Remembering January 6, 1999 and how hell was let loose on Sierra Leone

....AND HOW THE "INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS" WERE FORCED OUT INTO THE OPEN...

Monday April 7, 2008 - 14 YEARS ON, RWANDA REMEMBERS THOSE VERY DARK DAYS THAT LEFT CLOSE TO A MILLION DEAD....THE 1994 GENOCIDE

Rwandans today paid tributes to the memory of close to a million of their citizens and others who perished in the genocide of 1994. It was a period where time would seem to have been reversed to an age where the licence to kill and maim was to be found in an ethnic label or association as Tutsis and moderate Hutus thought to have frowned on such barbarism were sent to early graves in the twinkling of an eye. And while all this was going on, the world mainly represented by the United Nations, the world body stood by without doing that which was necessary to put an end to the orgy of killings. Not even when their own peace keepers were slaughtered. A Canadian, Lt General Romeo Dallaire in his international bestseller "Shake Hands With The Devil - the failure of humanity in Rwanda" gave an insight into how the modern world got it all wrong and allowed evil to reign supreme as the good were hunted and murdered - thus concretising the Edmund Burke adage - "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" And it is to Canada, the lair of unrepentant AFRC/RUF supporter and apologist, Gibril Gbanabome Koroma that we shall go as he continues to weave abominable and hate-filled excuses for his kind that supported the abuses committed by his benefactors, the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil otherwise known as the beasts.

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.....AND WHY INSTIGATORS AND PERPETRATORS MUST BE BROUGHT TO BOOK, HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES

As Rwandans remember all those who perished in the orgy of killings, rape and looting that gripped the country, there remain apologists, many of them granted safe havens in Western countries who continue to spin stories in their bid to deceive all those who dare to enquire about their role in the 1994 genocide. A number of them have been unmasked and sent for trial and in the United Kingdom, rights groups still await the outcome of requests from the Rwanda government that genocide suspects be sent back to the country to have their day in court so that they can tell the world their side of the story. And just to make sure that the West treats the matter of genocide suspects seriously, Rwanda has now abolished the death penalty clearing the way for the repatriation of these suspects whose legal agents would no longer use the prospect of facing the death penalty in Rwanda as an excuse for not wanting their clients to go back to the country they are accused of viciously splitting with blood-smeared machetes and other instruments of death. And in the UK and elsewhere those who in one way or the other, either in the foreground or background aided and benefited from the pogrom continue to wallow in denial as in the case of Dr Vincent Bajinya (Daily Telegraph) or that of Kangura Editor Hassan Ngeze who was convicted by the ICTR sitting in Arusha Tanzania.

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DENIALS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SIERRA LEONE - THE GIBRIL GBANABOME KOROMA UNREPENTANT AFRC/RUF JUNTA APOLOGISTS - THEIR LATEST LIE

Just as the Holocaust deniers want to rewrite history and say that Nazi Death and Concentration Camps were a World War II myth, so too are apologists for the butchers during junta rule between May 1997 and February 1998 and the January 6, 1999 massacres want the world to believe that nothing of the sort occurred in Sierra Leone. Even though Gibril Gbanabome Koroma, could no doubt have clearly omitted the role of his newspaper the Expo Times in justifying the atrocities of the junta as he deceived the Canadian immigration authorities on why he wants protection from Lt General Dallaire's country, it is unbelievable almost to the point of the absurd that he would continue to abuse this welcome and protection from Canada by re-inventing his type who supported the junta during Sierra Leone's trying times.

His latest is making a journalist out of one Sullay Adekulay (on his unapologetic and unrepentant online junta machine) who was never known in journalistic circles in Sierra Leone, who was never a member of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, SLAJ as claimed by his mentor Sheka Tarawallie and who has managed like Tarawallie, Seaga Shaw and his brother to deceive their way into an organisation that caters for the protection of journalists fleeing prosecution, the EJN thus putting the organisation's good name and noble intentions into disrepute.

In fact what is even more worrying is that this so-called creation of Gibril Gbanabome Koroma when challenged at the EJN meeting in 2007 denied that he had ever claimed to be journalist!!!! His performance at that meeting then clearly demonstrated that he was brought into EJN as part of the Seaga Shaw-Gbanabome-Sheka Tarawallie axis who harassed all those opposing the unrecognised (both nationally and internationally) repressive, brutal and murderous AFRC/RUF junta.

Indeed! It is like allowing Khieu Samphan (PhD from France) to seat on a board that seeks to protect victims of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia!!!!

It is such blatant hoodwinking, cover up and outright falsehood that create problems for genuine asylum seekers wanting to avail themselves of the protection offered by countries like the United Kingdom.

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Zimbabweans vote today to decide who should occupy State House with the incumbent President Robert Mugabe sending all the signals that he will again occupy the country's top political seat and become leader of the country once more after nearly three decades in that position. The opposition has been crying foul amid fears that the polls will be rigged once again to ensure another ZANU-PF victory. These accusations are not helped either with pronouncements by the heads of the armed and security forces that they would prefer to have a ZANU-PF Presidential candidate (read Mugabe) and would not recognise any other candidate winning the Presidential race. As the world including Sierra Leone awaits what is clearly a momentous event, a closer look at the Zimbabwean political scene shows - similar colours (well almost) linking the two countries. But if the elections are all tied up, why is President Mugabe dishing out gifts at the last minute even as the security heads pronounce their ZANU-PF allegiance? A Trojan Horse here?

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EASTER 2008 AND WISHING YOU ALL THE VERY BEST

Its a time for the celebration of Easter in the Christian calendar and its all the best wishes for everyone from the Sierra Herald and more so for our compatriots in the mother country who have to put up with some five days of holiday!! For Christians in the mother country and indeed all over the world, Easter is of special significance as many see it as the basis of their faith in the belief that the Good Lord rose on the 3rd day after that commemorative and well-observed Good Friday. As is well known in the mother country, when it comes to the celebration of religious festivals, it's all-inclusive as people of all  faiths join in these festivities not caring sometimes to stand back and appreciate what it all means.

A warning though - even as you celebrate and feast over this period, please be reminded about the wonderful piece of advice given in the Good Book - the Holy Bible and try to do things in moderation. Especially when it comes to the rather tempting matter of eating and drinking for somewhere in that Good Book is a warning that gluttony could well be a sin. It is indeed a sin as this link found on the internet shows.

Have a look at this

Allow us to share this one quote relating to gluttony

“It is a curious fact that no man likes to call himself a glutton, and yet each of us has in him a trace of gluttony, potential or actual. I cannot believe that there exists a single coherent human being who will not confess, at least to himself, that once or twice he has stuffed himself to bursting point on anything from quail financiere to flapjacks, for no other reason than the beastlike satisfaction of his belly.”
M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992)
 

HAVE A SPIRIT-FILLED AND HAPPY EASTER

On this day, 17 years ago as history recalls, rebels of the Revolutionary United Front, the RUF led by their Libyan-trained leader Foday Sankoh entered Sierra Leone. Official records state that on March 23, 1991 Bomaru in the east was attacked by elements/frontline troops of the RUF composed of Sierra Leoneans, Liberians and regulars from the army of Burkina Faso. Thus were the first shots fired in a war that was to see thousands killed, tens of thousands mutilated and millions forced to leave their normal areas of life and living as they fled to places considered safe. 17 years on, it is but right that Sierra Leoneans reflect on what gave rise to the first open armed rebellion in the modern history of the country with the hope that those in authority will never again re-create the stage that led to war within the borders of the mother country.

It is the hope of the Sierra Herald and indeed many Sierra Leonans, we would dare say, that the present Ernest Koroma-led APC administration will do all in it's power to govern justly, to make life for the ordinary Sierra Leonean less of a hassle and that the new administration will make Sierra Leoneans feel proud to belong to the mother country in the knowledge that justice is not for the rich; that health and medical facilities should never remain the preserve of the rich; that critics of the government are not enemies of the state; that all the people require and demanded by the international community is accountability, transparency and good governance in the affairs of the people and their very own God-given resources.

Some stark reminders lest we go the same path again

THE BLOOD DIAMOND FASCINATION

BRIEF FACTS FROM THE ADVOCATES

CONCILIATION RESOURCES

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

And this for the attention of the President who seemed to have developed an affinity and outright unholy alliances with former top operatives of the AFRC/RUF human rights abusers - a tip of the iceberg.

Initially, the AFRC junta members who were identifying the junta's media enemies were difficult to identify. Most were rebels who had lived in the bush for approximately seven years. However, top officials like RUF Colonel Denis Mingo, Colonel Sam Bockarie, and Colonel Eldred Collins, and AFRC Colonel Leather Boot, Major Johnny Paul Koroma, Captain S.A.J. Musa, Captain Mandereh, Captain Abdul Jalloh, Colonel Saaba Kamara, Ajina Sesay, and AFRC Public Relations Officer Allieu Kamara, Sargeant Abu "Zagalo" Sankoh, and Corporal Tamba Gborie (both later executed by the Kabbah government) shortly became familiar to journalists who were on the run. Any of these junta members could order the arrest and detention of any media professional at will.

Ama Sumani is no more and it is but right we think, that we pray for her sweet repose in the Good Lord's bosom. However her case once more highlights the health delivery systems found in many an African country more especially so in Ghana and indeed, the mother country Sierra Leone. It is no secret that given the costs related to getting the right medical care in Sierra Leone, only the rich and connected stand any chance of getting what they believe is the proper care in the country with those who can afford it relying on so-called "medical check-up" overseas, effectively condemning the poor to a life of agonising misery and death.

That is why the Sierra Herald would want to call on governments all over the world, especially those from the rich and affluent donor countries to take a second look at their policies towards countries where basic health-delivery systems have been left to the manipulations of greedy vultures whose sole aim is to get rich at the expense of the suffering and dying poor.

And we would like to see in place a policy that would question political figures who are quick to fly out for medical examinations and treatment in other countries while abandoning their own health-delivery systems creating a situation as in Sierra Leone where every other person is now a pharmacist importing drugs of dubious origins as they continue to poison the poor and vulnerable. Creating a situation where a porter or cleaner in government institutions readily becomes a drug peddler and peppeh docta.

We say stop them from coming over for treatment until they improve upon their national health-delivery systems!!

AMA SUMANI IS DEAD

Ama Sumani, the Ghanaian woman at the centre of a controversy over whether it was morally right for the UK authorities to deport her to her native Ghana has died. According to the BBC Ama, 39, passed away in Accra, Ghana hours after being told that friends and family had found doctors in the UK and South Africa to treat her.

Ama was removed from a hospital in Cardiff where she was receiving treatment for cancer and was on a kidney dialysis machine when she was put on board a plane by immigration officials keen, very keen to interpret the law as it suited those in charge. Even as she left, the world heard her plea that she has been effectively condemned to death as Ghana does not have the kind of health-delivery system that would have kept her alive. And this action from a government that knows it has thousands still living "illegally" within the borders of the United Kingdom.

Ama apparently was seen as easy target as she was hospitalised and could be easily deported given her vulnerable position. May the Good Lord grant her eternal rest.

Ama is now dead and gone, but the Sierra Herald would want the UK authorities to look into cases like Ama's and weigh the options that could have saved her given the UK's long history of having good men and women who would have taken a different line of action, would have interpreted the immigration rules differently and who could have saved Ama. Could have saved Ama as well as others lined up for showing the rest of the world that the United Kingdom is really the leader when it comes to the construction of "Fortress Europe" sending a clear message to other European countries who are likely to take the path of compassion and hence save vulnerable lives.

As any student and practitioner of UK immigration laws knows, there is a difference between rules and interpretations and it is a regret that an interpretation has cost a life.

Please UK authorities spare the Ama's of this world and help them stay a bit longer on earth. Remember we are all sojourners.

Wednesday March 19, 2007 - TWO LEADING UK NEWSPAPERS OFFER FRONT-PAGE APOLOGY AND PAY RECORD SUM

What looked like history in the newspaper world in the United Kingdom was made today when two Express Group of newspapers, the Daily Express and the Daily Star published a front-page apology in bold about how they had been covering the story of a little girl, her getting lost in Portugal while on holiday with her parents. That these two newspapers could have boldly come out with that apology and more expected in their Sunday versions speaks volumes of the way certain sections of the UK media had allowed themselves to recklessly run with stories without adhering to the code of the profession. Beginning its apology, the Daily Star wrote -

The Daily Star today makes a wholehearted apology to Kate and Gerry McCann for stories suggesting the couple were responsible for, or may be responsible for, the death of their daughter Madeleine and for covering it up. We now recognise that such a suggestion is absolutely untrue and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

Today's apology was also backed by a more than half a million pound out of court settlement after the parents of the lost child took the matter to court to seek redress over what they saw as unwholesome reportage by the offending newspaper group.

The forward and positive march against suppression of free speech and expression received a much-needed boost today with the launch of Online Free Expression Day. The Paris-based press rights group Reporters Without Borders, RSF working in conjunction with UNESCO, the UN Cultural and Scientific Organisation has deemed it fit to have such a day to highlight moves by certain governments to make life extremely difficult for online users wanting to express themselves in whatever manner. A welcome move, but would caution that while the internet appears to have made journalists out of every man and beast, there are laws governing the abuse of such a modern means of crossing borders using this somewhat wonderful means of communication which links people all over the world. A big welcome to this day and long may we all live to enjoy freedom of expression without having to look over our shoulders or forced to flee mother country, community and home.

Remember this on the state of the press during junta rule in 1997?

Of the 52 newspapers operating under the civilian government, only eight continue to publish. They include the government-owned Daily Mail and Expo Times, both with strong ties to the AFRC; Concord Times, the Point, The Pool, Torchlight, Herald Guardian, and We Yone. Commissioner for Information and Broadcasting Sedu Turay said the editors are blaming the government for their own shortcomings. Journalists should keep in mind that they are responsible for what they are reporting, he said.

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It needs not the brain of a rocket scientist - to know that in the mother country, elaborate plans would be in place to celebrate a day dedicated to women by the international community. Speeches would be made, the UN representatives in Sierra Leone would lick their lips in satisfaction that it looked good for the cameras and glowing words of praise would flow across page after page about just how the United Nations and the government have done their best in observing this day. This despite the fact that the United Nations representatives in Freetown know that the majority of women in Sierra Leone are not catered for, this despite the fact that they can see for themselves that women continue to be treated as objects of no value, but to please the needs of the men folk who control the purse and power strings in the country. And yet the UN and all the Western countries represented in Sierra Leone would never question policies that keep women in the country as third-class citizens in their own God-given country. This observation from the UN Secretary-General - a part of this year's message from him says it all.

At the 2005 World Summit, Governments of all nations agreed that “progress for women is progress for all”. Yet the 10-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action revealed a serious gap between policy and practice in many countries. A lack of political will is reflected in the most telling way of all: lack of resources and insufficient budgetary allocations. That is why the theme of this International Women’s Day is “Investing in Women and Girls”.

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