News Story

FREETOWN: DR. SAMA BANYA (PUAWUI): In my early contact with the King's, (now the Queen's) language, I was intrigued with the idiom "putting the cart before the horse." I knew what a horse was because, rare as it was in my hometown, I had seen one. Not knowing what a cart was, I thought the word referred to pussy cat and wondered what a cat would be doing in front of a horse unless it was to be given an overwhelming start in a race. At the height of World War Two, when our mud and wattle sticks dormitories in Bo School were being replaced by mud brick ones, cows were used (two hatched to a wagon) to transport building materials to the building sites. It was then I got the idea that the horse pulled the cart. Teacher Amadu Koker was later to explain that what the expression putting the cart before the horse meant was to leave that which should come first and substitute it with that which ought to follow. I do hope Peep understands this.

The local government elections are scheduled for July 2008. Already, NEC has fixed a deadline, April 7 when all candidates must submit their nomination or candidature forms. But NEC has scheduled the month of May for voter registration or re-registration as the case may be. NEC has a penchant for doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason and this may be another example of that. What if a man registers now as a prospective candidate and then in May discovers that his name IS NOT on the voters' register?

I know that there are apologists for NEC who are going to scream at me that "there he goes again." I have learnt that "once bitten, twice shy and that twice beaten means inevitable death" or some such conclusion. But would anyone honestly accuse me of having a too vivid or overstretched imagination here? And yet this is not a mere hypothesis but a scenaro which would spell nightmare for the poor prospective candidate and I do not have to strain to conclude who most of such candidates are likely to be. Madam, with a week to go before your deadline, will you not reconsider your time table? But then I forget that when the good lady takes a position, not even the Law of the Medes and Persians would compare with it.

She still maintains her unreasonable stand with regard to the ward delineation. Once again, NEC has failed to take into consideration the special case of those wards in some rural areas, like Koinadugu, Kono and Bonthe, which cover large stretches of land and water masses. The NEC is only interested in the census figures. Unless Parliamentariams appreciate that the ultimate responsibilty in this matter rests with them, the scenario will be no different from that of the Parliamentary boundaries.

And talking about NEC and Parliament, why did they approve another Commissioner for the Western Area when one was still in post? May I with utmost respect, remind honourable members that prosterity will judge them by what they are now doing.

To my lay mind, to use someone's signature, even if it is only a fascimiile one and attach same to a document that was sent to Parliament, remembering that the lady whose signature was so misused had taken a different position in the preceeding discussion, is a matter that should receive the attention of the ACC. There you are Mr. Commissioner Sir, has a crime been committed?