EBOLA: NEVER AGAIN! Sierra Leone lost a fourth doctor on Saturday 13th September, 2014 to Ebola after efforts to transfer her abroad for treatment failed, a government official said Sunday. The death is a huge setback to the impoverished Sierra Leone, which is battling the virulent disease amid a shortage of healthcare workers. Dr Olivet Buck died late Saturday, hours after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it could not help medically evacuate her to Germany, Sierra Leones chief medical officer Dr Brima Kargbo confirmed to the Associated Press. WHY MR PRESIDENT? Have we not suffered enough in Sierra Leone? This Ebola tragedy has brought out the best in many Sierra Leoneans; courageous healthcare staff, generous donations from so many fellow citizens and prayers for the wellbeing of our beloved nation. Calls for unity and “all hands on deck” though filled with good intentions, must not replace, but stand together with demands for full ACCOUNTABILITY from our Government, for the greatest public health disaster in Africa’s history. How do we ensure that this unmitigated disaster never happens again? The process of inquiry should start immediately. We cannot afford to waste precious time diverting all our energy to slavishly singing the praises of a President who has failed in his solemn duty to protect ALL of the people. We need to understand what went wrong now, so that we can start the process of learning lessons from the government’s incompetence and negligence. Tomorrow may be too late, the moment is now! Fellow citizens, criticism of the government is not an act of war, nor is it a criminal offence to hold our government accountable for the job it was elected to do. The process of ACCOUNTABILITY does not get a holiday or a sabbatical. It is the constant probing thread that keeps the fabric of our democracy pure and robust. It is our patriotic duty to scrutinise our elected government and hold them accountable for the decisions they make or fail to make. Ebola, surely has taught us a painful lesson; WE CANNOT GIVE OUR LEADERS A BLANK CHEQUE TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. We are a fragile democracy; our institutions are at the centre of our cherished union. When our institutions fail or malfunction, things fall apart and our nation bleeds. The most important institution in our nation is our GOVERNMENT which is headed by President Ernest Koroma. The success or failure of our President determines so much of what happens in our country. We all have a vested interest in holding President Koroma to account. Our nation’s health depends on him taking the right decisions. President Koroma, When Are You Going To Apologise To Our People For Your Sad Legacy of: Institutionalised corruption; Incompetence; Indiscipline; Unprofessional conduct and tribalism. A President who created a political mafia centred on caustic tribalism and supported by a sycophantic echo chamber. There is no longer a difference between information and illogical propaganda. Our country bleeds, unbearable misery everywhere and yet our President refuses to apologise for his record of miserable failure. Even Madam President in Liberia has the grace to make a belated apology to our brothers and sisters in Liberia. President Koroma, you didnt create EBOLA, but you are responsible for its rapid devastation because of your incompetence. Your name will be forever synonymous with the EBOLA NIGHTMARE and how you failed your people. A resident from Portloko, surely, one of your supporters in the last General Election with very heavy heart had this soliloquy for you: Now we mourn the shocking death of another medical professional, Dr. Olivet Buck. The ridiculous letter sent from your office to WHO to evacuate a Sierra Leonean doctor is the height of incompetence. As a President how can you expect W.H.O to take responsibility for the people you lead when you sit on fat cash. Mr President, when a Government is incompetent, dysfunctional, inefficient and corrupt there is no doubt that it will be incapable of creating or designing innovative and effective solutions to solve the problems our society faces. A broken government lacking discipline and professionalism is simply incapable of providing incentives for its over-bloated bureaucracy to meet critical challenges. We cannot afford to give President Koroma a blank cheque. If we continue to regard scrutiny and accountability as unpatriotic acts, then as a nation we are heading for catastrophe. We must hold our government accountable for what it does, and what it doesn’t do in our name. Even when we are facing our greatest challenge, with more and more people dying, collective unity of purpose (in defeating the Ebola menace) is not mutually exclusive with our patriotic duty to hold our government to account. The Big questions about how this Ebola menace has ravaged our country cannot wait or be deferred to a later date. We need answers now! We need to understand what went wrong now! Tomorrow will be too late; the business of government is always far too busy to set aside a special date. There will always be another event to deal with. If we don’t learn the lessons now, we will inevitably repeat the cycle of unbearable misery again, and again, and again. In the name of God, please find a place in your heart to apologise to the nation for your miserable failure. Thank you. Blamas Finest, The Man Who Conjures Something Out Of Nothing!!!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 08:04:38 +0000