Commentary
By Tony Bee, Sydney, Australia.
Sierra Leone must be seen as a country where its citizens and other nationals obey its laws. It should NOT be seen as a country where its citizens and other nationals are above the laws of the state if we really need good progress and development in the country.
Sierra Leone must be seen as a country where its laws can bite every individual or group, regardless of status, position or title. Indiscipline and lawlessness issues in the country are not only among the common people, like commercial drivers, Okada riders, traders, cult-like gangs (locally known as cliques) etc. I am constrained to say many highly -placed Sierra Leoneans, especially some of the so-called elites or educated fools are also too undisciplined and lawless in the country.
President Koroma, Sierra Leoneans need very serious disciplinary measures in the country against corrupt activities, indiscipline and lawlessness. This is because no serious or honest investor, businessman or woman would like to invest in a place where those who are supposed to obey the laws are deliberately refusing to do so because of their big titles, political influence or connections, such as political party senior member, professor, doctor, lawyer, journalist, manager or human rights activist. People with such titles should be good pacesetters for the common man or woman in the street, in terms of obeying the laws of the state.
But unfortunately many Sierra Leoneans normally use such titles and political connections to bulldoze their way over the laws of the land. Ask the police, they will tell you more about that. It is a very sad situation in the country because it is very hard to see such unpatriotic attitude and behaviour taking place in civilised countries, including Australia where I live.
Indeed it is extremely rare in Australia and elsewhere in the West for a "big man" or woman to break the law willfully because he or she is a Minster, MP, magistrate, court prosecutor, police, doctor, director, manager, politician, political party flag bearer, lawyer, journalist or human rights activist.
When Bill Shorten, the opposition Leader for the Labor political party in Australia was alleged to have broken one of the traffic laws in August 2015 (he was driving and sending text messages) he was asked by the police and the general public to face the consequences of breaking the law. In good faith he accepted the allegation to be true with apology. Nobody is above the law, he said. And by then none of his party supporters insulted anybody, neither did they politicise the issue, like naive Sierra Leoneans usually do, because they (Labor party supporters) knew that the law has to prevail. Even though Bill is a political party leader he has to face the consequence of the law.
In view of that I am wondering when Sierra Leoneans will start to accept their faults or accept their wrong doing, especially the so-called elites with their unpatriotic and un-nationalistic political town criers of foul play attitude, particularly when the laws are being enforced.
Please, Mr President, ensure that the law that the poor common man or woman would break and sent to court or jail for is also applicable to the so-called Mr. Big man or Big woman and Mr or Ms political party flag bearer. Rest assured, patriotic law abiding citizens, ICC is behind you in doing so especially now that one of the general elections fever for 2018 symptoms (violence) started surfacing during the Kono district bye-election. In order words the country’s laws should not only be more effective when it comes to the poor, helpless and powerless men and women in the country. It should rather be as it is in advanced countries like Australia where the laws are enforced on all levels, regardless of status or big title.
About two years ago, when I visited the country, one of my friends asked me a question during a conversation. He asked me why Australia and other Western countries are more advanced than Africa, particularly Sierra Leone. I said to him that there are several factors involved. I said to him, (1) the general citizens have a passion for their countries, devoid of political party differences, ethnicity or region, (2), they have respect for their laws and leaders, (3), corruption is very minimal (4) their law enforcement agencies are more corruption-free than Africans, (5), they have minimised indiscipline and lawlessness, (6), they are managing their resources very well for the benefit of their citizens etc.
So if we want peace, progress and development in the country, we must first have love for our country more than the love we have for political parties and its laws should always be supreme. That those laws should always be above every Sierra Leonean and other nationals. Equality in the eyes of the law will bring more peace, progress and development. When the laws of any country are very effective at all levels they will surely bring progress and development into those countries.
There are many examples of how effective law implementation or sincere law enforcement will bring more progress and development to a country, especially if the law agencies that are responsible for the implementation or enforcement of such laws are composed of corruption-free and honest citizens.
I will not even have to give you more examples from advanced and more civilised countries, including Australia where the Labour party opposition Leader, Bill Shorten who was caught driving and using his mobile phone was fined for using it while driving. He was asked by the police and the general public to pay the fine of $445 with a loss of four demerits points from his driving licence like any other ordinary person in the country.
Those are penalties for talking on the phone or using it while driving in Australia. As I said, none of his political party supporters used vulgar language against the police for doing their job, or against the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. I wonder if it were in Sierra Leone what would have happened, where enemies of peace and development politicians are easy to incite violence or war for enforcing the law, because they are hungry for power.
In view of that if some of you who live in the country and also those abroad are quick to forget about some of the good and bad events that are taking place in the country because of political trauma, stress and depression that you are currently suffering from for choosing political party flag bearers with heavy excess baggage, some of us despite the fact that we are thousands of miles away, we are not forgetting about the things that are happening in our beloved mother Sierra Leone because we are not politically traumatised and depressed.
However here is some good news: We have in the country right now two outstanding honest and patriotic women with substance who have brought lots of money into the country’s coffers from the pockets of enemies of peace, progress and development ( corrupt Sierra Leoneans) that are trying to destroy the country and the government for unpatriotic selfish personal gain.
These two Iron Ladies have brought in such huge revenues for the country’s progress and development through the process of the laws of the country. That is the effective and sincere enforcement or implementation of the law in the country.
The two hard working and patriotic women are the Auditor General, Mrs Lara Taylor-Pearce whose dedicated and committed work as a true citizen unearthed billions of Leones being converted by some unscrupulous self seeking Sierra Leoneans into their personal banks accounts and also the Iron Lady of NRA, Haja Kallah Kamara, who frog-marched one of the so-called Managers of one of the companies in the country to the police for tax evasion.
Mr. Manager allegedly refused to report to the police for questioning for allegedly instructing his office workers to stop tax collectors from entering his office. Mr so-called manager wanted to use his big title to bulldoze over the law. But Iron Lady (Kallah) told him that the laws of the land are bigger and they are also higher than him, therefore, he has to obey them.
She was alleged to have also closed many tax evading companies’ offices in the country, while others were allegedly rushing to the banks to go and pay their taxes to avoid the wrath of Chief Kallah Kamara. However, I don’t know if many Sierra Leoneans know what the name Kallah means. It means Money in Temne.
In a typical Temne setting, when a very beautiful girl child is born in a family, they would jokingly say in Krio: Dis nar kallah, anybody wey go wan for marraide am fo get gud moni. (This is money. Anybody that may want to marry her should have enough money).
Nonetheless, I don’t know if that is what NRA lady’s name Kallah means. In any case if you want to be a friend of Madam Kallah Kamara, always be ready to pay your tax because she is an expensive, beautiful woman that needs money for government’s development projects in the country.
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