CLEANING EXERCISE EXPENSE
Cleaning exercise as introduced by previous military regimes is not new to citizens who were adults during those periods. They were adopted by civilian governments and dropped. In any case no one in his or her right senses abandons an enterprise or exercise that is gainful.
The last cleaning exercise was introduced and abandoned by the APC government without stating reasons. If the reasons were because the city was rendered clean and neat to such an extent that the exercise was no longer necessary we would have known from the boastful APC. It turned out however that the exercise was so riven with corruption that it couldn’t be continued. Readers would recall that Balogun Koroma, aka Logus, was in charge of that exercise when he was attached to the office of the Vice President. He was in fact sacked later on and it is not unreasonable to think that the squandering of the cleaning exercise funds by Logus and co. was to blame. The APC as part of their recycling policy of corrupt officials promoted him.
The ongoing exercise is said to cost Le 3.9 billion monthly and there is nothing alarming about that amount. But what is worrying is that the amount is said not to be evenly distributed to the Youth participants. Moreover it is reported that not all the stated amount is being paid out. This means that some monies are being left with the officials in charge of the exercise without accountability. It is necessary for the officials responsible to come out clear and publish their detailed accounts of expenditure to the public otherwise suspicion of corruption will stay and tarnish the reputation of the SLPP government. Lonta.
THE HAJJ 28
There had been a great deal of hullabaloo from the opposition APC who are looking out for any opportunity to discredit the SLPP government. This is especially crucial to them as they seek to prove that the SLPP is also corrupt in the handling of hajj affairs. “Dem miss”!
After blowing up the unlikely event of 28 pilgrims not going to Mecca they have been discomfited. The 28 would –be pilgrims who were to be left out due to non-complicity with laid down regulations will now join the 800.The massive corruption that was done heartlessly by the corrupt outgone APC is not to be replicated by the God-fearing SLPP.
Language
We shall from time to time do our utmost to correct the bad language of our colleagues until Sierra Leone returns to the status of Athens of West Africa. The latest is from Standard Times. In their August 9th edition they wrote on front page, first line STUCKED AT QUAY. There is no word like STUCKED.
It should be STUCK only. On their page 4 they wrote STOCKED at the quay. Standard Times is not above the dictionary.