Genesis of Leigh's Frustration 84 Moons Ago

LOCAL NEWS-Culled from 2005 awareness Times
Sierra Leone's former Ambassador John Leigh goes insane overseas
By Sayoh Kamara
Sep 19, 2005, 19:21

Seven Years Of Frustration Without Medication

Disgraced aspirant for the SLPP leadership in the just concluded national delegates convention in Makeni, John Ernest Leigh, has fled to the United States of America with his tail between his legs, brooding over the thousands of US Dollars he wasted in his failed bid to influence delegates to vote for him as party leader and flagbearer for the ruling SLPP. From his Massachussets home in the United States, Mr. Leigh seems to have gone completely insane as evidenced by his writings on the Internet.

Leigh is giving the impression to the outside world that he was cheated during the convention, when he woefully failed to secure none of the delegates to even nominate him, not to talk about having someone to second his candidature.

He is even denying the true pictures of events as dramatised by himself, his Campaign Manager, Rev. Hindolo S.B. Butcher and a lady, Ms. Susan French, who claimed to be his niece as she loudly wailed. Leigh now disowns Susan French completely and he wrote on the Internet that he has absolutely no connection with Ms. French either by ‘blood’ or by ‘marriage’. Leigh writes like he does not even know who she is or why she was wailing on that day her accusations about how much money, the failed aspirant wasted.

Mr. Leigh is also giving the impression that the press especially the print media are all against him and that all reports on the print media including that of the Awareness Times, were all ‘rubbish’.

In an e-mail sent to Sierra Leoneans living abroad in answer to one Ahmed Koroma on 15/9/05, Mr. Leigh insinuated that newspaper reports on the outcome of his humiliation and the shameful scenery he created as he was helped out of the convention centre by security personnel, were mere fabrications.

Ahmed Koroma had written on the Internet that, "If this report (of Awareness Times online) is true, then there is something really hilarious about Salone politics."

Mr. John Leigh immediately responded to Ahmed Koroma by stating that he was no longer in Sierra Leone but safely inside his house in Massachusetts, USA.Continuing his confused writing, Mr. Leigh stated that Susan was not the only one who wailed as a result of his horrible public disgrace but according to Leigh, "Dozens shed tears out of concern for what the future holds for Sierra Leone given the illegalities brazenly committed in Makeni during the nomination process."

Crying Ever Since

Mr. Leigh started appearing on the Internet shortly after the Makeni Convention and all his writings clearly revealed a very confused and distraught person. He gathered a few hanger-ons who rallied around him and tried to coax him. However, instead of becoming more composed, Mr. Leigh has increasingly become even more confused as his emails and Internet writings reveal. In light of the true picture of events since Leigh started disgracing himself over FM 98.1 with his lack of command over the Krio language, it is difficult to understand clearly what he is trying to pass across to unwitting Internetters and the outside world.

What is however clear and what came out on that Mr. Leigh’s fateful day is that his non-nomination was first greated with silence and when the nominations were closed, it was greeted with an outburst of laughter and then comments filled with disdain for John Leigh, such as, "Wo dat go vote for dis kind man" and "Leh ee go learn for talk Krio first"

Nobody in the form of supporters, followed the dejected Mr. Leigh out of the hall. He was by himself except for Ms. French who was wailing above the loudspeakers the following words: ‘Wose kind disgrace dis? Na Butcher dem all plan dis. Butcher wan kill me uncle. Ee wan kill me uncle."

Red-eyed and weeping like a cry-baby with his throat tied with a red necktie like a goat bound for sacrifice

At this stage journalists had flooded around Leigh as he sweated profusely in his black coat and his throat tied with a red tie like a goat bound for sacrifice. It was Alhaji I.B. Kargbo, the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, who intervened later by asking his colleagues to give him chance…"allow him to get air." At the insistence of journalists, John Leigh accepted to make a statement. He started off by being his usual vulgar and rude self. He even verbally attacked one delegate calling the person a "bastard" for what reason, no-one knew.

Indeed, John Leigh made the headlines again in Freetown that week. Awareness Times is reproducing some of the headlines and comments from the various newspapers which covered John Leigh at the convention.

*Concord Times, September 5, 2005: "John Leigh almost went into coma."

*New Vision, September 5, 2005 ‘Berewa wins landslide." It commented: "The legal minded strongman and former Ambassador to the United States of America John Leigh together with Dr. Lansana Nyallay of Tegloma fame were left in the cold during nomination period for the position as leader and flagbearer of the SLPP…"

*Independent Observer: September 5, 2005 commented "Former Sierra Leone Ambassador to the United States of America, John Leigh and Amerca based Lansana Nyallay did not contest since they were not nominated during the convention. Leigh later addressed the press that he was cheated."

The Exclusive, September 5, 2005: "Berewa’s brooms sweeps clean." It wrote "… He was said to have summoned an immediate press conference during which he disclosed to press men that he spent fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) on the campaign for the party’s leadership."

The Awoko newspaper, September 5, 2005: "Solo B in clean sweep victory." It wrote: "Mr. John Leigh one of the six contestants for the position of party leader and presidential aspirant was sighted crying like a baby after he was not nominated."

The Focus newspaper, September 5, 2005: "Clean sweep victory for Solo B." It wrote "…. all the contestants unanimously accepted the results of the election. Earlier during nomination time Mr. John Leigh one of the six contestants for the position of party leader and presidential aspirant was sighted crying like a baby after he was not nominated."

The New Tempo newspaper, September 7, 2005: "Butcher Butchers John Leigh." It wrote.

"The biggest casualty of this year’s SLPP convention is leadership aspirant, John Leigh… campaign manager for the Leigh camp, Hindolo S.B Butcher, said the people who were supposed to nominate Mr. Leigh "failed to do so despite assurances up to the eleventh hour of the convention…. It was alleged that Mr. Leigh, through Butcher, paid two delegates from Gbangbatoke constituency about $5000 to get him nominated and seconded…However, a niece of Leigh, Susan French, accused Butcher of conspiracy with the others to pocket the money… Susan burst into tears and cried throughout the conference."

Salone Times newspaper, September, 8, 2005: "John Leigh in bad mood." A picture story with the following caption: "Presidential aspirant and former Ambassador to US, John Leigh leaving the Makeni polytechnic campus, accompanied by police and journalists, after the close of nomination… Mr. Leigh who failed to be nominated left the convention hall in a despondent mood and was later whisked from the scene into a police vehicle which drove away."

Can John Leigh deny all these factual reportages to mean all Sierra Leonean newspapers are ‘rubbish’?

Observers are already commenting that John Leigh ate his cake before it was baked and that prior to the convention, he had already bitten more than what he could chew. In an exclusive interview with this press about two weeks to the Makeni convention, John Leigh had urged delegates to "Eat their money and vote their conscience," insinuating therein that his rivals were bribing the delegates money. An observer at the Makeni convention commented on this, "well he has been paid in own coin. Who will tell me that someone will go into politics without spending money? perhaps, Mr.Leigh was doing his own discreetly so therefore he gained nothing out of it."

Awareness Times gave John Leigh extensive coverage during his campaign period. We covered him every time he called on us to give him coverage. We gave all his silly comments prominence. His silly comments wherein he attacked other decent people with names like "Swegbehs" were all carried by Awareness Times in our stated bid to give full coverage to all the candidates seeing that we are an independent newspaper.

John Leigh was so grateful to Awareness Times after one interview we did for him, that he called us up to say thanks with the following words:

"Thank you Awareness Times. Thank you so much for all what you have done and have been doing to give me such coverage. I truly appreciate your wonderful newspaper. My wife, children and friends call me all the time from America to say that they have been reading your news reports about me. You have never taken a single penny from me nor have you ever asked me for any money. I am truly indebted to you people. You are professionals of the highest order unlike some of your colleagues who always want money for any little coverage."

Now, that John Leigh has been shamed and disgraced and independent newspapers covered his national shame and his national disgrace, he has turned around to say that newspapers are writing "rubbish".

As one email to Awareness Times stated, "John Leigh has lost his mind. It is important that people know that his writings are from a mentally unbalanced person."

The Value of Strong Opposition Parties

Koroma Baffled by Opposition Stubbornness

APC operatives all over the world are baffled at the resilience of the opposition parties in Sierra Leone, especially the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples party. When Ernest Koroma took over as President of Sierra Leone in 2007, instead of working with the opposition to further development and consolidate peace and democracy in the country. He decided to rule with a revenge slash and burn mentality. Civil servants with SLPP affiliation or even suspected of harboring pro-SLPP sentiments were hounded of office irrespective of their experience and replaced by relatively inexperienced party loyalists. An important position like the head of the National Revenue Authority for the whole country was given to Alieu Sesay who graduated from Fourah Bay College with a first degree in Economics only in 1995. Though he had the academic credentials for the position, he definitely lacked the experience to assume such a crucial position.

Another friend of the president's who was a taxi driver in Atlanta, Georgia was rewarded with the ministry of health and rewarded the honor by being indicted on corruption charges by the Anti Corruption Commission. Notorious Timbergate bribe solicitor Alex Mansaray, who  was the head of the local APC New Jersey chapter, with nothing substantial in America and was a part time blogger for the Cocorioko blog turned news outlet was metamorphosed into a businessman and awarded lucrative contracts including supplies for the military. Michel Sho-Sawyer a young chiropractor  known for chasing teen girls around Atlanta was suddenly made the head of the Office Of Diaspora Affairs ODA and the only news we heard of his tenure and that office was the death of his wife to be or girlfriend, a Washington DC Sierra Leone girl of enormous potential whose name I won't mention here out of respect for her still devastated family. Up until recently when I wrote an article about the potential of the Office for Diaspora Affairs, the website of the ODA was a sick joke, but to their credit, they are revamping the website and redefining the role of the office.

Presidents Self Proclaimed Special Adviser Mansaray

The point I am trying here to make is not to list a catalogue of APC failures for the world to see, because from the long fuel lines, lack of money in the banks, proliferation of Okadas on the main thoroughfares, continuous electricity shortages despite the many promises, increase in the price of food, increase in political violence, intimidation and national insecurity, Ernest Koroma's missteps are clear for the world to see and too numerous for the length of this article. What I am trying to do is explain the role of the opposition in politics to political novices, especially some of these new pro-government politicians who are increasingly frustrated by the daily exposure of government misadventures and the eagle eyed focus of the opposition, especially the SLPP, on official corruption in the country. I really do not regard Mohamed Bangura's UDM as a political party, as he spend more time condemning other opposition members than paying attention to the false steps of the government and since documents were obtained that revealed that his trip to USA to attend the general assembly was paid for by the APC in spite of strenuous denials on his part, his credibility was flushed down the toilet of political irrelevance. 

UDM Bangura-Political Hustler?

Many people in Sierra Leone, especially APC supporters are just completely taken aback by the determination of the Sierra Leone Opposition, particularly the SLPP and to some extent the People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC), though the affinity of PMDC members for ministerial positions has seriously undermined their role as an effective opposition, as they seem all too willing to forget their core party values which they once stood for as soon as these deputy ministerial positions open up.

SLPP Chairman Benjamin 24/7

Sierra Leoneans may be surprised to realize that the real agents of change in a multiparty democracy are the members of the opposition. I am really not trying to be technical, but there is a positive statistical correlation between the strength of the opposition in any democratic state and the level of economic, social and infrastructural development in that state, ceteris paribus. 

In American and European countries where the opposition is or was weak; Cuba, Guyana, Guatemala, and the former countries of Eastern Europe, economic growth and development lag behind those countries with formidable opposition parties such as Germany, France, USA and great Britain. So it could be argued that in the absence of strong stochastic factors such as T'sunamis, cyclones, and hurricanes and other earth shattering events, the stronger and more formidable the opposition in a democracy, faster the rate of economic progress.

Of course, those whose understanding of economic development is cursory or who approach these issues from the layman's perspective may argue that is is a strong government that is essential for development. They may point to developments in China which has rapid economic growth despite having no effective opposition. In response to such an argument it could always be argued that China could have been greater in terms of development if it had been a democracy. Most of the growth in China is fueled by external firms like Apple and other Western firms attracted by the large pool of highly skilled cheap labor. And although China has the semblance of a highly developed economy, the standard of living of the people in terms of GDP per capita remains very low and comparable to most developing or even underdeloped countries around the world.

The main reason why a strong opposition is essential for development is that they keep the government on high alert. They make the government want to do something big everyday that will justify people voting for them at the present and in the future. When Siaka Stevens staged managed his succession in 1984 and Momoh was imposed on the APC as a leader, the opposition to Momoh's ascension were demoralized and fizzled out. Practically Momh was free to do what he wanted to do and anybody that coughed cold be arrested for such dubious charges as "careless talk." As there was no effective opposition to him, Momoh proceeded to behave like a kid in a candy store . He embezzled state funds, disregarded education and national defense and became the most ineffective leader in the country's history. Had he not been overthrown in 1992, Sierra Leone would probably have been the first African country to officially file for bankruptcy. Momoh was so frequent at the IMF that some employees thought he worked there. Under Momoh the patient dog got no bone at all.

Forward to 2012 and let us assume that Shekito, Kabs Kanu and Sylvia Blyden were the only journalists in Sierra Leone. The three would compete for who sang Ernest Koroma's praises more and they would all be equally qualified to be enrolled in the National Sycophantic Penmanship Hall of fame. Ernest Koroma would assume that even the hungry people were happy and grow lazy, unambitious and fat. Momoh Konteh and Alex Mansaray would still be calling business men in the corner and telling them that "this how business is done in Africa. The petrol lines will stretch from Freetown to  Ernest Koroma will probably be waking at 12 midday to go to work, with Sylvia singing hail to the chief every evening at State House.

New Praise Singing Sensation

But with a serious, tenacious, informed and effective opposition, President Koroma sleeps today with one eye open and Interior Minister Musa Tarawally sleeps with a gun under his pillow, as they are on notice that every misstep will be picked up, every bad odor analyzed and every "Bellah" exposed. As long as the opposition keeps vigilant, Koroma will not rest, he will work to build roads, schools, and do many things as "power is sweet" The only prayer will be that Christiana Thorpe not have her own agenda and be compromised like APC has fingered the Anti Corruption Commision, making it a dog with a booming bark and microscopic teeth. Let us pray that the new UN rep is not hounded out of the country again by agenda journalists.

Sierra Leoneans Are We Going To Be Fooled Again?

Sierra Leoneans, we have come a long way. Sixteen years ago we were under siege. Revolutionary United Front rebels from Malal Hills used to lay in wait for us from Masiaka to Mile 91, ready to ambush us, kill us, maim us, loot our goods and burn the rest they could not take. For twelve years successive governments could do nothing in Sierra Leone. No roads and schools were built, no hospitals were repaired or built, no stadiums in the provinces, because they were busy spending millions buy arms and ammunition to keep away the marauding RUF vandals from our doorsteps.

The Excuse for Our Suffering
Joseph Momoh

The evil that men do.

Foday Sankoh used the pretext of lack of democracy to bring suffering, death and bone crushing misery to our doorsteps. We became fearful, paranoid, and suspicious of each other. We hated our soldiers, called them "sobels" and denied the existence of Foday Sankoh. Our gallant men and women became demoralized and equally suspicious of civilians and a cat and mouse mentality developed between the protectors and the protected. Everything ground to a halt, inertia, an impasse that was occasionally punctuated by random acts of extreme senseless violence. Those days in my hometown of Segbwema the only soothing sound we could hear in the middle of the night was the occasional sound of Rocket Propelled Grenades, punctuated by the thunderous and rapid bursts of anti-aircraft guns.

Children grew up desensitized, emotionless, heartless and devoid of hope. We lost our sense of community, our sense of pride, our self esteem and faith in our leaders and our security institutions. We became melancholy, cynical and pessimistic. We grew old in our youth, premature age lines crisscrossing our tender faces. We turned to violence, urged on by desperate men, we amputated our brothers, decapitated our uncles and disemboweled our pregnant sisters.

Our Children Became Beasts

We went through all this and came out resilient, toughened, hardened and hopeful that those sad events would enable us appreciate the joy of brotherhood, to appreciate the privilege of citizenship.

So why are our leaders today taking us down the same path that led to years of devastating quagmire once more. Why are men who only four years ago could hardly afford the transport from Freetown to their villages suddenly buying and building million dollar homes around the world and Sierra Leone. Why are our leaders carting our precious timber, that used to provide shade, condensation for rain, that protected our topsoil, off to Europe. Why are paramount chiefs brazenly stating on camera that anti-timber laws do not apply to them and face no consequence from the anti corruption commission. Why has the Anti Corruption Commission suddenly grown so loudly silent.

Interior Minister
Planning Genocide

Are we like Pharaoh in the old testament who was visited by ten plaques before he could finally let God's people go? Do we need the death of all our firstborns before we can realize that the present path of intolerance, tribal discrimination and arms build up is a recipe for disaster, for pandemonium and mayhem? Does Musa Tarawally and IG Munu not see that the arms given to the OSD to annihilate the opposition are now being used to murder and maim people in Bumbuna and Kambia? Why did God give us eyes if we do not want to see and ears if we do not want to hear.

IG Arming Police for Whom?

Sierra Leoneans, especially the youths, are you going to allow yourself to be used once again and discarded and flushed down the toilet of history once you have fulfilled your use. Are you going to allow men to give you guns to fight each other while they rest in Juba and Spur Loop drinking expensive whiskey and playing tic-tac-toe with your sisters? The first time you were fooled, the second time is it not insanity on your part? Are you really going to allow these same old politicians, who jump from one party to the next, to allow you to kill your brothers once again? When will you be brave enough to say, "take your gun and go attack them yourselves!"

When are you going to say to politicians, " a woman gave birth to me same as a woman gave birth to me. You are no better than I nor am I better than you. Go do your dirty work and let me live my life. No longer am I going to allow you to manipulate me, to fool me, to use and abuse me. All the years I have been behind you what have I got? Why should I always have to call you brer and why do you always have to call me "bellah" or "borbor"? Get out of my face and use your own hands to create the mayhem and pandemonium that you have planned, as for me and my family, I am going to eat my old cassava leaves and go to bed! So go away and leave me alone."

This is Always The Result

Youths of Sierra Leone do not allow yourself to be fooled again. Take their money, because they stole it from you. Wait for election day and go vote your conscience, for even if your candidate wins or loses your life is almost certainly going to be the same, ask your fathers before you if you feel I am wrong.

Do not let politicians break us apart, do not let them break our hearts again.

Mia Farrow Vs Sylvia Blyden: A Classic Tale of Humanity vs Callous Indifference.

Mia Farrow

 Over the years, I have met a lot of non Sierra Leoneans who have seen pictures of the vicious atrocities committed during the so called civil war in Sierra Leone and have asked, "why were people in your country just so wicked with one another?"

Many countries around the world have had civil wars or armed conflicts, for want of a better term, as the conflict in Sierra Leone was not so much a civil war as an exercise in depravity and a display of how horrible the human being can be if there were no laws to govern their behavior. When I was an Economics examiner for the West African Examinations Council many years ago, my chief examiner who happened to be a Ghanian, Ayisi I believe his name was if I can still remember correctly (I have this uncanny ability to remember people's names, I can still remember the names of all my teachers from class 1 to upper 6th in Grammar School; weird!) asked me a question that haunts me to this day. Sheriff, he asked "why are Sierra Leoneans so wicked?" At the time I was a little offended by the question, as I thought that there was nothing different between the Sierra Leonean and any other African. Many human beings were wicked, in my opinion, if given the chance to exercise their true nature without fear of a legal consequence. Mr. Ayisi seemed to be unconvinced, but out of sensitivity to my reaction and demeanor at the time, he did not continue the subject further.

Golden Globe winner Mia Farrow

Then yesterday as I was browsing  the Internet reading contemporary and historical world news, I came across two different reactions to the verdict of guilt against former Liberian Warlord turned president Charles G.Taylor  whose eldest son, Charles Taylor Junior (Chucky) is languishing in an American jail on a lengthy sentence of crimes against humanity, and who himself is in the Hague awaiting sentence after being found guilty of 11 counts of crimes against humanity ranging from rape, murder, mutilations, all the way to slavery and the use of children to perpetrate acts of such depravity, that even Satan would have been in awe.

I once read a story a story of a mad man in Freetown who went up to another mad man and said to him, "fellow we are all mad, but you make all of us mad men feel ashamed." Yesterday after reading the reaction of Mia Farrow to the Charles Taylor verdict and reading the reaction of Sierra Leone opinion journalist Sylvia Olayinka Blyden to the same verdict, Mr. Ayisi's question came back to me just as if he had asked it that very moment, "why are Sierra Leoneans so wicked to each other?" I also remembered the saying "fellow we are all mad, but you make mad us feel ashamed"

Sylvia "the troll" Blyden

Mia Farrow is a prominent American Movie star born on February 9, 1945 in Los Angeles, California to film director John Farrow and classic Tarzan girl actress Maureen O'Sullivan. Mia is a talented multi-award winning actress who has been nominated for many very prestigious acting awards and has won the Golden Globe, one of the most coveted acting awards in the world, and many other prominent acting awards. Her full biograpy and filmography can be found at the Independent Movie Data Base IMDB website, but she is the star of movie classics as Rosemary's Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo and many more. Her latest movie is 2011's Dark Horse. She has gone on to act in many TV series, prominently the 60s classic, Peyton Place. She is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and was a major witness at Taylor's war crimes trial.

At Taylor's trial Mia Farrow recalled an incident in 1997 in South Africa after a dinner hosted by African hero Nelson Mandela that was recounted to her by supermodel Naomi Campbell. Mia said that Campbell had told her over breakfast the next day that some men had come to her room in the middle of the night claiming to be from Charles Taylor and her given her a very big diamond, though Campbell had earlier testified in the trial that the men had given her a pouch of dirty looking pebbles which she did not know were diamonds. Mia countered Naomi's story and stated that the supermodel was excited in the morning and said "Oh my God, in the middle of the night I was awoken by a knock at the door and it was by men sent by Charles Taylor and he sent me a huge diamond"

Taylor had the hots for Naomi Campbell

When Mia Farrow heard the verdict against Charles Taylor she was happy, angry and relieved and thought that the day was a very good day for human rights. She recalled a story of a man whose arm had been amputated by the rebels asked that his son be spared, only to have the other hand cut off to spare the sons arm. She said the man had been a witness at the trial of Taylor and her thought was with such victims, many of whom had been brave to come forward to testify. Mia said that Charles Taylor was not unique, as history and time has shown time and again that given the right set of conditions, men will behave with such impunity. This case was important in her opinion in that it shows that no one was above the law and leaders may be cautious how they behaved in the future. This was an emotion by an American, who took time off her extremely busy schedule to testify at Taylor's trial and ensure that the victims of his diamond lust were made to feel some element of closure.

Sylvia Blyden on the other hand, a Sierra Leonean, members of whose own family may have suffered from the activities of Taylor, and who is rumored to have once been a member of a secret association called the Ninjas that provided secret intellectual muscle to the RUF/AFRC union, has a very different take on the verdict. She was angry that Taylor was found guilty and felt that he was just a scapegoat. Even though the major players of the RUF are languishing in prison, she thought that Charles Taylor should have been released, as if the victims of the atrocities he sponsored, were flies or less than human, because they were poor Sierra Leoneans. In a long senseless rant in her paper Awareness Times, she blames the people of southeast Sierra Leone, even though she knows that there was no geographical way possible rebels could come from Liberia to attack Sierra Leone and use any other territory but the southeast. The fact that the only country that southeast Sierra Leone shares border with is Liberia, is of know consequence to Sylvia Blyden.

Blyden's hero Taylor

The fact that thousands of people from Southeast Sierra Leone lost their lives, their property and became displaced refugees in their own land is of no importance to this academic midget claiming to be a doctor. I was born and bred in Segbwema, an important trade town in the days of the rail and the former operational headquarters for Lassa Fever International, one of the best medical research institutes anywhere in Africa. Nixon Memorial hospital, home to Lassa Fever International was one of the first teaching hospitals in the country. When Liberian and RUF rebels entered Segbwema and later when the AFRC/RUF criminal agency directed by Taylor was on full retreat, Segbwema was destroyed and the Nixon Hospital burnt down by these senseless human beings.

When the war started, those of us from Segbwema saw with our own eyes, Taylors NPFL rebels captured and brought to the town from the war front. Many of my school mates including the best friend I ever had in my life, Musa Boima, were captured and forced to join the rebels, with many losing their lives, including Musa who I miss to this day. Musa and I were so close during school days, that his dad almost became like a family member to us. Musa never survived the war and my heart has never stopped crying for my brother and friend. So for this degenerate and intellectual pygmy to claim that the war in the Sierra Leone was the fault of those of us who came from the southeast, even though we suffered so terribly during the war, made me think of what Mr. Ayisi once said to me; that Sierra Leoneans have a unique brand of wickedness

Sylvia Blyden now claims to talk for and defend Sam Sumana, the vice president of Sierra leone. Nobody suffered more atrocities in Sierra Leone than the poor people of Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone. Kono is both blessed and cursed with diamonds. Koidu town before the war had a metropolitan feel and the people have been the bread basket of the country for decades while even the road leading to the district was neglected by the very people who exploited the area's wealth. Instead of building roads, leaders of the country used to fly in by helicopter, take the diamonds and leave. Foreigners were given virtual control over Kono under the old APC,  while Sierra Leoneans required permit to enter. The story is true in Tongo, Panguma and other diamond rich areas of the Eastern region.

 So for this insane human, Sylvia Blyden, who apparently has very little knowledge of history and geography to claim that she did not rejoice or write when Taylor was convicted, because she thought we were to blame presents an interesting paradox, because in a convoluted way she is right. If people like her can cry for Taylor while the rest of the world with the exception of NPFL is rejoicing, then because of people like her, Maskita and people like Foday Sankoh, then she is right. However, most sane Sierra Leoneans I have talked with these few days and happily most of my APC friends, even though they like Sylvia Blyden's new colors, think that she is dead wrong on this one. One told me that the woman has always been an idiot, but the opposition never saw this because she was attacking president Koroma and calling him a serial womanizer. In general most Sierra leoneans think that Sylvia is not only crazy, but she is dead wrong!

Well Sylvia, we feel sorry for your husband and children if they have to live and sleep with you, because as far as human beings go, you are one crazy one. Between you and Mia Farrow, I can only think of the phrase; beauty and the beast.

Beauty

The Beast

President Koroma's Independence Day Delusion

Commander Bai Koroma

Every year on April 27th, Independence Day, Sierra Leoneans are expected to tune in to the radio or TV or go to an expesively staged managed event to hear the president give his independence day speech. Though there has been some memorable independence day speeches in the past, most have been repetitive, dull, uninspiring, excuse filled and easily forgotten. It is difficult to find examples of very memorable Sierra Leone Independence day speeches with the exception of few from the 60s, 70s and after the war.

President Koroma has the singular distinction of giving some of the most memorable speeches in the history of Sierra Leone. A good reason why his speeches can be remembered is that he was president when the Internet finally took hold and matured in Sierra Leone.  The main reason however that makes President Koroma's speeches ever so memorable is that for the first time in the history of the country, we have a president who will boldly look in the face of the people and not even give many excuses for his catalogue of problems, but straight out lie to them with ease and conviction. If there is one thing EBK will be remembered for during his tenure, it will not only be for the degree to which he has exploited deep seated divisions between the people of Sierra Leone, but for the share audacity with which he presents his unrealistic and almost delusiona fantasies to the people, while completely disregarding the fact that in this age,  any idiot can go on the Internet and look up information for themselves.

President Koroma Looking Great

 To have a president who is comfortable with looking  his people straight in the eyes and lying to them in this age of information is not only painful to see, but represents a significant disrespect by the president for the people he leads. The president must expect that as long as he has pseudo journalists like Sylvia Blyden and other praise singing journalists who can back his statements with long articles steeped in logic that is convoluted even for their own understanding, he can just go on deceiving the people. How can you look a hungry man straight in the face and tell him that his belly is full. This what the president does year after year, and it is not even funny.

President Koroma surrounds himself by yes-sayers,friends and average characters who will tell him that all he is saying is true, even if he tells them he saw a crocodile swallowed by a rat in his village. His speech writers should however be acutely aware that in this day and age, the worst thing you can do is underestimate the intelligence of the average Sierra Leonean. Afters years of war, education, satellite TV and life experience, we can look at an iguana and know that it is not a crocodile. In essence Mr. President, you are lying not to the people, but to yourself. When you give these fantastic speeches, people clap not because they believe what you say, but for the simple reason that Sierra Leoneans know it is proper to clap when they are speaking, even if what he is saying is as far from the truth as Segbwema is from Tokyo.

I am not even going to go line by line through president Koroma's fantastic fable that he delivered on Independence Day this year, but will just look at some  of the main points he stated to let him and his handlers know that though the government is trying to be very smart, they are not being very clever.

The People not so great

President Koroma, as has become his pattern since his 90 days electricity Income Electrix 419 scam, blames every failure in the country on either the opposition or globalization, but takes 100% credit for the anemic and few and far between successes the country occasionaly achieves. Everybody knows that world prices of fuel and rice have increased since 2007, but to have the president state that the prices of these items are lower in Sierra Leone than in neighboring countries, implies that either the president and his speech writers have a new definition of the term neighbor or may think that the prices they are charged in the 5 star hotels they lodge in when they travel, are the actual prices of goods in that country. Mr. President, hotel prices anywhere in the world are at least 5 times higher than prices on the street. Petrol price in Liberia is $0.98 per litre, in Guinea it is $0.95. The price in Sierra Leone is $1.14 per liter, so except where somebody tells us that APC has developed a new definition of the term neighbor, then the president and his team may be folding the truth to fit in their pocket. Except where the meanings of high and low have been interchanged in Sierra Leone, with 1 being high and 10 being low, EBK needs to go back, rewrite his speech and read it again to the people, without the pomp, pageantry and ceremony with which the latest round of untruths were delivered. President Koroma, we know a vulture when we see one, and it is definitely not an oversized chicken!

The Dear Leader

President Koroma we are all aware that in 2008 there was a massive increase in the world price of rice, but producers rose to the challenge in many of the significant rice producing countries and rice prices have on average been on a downward trend between that time to 2012. Why has there been no downward trend in the price of rice in Sierra Leone, is it because all your own close acquaintances are in the business and using the opportunirty to continue to drain the little money the poor people of the country earn? Or are you starving the people so that you can feed them just enough in November to go back and let you lie to them again for another five years?  I have heard of fattening the pig for the market, but is seems that in Sierra Leone, we are rubbing lipstick on the mouth of the pig and hope that people buy it because it looks beautiful.

The president stated that they, meaning the The APC, have moved as a government to ensure that food prices do not rise as fast as they are doing in the world market. In 2008 the price of a single cup of rice was Le 800.00.  In 2012 it is now Le 1200.00! So if they are moving to ensure that the prices do not rise as fast, one wonders what would have happened if they had not moved. The price of a cup might have been one month's salary. What is the president even talking about? Well it could be that there is a secret price of rice for APC supporters and a different price for the rest of the country.

The common people

EBK also states that 2012 is the first year of his vision of a journey into the future in which he and the members of his government have vowed collectively for Sierra Leone to become an advanced economy and a donor nation. All I can say is that before we become an advanced economy and a donor nation, let us first try to stop the decline of the Leone that is killing the common man everyday. If we cannot feed our own people what are we going to donate to other people, hunger? How are we going to be an advanced economy when schools are failing, education is declining, certain educated folks are being discriminated against because they do not go around wearing red ties and red shoes, corruption is increasing and those close to power are going around taking bribes from investors and behaving like third world gangstars. Are the Momoh Kontehs and Alex Mansarays of APC the guys that are suddenly going to help us become donors, or are the likes of sycophantic journalists turned Charles Taylor sympathiser, Sylvia Blyden who now tells APC what to do, going to write stories that will make us believe that we are now an advanced nation, even when our streets are filled with mountains of garbage and jujumen sit in street corners selling fortunes on the streets. If the person that writes the president's speech went to school, I hope it was not any of my own alma maters, because this is a speech read by the blind to the deaf! The only way these things are going to happen in the current state of affairs is in a dream and Mr. President, you and your handlers may be dreaming, but the people of Sierra Leone cannot even afford to sleep, let alone dream!

The New Sierra Leone Slogan

President Koroma, deep is his fantastic fable made the outrageous claim that the Sierra Leone economy is set to grow by 35% this year, the fastest rate anywhere in the world no doubt, and Sierra Leone has been named amongst the top ten reformers in the world! Who named Sierra leone to this prestigious position Mr. President, Cocorioko? Good grief, after all the war and suffering, why did God curse Sierra Leone with this type of leadership? Dear Almighty God, what have we done again! We pray for your help to deliver us from these fairy tales and put us on a part of reality and rationality; please god please, we take tem beg you!

Sierra Leoneans must be under no illusion, this APC cabal has failed us, totally, completely and horribly. Four more years of this and we will be fighting with goats for orange peels on the street of Freetown. If APC wins again,  we can as well as lock up the country and throw away the key. This was supposed to be the country of Davidson Nicol, Milton Margai, Sanusi Mustapha, Bai Bureh, today is is the domain of leartherboot and Foday Sankoh's nephews, may god one day have mercy on Sierra Leone. This may be the reason why APC feels that the only way they will win election this year is through the importation of deadly weapons. Mr. President, putting gun to people's head to force them to vote is not democracy, it is rebel pattern!

Ambassador John Leigh Goes Ballistic on Facebook

Several weeks ago I wrote an article on the defection of ex Sierra Leone Ambassador to UN under President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, John Leigh, from the now opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) to the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC)where he was given a ceremonial welcome into the APC by the current Vice President Sam Sumana and APC Secretary General Victor B. Foh at a hastily convened gathering in Freetown.

Leigh with his New Card

Ambassador Leigh, after trying unsuccessfully to be the SLPP flagbearer on two separate occasions had finally given up any hope of obtaining the coveted position which he claimed to have spent thousands of US dollars trying to attain and had resigned from the party giving a litany of  questionable reasons and pouring scorn, hate and vitriolic on the current leaders of the SLPP, including the current leader Julius Maada Bio, who ex ambassador hates with passion.

After the article which saw a fair amount of traffic to the Segbwema blog, John Leigh took to Facebook to respond to the article which can be accessed by following the link http://segbwema.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-leigh-gambles-on-apc.html?m=0

John Leigh lamented that after two decades of pouring his cash, intellect, affection, labor and energy into the SLPP, the loss of the flagbearer position had suddenly made him had an epiphany and decide that after all, SLPP was not the party for him and though he had spent years condemning the APC leadership, he had now realised that President Ernest Bai Koroma was his man. He said he was a humble political refugee from the SLPP and would no longer serve in a party where there were crooks, kleptocrats, thugs and ex-Junta, but would now be in the APC, a party with exemplary characters, a messianic leader Ernest Koromaand honest people all around. When asked how he could say this with a straight face when he was surrounded by Victor Foh, an ex-felon and one of the architects of Sierra Leone's current decline, leatherboot a thug and indicted rapist and now Tom Nyuma an ex junta, Ambassador Leigh answered that Victor Foh had paid his dues and was now a reformed clean man and that leatherboot had been punished by being given light duty. When asked if he thought light duty was a suitable punishment for rape, the poor ambassador had no suitable answer and called the Segbwema blogger a not very intelligent and misguided fellow. When asked why he had been going over the USA the past years and on the Internet calling the APC the party of rapists, selfish people and criminals, he claimed that he was talking about the old useless APC, not the new reformed APC, in spite of the fact that the same characters in the old APC which he so roundly condemned, Joseph Bandabla Dauda, Victor Foh, Eddie Turay and others were the same people he was now embracing in the "new APC".

Leigh claimed that as he was not " a traditional folk", (a term he loves to use for people from the provinces) he would have no chance in a tribalistic party like the SLPP and he would now be in the APC, a party free from tribalism. He stated that after spending thousands of dollars for the nomination to be flagbearer, the SLPP had not given him chance but had voted on tribalistic Mende basis. The fact that Usu Boie Kamara a Madingo had gotten 186 votes to Maada Bio's 238 or that Alpha Timbo a Fula had gotten 44 votes or Kadie Sesay 28 votes which totalled 258 votes and was more than Bio got seemed to be lost on Mr. Leigh. The fact that Joe Moiba, Bu-Buakai Jabbie, Askia Koroma and other Mende candidates got very low votes seemed to be lost on the poor ambassador. When asked if the reason he had not been elected was simply the fact that his skills as a politician were extremely poor or the fact that he had spent so many years in America where money was important in politics that he failed to realize that in Africa it was charisma, likability, popularity and affability that were the traits desired in leaders, he answered that Maada had used Juju and Voodoo to get votes, a surprising statement coming from a man who had spent so much time in the developed world and had even represented his country at the Unitec Nations. One wonders if he had been spreading his Juju beliefs at the UN when he was there representing Sierra Leone. The other diplomats must have had a field day calling him the Juju ambassador.

Maada Bio Leigh's arch nemesis 

If John Leigh is to be believed, Abass Bundu, John Benjamin, Maada Bio, Kadie Sesay and other SLPP leaders are all personal representatives of Satan in Sierra Leone, with Julius Maada Bio being the devil's personal friend and buddy. In his rantings on Facebook, Ambassador Leigh claims that Maada is murderer, kleptocrat and a demon. In his latest post, this is his current claim :

"

John Leigh 

Bio used to follow me around Washington DC in 1997/8 as I went public speaking on behalf of the exiled SLPP Government. Bio would take a seat in the backrow directly in front of me. As I spoke to tell the audience what we've accomplished and what we expect to follow, Bio would start making 'babu yey' at me. At night I would receive telephone calls from ex-NPRC types threatening me and my family with violence. Things got so bad, the US Secret Service sent agents to protect us. Bio is a bad person. He is a crook and rascal. He sold passports with Abass Bundu and pocketed the money. He got paid by the donor nations for surrendering power to the winner of the 1996 elections. He was not for SLPP. He was for NUP. But the donors forced the junta to surrender poer to Tejan Kabbah who won the 1996 elections. Bio also supported the AFRC/RUF junta in 1997/98. under his chairmanship, his junta funded the establishment and the 1995/96 campaign of the National Unity Party to fight Tejan Kabbah. I fought like hell to help get SLPP elected in 1996. I fought like hell to help defeat the SAFRC junta. But you were a juvenile then. So I don't blame you for not knowning these things. Bio's people are lying to young fellows like you to fool them. Bio has no respect for you.

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John Leigh's current anti-SLPP/pro-APC diatribes are not only interesting, but offer a glimpse into a mind filled with disappointment, frustration, rejection and rage. John Leigh took the loss in the past SLPP flagbearer contest very personally and cannot fathom why SLPP delegates would prefer Maada Bio a man he has the utmost contempt for over him. In a narcissistic mind frame, John Leigh sees himself as a refined, nontraditional and educated Sierra Leonean, who has been rejected for someone he considers his intellectual and social inferior. In his megalomania, Mr. Leigh does not for a moment realize that this individual he has so much disregard for has once had the distinct and unique privilege of becoming the leader of a sovereign nation, a position which he John Leigh would most probably never attain. John Leigh has somehow managed to convince himself that his role of UN ambassador was far superior to Maada Bio's role of Head of state, a classic problem with people with narcissistic disorder.

Leigh ejoying defection attention 

Currently John Leigh spends his days on Facebook trying too hard to clarify his new pro APC positions and running away from all the negatives things he had sain about APC and president Koroma in the past four years though his recent positions and writings are scattered all over the Internet. 

When he was running as party flagbearer, this what Ambassador Leigh told the Awoko Newspaper:

"Erstwhile Washington DC based Ambassador from the Republic of Sierra Leone John Ernest Leigh now an SLPP flagbearer aspirant for the upcoming primaries ahead of 2012 general elections has said that SLPP is stronger than before and will never split as was the case in the Makeni Convention which saw Charles Francis Margai spliting their votes.
Addressing the people marking his declaration for the Flag-bearership held in Kenema on Saturday October 30th and Sunday 31st in Bo respectively, John Leigh said he has what it takes to give the ruling APC a run for their money if he is made the flagbearer.
Speaking further, John Leigh said the Party will be victorious in both Parliamentary and Presidential elections with full national and international support for the purpose of building a modern nation free from injustice, tribalism after many years of sufferings.
As usual, John Leigh pleaded with delegates not to sell out their votes for money but for the benefit of the party and Sierra Leone to once more regain its place among world democracies.
John Leigh earlier praised the efforts of the national executives for being very effective.
On the question regarding APC’s call for an inquest into the death of one time Police Inspector General James Bambay Kamara, John Leigh lashed out at APC saying that they are up to destroying the good image of the party. He stated that APC is on record for having carried out a long list of summary executions and that they are up to violating the International Peace Accord signed and failing to go by the dictates of the TRC Recommendations.
He also exonorated his rival Maada Bio and called on APC to leave him alone and give peace a chance.
Concluding, John leigh lambasted APC for the misuse of the country’s resources and further said that they have only been up to finishing projects started by the SLPP.
By Easmon Moiguah" (Awoko, 2011)

Now the same John Leigh is singing a different song and is calling on other Sierra Leone's to join him in the choir. For a man whose emotions are so intense and who has had so many different stands on so many different issues, John Leigh's main enemy has always been himself. His volatile temper, name calling and disagreeable nature combined with his lack of humility are very poor traits in a politician intending to one day lead his country. John Leigh's quarrelsome nature combined with his belief in the occult reminds me of the nature of Adolph Hitler and Sierra Leone seems to have been blessed that this man was not given the chance to be President. I know he will attempt to run as flagbearer for APC after Ernest Koroma's term. APC should encourage him now, but never give him that chance, as such hate filled characters are the stuff dictators are made of.

Segbwema Blogger

Sierra Leone's Currency over the Decades

Currency of the Settlers  1700s

Currency of the Pre-Independence Era before the 60s

Currency when I was born, late 60s

Currency of the Early 70s to 80s before Momoh-Siaka Probyn Stevens Era

Currency of the I don't Care Era from Joseph Momoh To Now

Value of Currency in the Ernest Koroma Era- What the heck!!!!!