink of complete annihilation before the world stepped in – the damage had already been done. Notwithstanding, TECH, let's come back home where the BRITISH SEEM POISED NOT TO LET THINGS GET OUT OF HAND THIS TIME AROUND...

EXPO TIMES 1   HILARY BENN 1

If it was a coincidence, then it was remarkable. There was this lead... about President Kabbah's legacy published in your newspaper at the beginning of the week. And GUESE WHAT, a couple of days later, the UK's Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, was in Sierra Leone. The article on the Web site charged the Kabbah government of seeming uncertainty on the date for the forthcoming elections and questioned the government's record on accountability and the fight against corruption. And when UNCLE Benn came to Sierra Leone it was the same message that he brought at the corridors of power. He said, in as much as the UK is committed to supporting Sierra Leone, there has been a diminished zeal to fight corruption. On top of that, the Secretary of State urged the Kabbah government to set a date for the 2007 elections. Can I then conclude, TECH, that the UK government does read your pages and take your opinions SERIOUSLY? Quite unlike the authorities back home who would wish you dead than alive. Indeed, a prophet has no honour in his hometown! BRAVO, TECH…THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES…

IF ONLY THE WORLD BANK WOLF WOULD BITE

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, on a visit to Sierra Leone, ALMOST ON THE HEELS OF BENN, told journalists he believed the former editor of For Di People newspaper Harry Yansanneh was “murdered”, and urged the government to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice. He said this would be essential for democracy in the country.

O TECH, I know you cannot agree less; how one wished this message would have been carried further. I only hope that KABBAH and BEREWA are listening. What Sierra Leonean democracy needs is to put in place protective mechanisms for those who speak for the voiceless majority against political demagogues. Democracy cannot succeed without a vibrant press, free from intimidation and attacks from the powers-that-are. So if the World |Bank President would like democracy to thrive in Sierra Leone, aid packages should be tied to protecting the media and lifting its image. It would have pleased us, TECH, if we THE POOR STILL BATTLING IT OUT HERE had heard Wolfowitz saying something like, “Until the government of Sierra Leone bring Harry's killers to book, the World Bank would have to cut down on its relations with it….” Then, the first step IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTON would have BEEN TAKEN. That would have meant, those in the business of exposing corruption would feel protected. Words alone – even from a World Bank president - will not suffice. TECH I have no doubt that you would like to see the WORLD BANK put their money where their mouth is… The Sierra Leonean media deserve protection with hard decisions by those trumpeting DEMOCRACY. For after all where is the DEMOCRACY if there is no PRESS FREEDOM? TECH I advise you keep an EYE on this developing story and see whether the WOLF would bite if…

THE POLICE AGAIN!!!

 There is no reason to pick on the police as the most useless public institution in Sierra Leone. After all, Sierra Leone is rotten through and through: a wicked and uncaring political class, a corrupt and inhuman civil service, a double-standard-ridden judiciary, an intimidated press, a ridiculous and unresponsive parliament, a complacent populace, you name them. But the Sierra Leone Police is so crucial to the day-to-day running of the state that it can hardly hide from scrutiny. And when it retrogresses day by day, then one cannot help it.

Reports last week state that robbers in police uniforms attacked homes in Freetown and carted away private belongings and money from vulnerable residents. This is unacceptable. The police may want to argue that their uniforms could be used by anyone to tarnish the image of the institution. Granted! But one can hardly be convinced with the facts of even the daylight robbery of traders' goods in the name of ‘Operation Free Flow'. Even looking at the nitty-gritty surrounding the circumstances of the night robberies, the police stand accused. Because, if people are being attacked and they call the police and the police do not turn up until the robbers are gone, how would a layman interpret that? If the police, in their so-called night patrols, abandon the places where electricity is hardly supplied, is it not a green light for robbers to have a field day?

What is even more alarming is the manner in which all types of people have been recruited into the police force. People with criminal backgrounds can be found in the force - just because the force has no effective method of scrutinizing or screening entrants. So we then end up with a ‘force for thieves'.