Daily Archives: August 7, 2012

Political temperature rises in Sierra Leone

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7 August 2012

As the political row continues in Sierra Leone over the unilateral and possibly unconstitutional decision of the country’s National Electoral Commission to raise the nomination fees for the forthcoming November’s elections, the National Election Watch (NEW), has added its voice – denouncing the decision.

The National Election Watch is a coalition of civic and non-governmental organizations, set up to provide independent observation and act as a catalyst in promoting free and fair elections in Sierra Leone.

Speaking at their Bathurst Street office in Freetown this morning, NEW has issued a press statement, saying that the electoral commissioner’s decision to raise the nomination fees has raised political tension and encourages exclusion.

This is what NEW says:

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Return of Yenga to Sierra Leone: An open letter to the international community

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Michael Fayia Kallon

7 August 2012 

Hon. Susan E. Rice - United States Permanent Representative to The United Nations, although I applaud the United Nations for halting ethnic wars in Africa, I must bring to your attention some fresh intentions of war and ethnic disunity, as African dictators have proven to be the bane of African development.

They have ruined our African way of life with unnecessary wars, causing human misery and destruction of the African continent. In 1998 the late Guinean president, Lansanah Conteh, sent a mechanized army of Guinean soldiers to occupy Yenga, a village in Sierra Leone.

The carnage in Sierra Leone and Liberia had ended, but the Guinean soldiers stayed behind in Sierra Leone with their heavy tanks and other military equipment. They met the poor and unarmed Kissi in the area, beat them, even killed many, and then went inland to occupy more villages in the Kissi chiefdom.

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Is the Fourah Bay College saga another own goal for the APC government?

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Alhaji Abu Komeh

7 August 2012

It is often said that the foundation of every state lies in the education of its youths. John F. Kenedy, the 35th President of the United States of America, once said that: “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education; the human mind is our fundamental resource.”

It is fair to say that Fourah Bay College (FBC), which was established in 1827 as the first university in West Africa to generate knowledge and contribute to the building of human capacity, has over the years lost its pedigree.

It is true that the University authorities have been inept, insincere and lethargic in addressing the genuine predicaments of students, who have been treated like mere ants and with so much antipathy.

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