Sierra Leone Democracy

Biometric Multiplication

The presidential and parliamentary elections in my native country Sierra Leone were over before they began. After going through the motions and waiting for a week the Electoral Commissioner called a press conference and told whoever had any complaints against the conduct of the polls to go report to the police. In Sierra Leone that is basically telling someone to go to hell! The opposition reporting government malpractice to the Sierra Leone police is akin to reporting a mother to her 5 year old daughter, nothing can come out of it. As they say in our native krio Language, "Kombra fart pan im pikin nar buff"

Five More Years

Brigadier Julius Bio

So after all the hullabaloo, the Electoral Commissioner, Rtd Sister Thorpe came out after a week and announced that President Koroma had 58%, Rtd. Brigadier Maada Bio had 38% and all the others had the rest, what ever percentage that amounted to.  Ambassador John Leigh put his shoes on top of his head and rushed out on the streets singing Sabanoh 75 and the dish ran away with the spoon.

Well as they say, every country has the government it deserves. Sometimes people wonder why Sierra Leone should even be classified as poor, let alone among the poorest nations in the world. The answer is obvious, if you give a Sierra Leonean a gun, he will shoot himself in the foot. Ernest Koroma wanted a second term, and he wanted it badly. In Africa when a president wants power that bad, he usually gets it.

Waiting for Santa Clause

There is no distinction between state and ruling party resources when it comes to elections in Sierra Leone. APC spent as much as they could, bringing voters from Guinea, reportedly stuffing ballot boxes and converting the few remaining independent journalists to praise singers extraordinaire. Basically, the country and its people will be subjected once again to 5 years of lopsided development, the same crap. Roads in the absence of food. People will travel on beautiful roads again, hungry, while the contracts for the construction of these roads will once again enrich members of the APC cabal and the even hungrier new defectors.

They Need to be in School

Well the President said things will get better this time. We will wait, watch and see, but as they, " the frog with no buttocks when it is young, will not likely grow one in old age", but of course, mutations are always possible, and we will all pray for things to get better in Sierra Leone, as some of us genuinely believe that there is absolutely no need why a single child in Sierra Leone should go to bed hungry.

Over here in USA it was an interesting week. The Powerball Jackpot was 550 million frigging dollars. The chances of winning was lower than being struck by lightning three times in bright sunshine on the cobbled streets of my hometown Segbwema. But of course we all ran out and bought Powerball, one never knows. What I would have done in Segbwema if I had won! But we lost and as they say, the dog's dream, dies in its stomach.