Arata Nor Dae Die If E Nor Shake Ihn Tail!

Monday, 30 January 2012 05:27

Written by Kalilu Totangi

When I ran for the Students’ Union Presidency at Njala University College (NUC) in, it was obvious that I had run a disciplined campaign and had got my opponent at the time, Stephen Gaojia, in a bind.  He tried to pull one back on me on the day of the election. He gathered the few supporters he could garner at one point on Election Day and they made quite a noise on campus. Some of my supporters got threatened and came to me asking us to do something in return. One of my key supporters then, a fellow we all loved to call Bra Kondo - he was a dramatist, Bra kondo, one on the cast of a play all of the living cast members look forward to doing again in their life time. He took his drum and belted out “arata nor go die if e nor shake ihn tail”.  That became the refrain of a popular song that day.. And with that, they were able to rally most of my other supporters, most of them women, to get out and vote. In the end, we walloped the guy 72% to 28% in my favour. But boy did they throw the kitchen sink at me in the last moments!

I have grown to understand the underpinnings of some of the gimmicks people throw into political discourse when all else seem to have been lost. Mark this: when there is nothing to say in defence of one’s stewardship, you evade the issues. The ruling All People’s Congress (APC) seems to have taken that posture, as is evident in the slant of their media “elite”.  “Arata nor dae die if e nor shake ihn tail”.

THE GREAT ASSASINATION SCARE

Internal email threads among APC insiders intercepted and published on Facebook quote the great chinless brother, the Rev. Amb. Plenipotentiary, Infrastructural, Transformalism, Attitudinalation, “Kabbah” Kabs Kanu, as mongering a scare that he, the gluttonous chinless one, together with countless others will be an “object” of an assignation, should the APC lose the 2012 elections. How he leapt to that height is entirely beyond me. What is clear, however, is the fact that people like these may be making veiled calls to their kith to prepare for an all-out battle, whether legitimate of not. What is going on now may amount to a call to “arms”, even considering the inflammatory nature of the language that they have consistently used against any and everyone who do not subscribe to their points of view. The issues are clear to all Sierra Leoneans who actually feel it and know it.

Now, for the heck of it, Kabs Kanu, nobody wants to kill a “gluttonous diabetic” like you anyway. If I had my wish, I would rather be your ration manager to protect you from your eating habit. For all I know, Kanu is a figure of disdain, a parasite who is paid thousands of dollars a month for simply running a scandal website insulting his fellow citizens he disagrees with. It is how Ernest Koroma has been profligately using the country’s meague resources.

In fact, there is nobody I know on the streets of Freetown who wants anybody killed for any other reason at all. All people want, and in fact crave, are that people, including our leaders are accountable for their stewardship. So Kabs, your scare mongering has no place in the Sierra Leone we MUST build. Nobody buys your “holy”, Christ have mercy, S***.

The Sierra Lene Peoples Party (SLPP) is a National Party. And I can assure you it is nothing if it is not that. That is why it is the party of Sir Milton Margai, of Bai Farama Tass II and Cummings-John. It is the party of Charles Margai who has the temerity to break away from his own in defense of his position; party of inclusion that is not only said but also done. We will not join you in your call for “national destruction” for your lazy end.  Everyone knows you were a Ninja, defending the AFRC while they butchered our people. Your kingpins included I.B. Kargbo, Victor Foh, Niyi Robbin-Coker, Omrie Gollie the notorious Leatherboot, and of course who else: the “Best Pornographic Columnist” of all times, Her Devilish Satan Blooden. If that is the position you would rather have this nation in again, sorry we will not cooperate!

OF KIDNAPPINGS AND RITUAL MURDER

The political discourse in our country suffered a lowdown again today, thanks to the single mindedness of the pathetic Sylvia Blyden and her compulsive disorder.  In a post on Saturday, Sylvia Blyden wrote: “for the past few hours now, my intelligence gathering and information Systems are currently activated all along the 71 miles ranging from Moyamba Junction (Fakunia Chiefdom) to Masiaka where 5 suspects of alleged KIDNAPPING and alleged Conspiracy to commit RITUAL SACRIFICE MURDER are currently making a statement.”

The true story is that on Friday January 27, 2012, Abu Moseray, Mohamed Kanu-Mansaray, V.V. Kamara and the driver were on their way from Fakunya in a Toyota 4 Runner, owned by Councillor Elect Mohamed Kanu-Mansaray, where Abu has intentions of contesting for a parliamentary seat. On their way through Moyamba Junction, their fuel guage came on. They decided to try the fuel station, which had no fuel at the time. They decided to risk it to Mile 91, where they hoped to buy some fuel.  Halfway through to Mile 91, they noticed a motorbike (Okada) that was chasing them. He chased for another 5 minutes before they stopped, only a few miles to Mile 91. The Okada rider convinced them that he had 4 gallons of fuel at Moyamba Junction. They (alleged ritual kidnappers) decided a “bird in the hand is worth twice in the bush”. They followed him back to Moyamba Junction. On arrival in Moyamba Junction, he took them to another “brother” who was supposed to be the one selling the fuel. At that point, the guy who rode all the way to get them to come back had disappeared. When they handed him the money he had requested, he went away into a corner and made a call that he stayed on for a long time. While the accused waited, they noticed that the other folks had gone around their vehicle trying to break in. When they made for these thieves, they ran away, leaving them with the so-called “jebu” dealer. They then suspected that there must be more to it than the eye could see. They decided to make a ‘citizen arrest’ and to take him to the Police in Mile 91. But by the time they could reach Mile 91, the Okada boys had made their calls to their kin in Mile 91. When the accused asked for the Police station in Mile 91, where they were buying fuel, they showed them a dark corner at night, which made them further assume that there must be a conspiracy in the build up, with the increasing presence of Okada riders. There is common knowledge that there have been cases when some of these Okada boys have been accused of mindless violence on people in conflict with their peers, including the police.

The accused decided to move on to Masiaka took him to Masiaka, where they went to police to make a complaint. The police took statements from them and allowed them to go. It is while they were there that another officer mentioned that they had received a call that people had “kidnapped” a man for ritual murder. On hearing this, the suspects decided to stay around until the accusers arrived. On arrival, the suspects were able to identify the young man who had chased them to have them return to Moyamba Junction.

But as the police were busy trying to make sense of the incident, Sylvia Blyden, as usual had seen an avenue where she was determined to do mischief. In a very much-coordinated manner, news met Sylvia Blyden on the fracas between the accused persons and the Okada boys. She straightaway picked up the phone and called Masiaka police station boss. According to Easmon Ngakui, attorney representing the accused, the idea of “ritual murder kidnapping” emanated from Sylvia, who pressed the police in Masiaka to believe her whacky analysis of things. “She blackmailed the police into detaining the accused persons.” He further noted “in Freetown, she called every politician she could to get them to pile pressure on the police to do her dirty bidding”.

A CASE STRAIGHT FROM THE “OLD APC” PLAYBOOK

The concocted story “attempts” by SLPP people to “kidnap” a 36-year-old man for ritual murder brings to mind those sad days in history when Siaka Stevens was beginning to build his kleptocracy. We were old that he would kill animals and bloody whole neighbourhoods under cover of dark, and get some other surrogates to be yelling that they were taking them away. In the mornings, his propagandists will go on the rampage telling the gullible people of Freetown that SLPP was practicing cannibalism. To a point, we are told, the people of Freetown did believe some of that nonsense and held on to it.

What is baffling, however, is that Sylvia Blyden and her handlers would decide to take a page out of that discredited playbook and try to hoodwink the nation by such scare-mongering.  But she is not alone in this type of scare mongering.  It seems to be a key strategy of the APC political campaign.

The other day the APC Ambassador plenipotentiary, the unholy Rev. “Kabbah” Kabs Kanu, a well known Ninja from the notorious AFRC killing fields, who now feeds fat at the expense of poor people, was busy convincing his APC cohorts that they should do everything in their power to re-elect Ernest Koroma. His reason is that if they do not succeed, he may be a “subject of assassination”. I think that line of debate is dangerous and mischievous, to say the least. I consider this an effort to rally extremists in your party to kill others, in the erroneous belief that others are planning to kill them. What is even more disturbing is the notion that the Sierra Leone Ambassador to Washington, DC was copied on the thread of this despicable discussion. This is bad for the health of our nation, and every sane person, regardless of their party belonging, should repudiate this reprehensible statement. If you Kabs had any fibre of decency you should withdraw that statement and fulsomely apologise to the nation for this unfortunate statement. That no one within the APC hierarchy has seen it important to dissociate the party from this inflammatory language, even makes it palpable that the party and its leadership may well be in accord with this line of thinking, and may as well be planning from that narrow prism.

That Sylvia Blyden is an irresponsible character is plain for all to see. Here is a woman who would place the picture of a naked couple in the sex act on the pages of her blog on Facebook for the whole world to see.  Is it not clear to all that she is a neurotic person? Which sane person can really do that and continue to pretend that nothing is wrong with it? There is a trail of record of her combustive compulsion over time. A character like this has to be kept in check, even for her own good. At the rate that she is going, any wonder nobody of reason consider her credible any more? “Sometimes she misses her Ninja past”…no I was just thinking!

Ms. Blyden has been making frantic calls to politicians and senior police officers in the last couple of days threatening them to “give weight” to her perceived “ritual kidnapping’, whatever that means. Her perception, according to people close to the case is that the vehicle belongs to Julius Maada Bio, and that the said vehicle is registered in his name. It is on that account that she sent Hon. Tunde Lewally, of Constituency 104 to the CID late on Saturday to get junior officers to revert an earlier decision by a superior officer to return the vehicle to Mr. Kanu’s representatives. It was at that time that Ms. Blyden’s “journalist”, Aruna Turay jumped in and started taking pictures of the vehicle, apparently receiving his twitch from Sylvia glued to his ears on the phone.

Here are the facts. There was no kidnapping. The 36-year-old man was part of an effort to rob and perhaps hurt the accused persons. He was captured and taken to the nearest accessible police station. Sylvia Blyden snatched the situation to inflame passions on all sides, by introducing this obscene language of “cannibalism and SLPP”. What is even more appalling is the fact that many within the “new” APC may just be as accepting of that ethnically vile reference as Sylvia Blyden who seems to be leading the PR charge from the other flank. Flanking the great chinless brother. I mean the Plenipotentiary. Yes, you!

In any case, I’ll urge every one of us who profess to be honest about the things we say and do in the affairs of our country to inform our rhetoric with truthfulness and fairness.  The crusader make-money approach of Sylvia and her ilk to national discourse should have no place in our political dialogue. Fact is, she supports no one, but wanders about trying to reach her dangerously demented “goals”, not caring the consequence to everyone. “Sylvia Blyden, David Tam Baryoh or Philip Neville are not contesting for anything,” she wrote the other day’, “it is Maada Bio and the SLPP that are on the ballot”. She was referring here to two other “journalists” that are notorious for their blackmail and their closeness to the Presidency. Let us all pray that they do not overdo themselves in the run-up to the 2012 elections. Folks, whatever we do, let us keep it civil!