Raymond Dele Awoonor-Gordon

23 July 2012

Recently there was fury in some quarters, when rumours quoted a serving minister as saying that chicken was more expensive than a woman in Sierra Leone. But what struck me the most from the resultant rage, was the political ignorance of such a development.

While the statement epitomises the impotence of our economy in the last few years, it also shows the rot in our society and dramatises the subsequent guffawing into which, our subconscious fear of change and analysis of events has developed.

As I tried to explain, such incidents throw a light on why enduring tribalism and party allegiance, should no longer be the defining factors of our democracy, when choosing our leaders and assessing our progress.

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23 July 2012

The dust is yet to settle on the timbergate corruption affair in Freetown. A court case involving a business partner of the vice president, accused of taking bribe on behalf of the vice president, is ongoing.

In a new scandal, the vice president is now being accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars, under false pretences from two businessmen in the USA.

When a cocaine loaded plane was intercepted at Lungi airport in 2008, by undercover police acting in concert with international security agencies, it sent shock waves across the country and abroad. Senior politicians and ministers in the present ruling APC government were implicated.

The minister of transport – Kemoh Sesay, was accused at best, of gross neglect of duty, as his brother was found out to be one of the leaders of the drugs syndicate responsible for the haul of cocaine being shipped out of the country.

A police investigation led to the arrest and conviction of several people including the minister’s brother. The minister is back in president Koroma’s government, serving as political adviser.

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