Amnesty International Sierra Leone in collaboration with World Coalition against death penalty on Saturday held a press conference to observe 10 October 2005, as World Day against capital punishment.

In his opening remarks, the campaign and development officer, Mr. Brima A. Sheriff, said that his organization out rightly condemned death penalty against any crime committed.

Mr. Sheriff noted that October 10 is very significant and historic in the lives of Sierra Leoneans, noting that the death penalty is discriminative and outdated, and must be removed from our law books.

He said justice can never be advanced by retaliation and that government is playing a snail pace tactics and have woefully failed to demonstrate sincerity in implementing the recommendations of the truth and reconciliation report. He emphasized that there is no portion of the special Court agreement which speaks of capital punishment against an offender and that the government of Sierra Leone should demonstrate a sincere willingness to struck off the death penalty from the law book.

Speaking on the international trend, Rodney Lawe disclosed that ten people are already awaiting execution at Pademba Road Prison and that the government should borrow a leaf from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cote D’ivoire and Sao Tome and principe which had long removed the death penalty from their law books.

He also stated that the death penalty could have a rebound repercussion on the country and its people and added that taking another person’s life is a way of committing crime.

In his contribution Mr. Mohamed Bawoh, recalled that the death penalty was introduced in Sierra Leone in the 18 century by King Georges Bay Company that was looking after the black poor and the first Sierra Leoneans executed by the care taker company were Issa Anderson and Francis Patrick, noting that even the United Kingdom that introduced death penalty had long abolished it and called on government to emulate that example for the betterment of every Sierra Leoneans.

The Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment, Dr. Alfred Bobson Sesay has returned to Freetown after brief visit in the United States of America, where he won laurels.

"I went for a quiet holiday and to cheek my health status in the USA and to use the opportunity to visit my grandchildren. However, things turned out difficult," Bobson Sesay declared.

Whilst in the USA Dr. Bobson received three distinguished awards for meritorious and dedicated service to his people back home.

" The Gbonkolenken Descendants Organization (GDO) USA registered their recognition of Dr. Alfred Bobson Sesay for his dedicated service and unwavering commitment to the people of Gbonkolenken Chiefdom and the entire country of Sierra Leone."

Presented September 30, 2005 in Alexandria, Virginia - USA.

Signed: Abdul Turay, Chairman engriven on Stuart-Austin Wall Clock.

Dr. Bobson Sesay said his "admirers" have been adequately sensitized by what they read on newspapers in particular, whilst others have got first hand impression privilege by home coming visits - and have returned to the United States, where they resolved to form their various associations.

Next on Dr. Bobson Sesay’s accolades was the presentation of a standing glass plaque with the following citation: In honour and appreciation to Dr. Alfred Bobson Sesay for your years of dedication to the civil service and leadership (Bobson Sesay’s Admirers in Georgia, U.S.A. 2005).

A former pupil of the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood Secondary School, where Dr. Bobson Sesay served with distinction as principal for several years, Mr. Khalil Kargbo, honored his former principal and educational benefactor.

Khalil Kargbo’s FAKS Allied Health Education Centre of which he is the director conferred an Honorary Certificate of Education, Dr. Bobson Sesay the renown educationalist. The Honorary Education Certificate of Education citation reads thus: Honourary Certificate of Education presented to Dr. Alfred Bobson Sesay in recognition of your outstanding contribution and leadership in the field of education to the young people of Sierra Leone by FAKS Allied Health Education Centre, Atlanta, Georgia - this first day of October, 2005.

Dr. Bobson Sesay said the membership of those groups who honored him are essentially Sierra Leoneans from a board spectrum of Sierra Leone based in the USA.

Apart from all the ceremonial certification ceremonies hosted by those different groups, they collectively seized the presentation opportunities to give their esteemed suggestions bordering on nation building.

Subsequent to the above; for example, the Tonkolili group are now paying subscriptions in the states with the prime objective of giving Magburaka a facelift.

Recalling whatever lesson he learnt whilst in the States - Dr. Bobson Sesay, speaking almost like a religious leader said, "whatever one does or has to do, one must do it with all his might." The Minister, sounding a bit biblical said there was always a reward waiting for any good work done for one’s country, personality and character. He added, "I feel very motivated and inspired."

The Minister revealed that those who have recently and frequently visited Sierra Leone have commended the efforts of government, especially in the areas of improved sanitation, reconstruction and construction programmes. For example, the nation’s Connaught and Cottage Hospitals and the rest countrywide are presently been rehabilitated to match the standards of modern hospitals. These development strides were praise worthy and deserve the appreciation of this government’s successes.

The minister challenged Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora not just to be aim-chair critics. He admonished them to travel home to see things for themselves.

According to Minister Bobson Sesay, Sierra Leones abroad suggested that appointments to public offices should be based on competence and commitment to the country’s ideology and that government should fast track the amendment of the laws relating to dual citizenry.

"They," the minister said, " also suggested that they abroad should be considered in the allocation of state land to enable them construct houses in their homeland."

In response the Lands Minister is reported to have thanked his compatriots in the diaspora saying, "I feel humble and honored by your reception given me." He went on to urge all of them to first and foremost remember that they have a home which has been shattered by years of bad governance and political misrule, a twin phenomena which culminated in the rebel war.

"We need everyone of you on board to help develop our country since we are in such a hurry to catch up with rest of the civilized world." The minister did not waste precious time to invite his brothers and sisters to come home and invest their talents, their human and financial resources etc. to move Sierra Leone out of underdevelopment and the dungeon of poverty.

British trained lawyer, Gloria Newman-Smart, who until his death Sunday, was Chief Immigration Officer in Sierra Leone died after a short illness.

According to family sources, the former Immigration iron lady reportedly succumbed to heart failure although this is yet to be confirmed by medical sources.

It could be recalled that during her short tenure of office, Mrs Newman-Smart generated a colossal sum in revenue amounting to billions of leones apart from her on going restructuring programme at the Immigration department.

She was however, plunged in controversies relating to alleged passport deals but was exonerated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for want of evidence.

Mrs Gloria B.A. Newman-Smart worked at the Immigration department at Gatwick Airport London where she was very helpful to Sierra Leoneans with Immigration clearance.

She was however called on by his excellency the President Alhaji Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, to help in rekindling the then already battered image of that once noble institution.

She would be remembered for her uncompromising stance in striving to make the Immigration Department a corrupt free institution.

In a related development, the Proprietor and Publisher of the Awareness Times Newspaper, Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, will be hosting a Press Conference today at 10 a.m. at the newspaper’s Garrison Street Office, to acquaint the press with issues relating to the death of Mrs Gloria Newman-Smart.

A member of the Revolutionary United Front rebel out fit Gibril Massaquoi, last Friday testified at the special court in the ongoing AFRC trials.

During cross examination by the prosecution, Massaquoi whose code name was also given as TF 1-046, told the court in public view that he was captured in Pujehun as a teacher by the rebels during the wake of the war. He said he was later taken to Liberia where he was trained while other captives were trained in Libya and Sierra Leone. The former spokesman of the RUF said after his gorilla training in Liberia, he was then sent over to Sierra Leone in Gondama Town where he got arrested by a rebel commander named Momoh Rogers. Massaquoi told the court that he was later transferred to Foday Sankoh in Kailahun, and to Sam Maskita Bockarie where he served as third in command.

He said he was later arrested and demoted by Bockarie who accused him of having plans to overthrow the R.U.F. TF 1-046 told the court that he was sent to different R.U.F. strongholds to teach the ideology of the outfit, before he took ill in 1996 and was taken to Ivory Coast by Foday Sankoh for medical treatment. After recovering from his illness, Massaquoi said Sankoh sent him to Buakay University in Abidjan, where he studied and graduated in peace and conflict resolution before he fled with Sankoh to Nigeria in March 1997 where they were arrested in the Lagos Airport.

Indeed the SLPP government really love this nation. Just like the way, he-goats love Coco Yams. One thing that is now crystal clear is that the people in whose care we have entrusted the task of managing and distributing the national wealth, have proved not just to be incompetent, but hard core criminals whose sole agenda is to corruptly enrich themselves in the name of a government while banking on the existing corrupt Status Quo for protection in the event of exposure.

Really Kabbah won’t outrightly tell this nation that he has failed like what the late Momoh did, less he too would be recorded in the nation’s history chapters as the second president to concede failure although in actual fact, by so doing, he would not only be acknowledging the obvious but would also be doing justice to this nation that has by all indications, become weary of his reign of starvation. Kabbah is quite aware of the fact that he has really failed this nation. He is also aware that his failure to live up to the expectations of this poverty stricken nation has been primarily due to his continual retention of corrupt officials in strategic positions in his administration in the first instance as well as his inability/refusal to flex his muscles on those found wanting so as to avoid been labeled a dictator. These two, are key among other factors that have been the major impediment against all development initiatives since his government assumed office nearly eight years ago.

Hyprocricy, no doubt is a major feature of the Kabbah administration. Over and again, the attention of this government has been drawn to the fact that unless the present provocative wages for workers in this country are reviewed and replaced by more meaningful ones, there is no way the government could robustly tackle and address the issue of corruption that has assumed corrosive proportions in this country.

As a government, we expect the SLPP, particularly its leadership, to be constantly gauging and treating with all seriousness, public opinion and concerns with regards the way and manner in which their welfare is been catered for by the people he has appointed to run the respective departments responsible for social/public service delivery.

Take the case of the just released West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, which are a complete disgrace to the much vaunted successful educational sector. The results of the 2005 WASSCE have been described as the worst in the country’s educational history with no distinction in all the over two hundred and fifty or more schools in the country. The looming question on the lips of the populace since the release of those disgraceful results has been: how beneficial have the hundreds of schools springing up in every nook and cranny of the country, and the government’s much trumpeted payment of subsidy to those schools as well as examination fees or what ever, been to the students who are supposed to be the beneficiaries ?.

Time and again, we have reminded this government of the saying that, housing problems are not solved by building beautiful houses but by keeping the people therein, satisfied. As a teacher himself, Dr. Alpha Wurie needs not be reminded that in so far as the issue of education for our young ones goes, teachers are the major stakeholders. Again, Wurie and his government need not be reminded that a well motivated teacher, teaching under satisfactory conditions of service, will perform wonders under even just a makeshift structure than a disgruntled one in a modern complex with all facilities. I would like Dr. Wurie and his government to challenge this truth.

Take for instance, the recruitment procedure for teachers introduced by this government. Thousands of teachers recruited since last academic year are still to receive their salaries despite having being approved. Let Wurie tell us how he would have felt if he were one of those teachers in the first instance, and whether he would be capable of giving his best under such circumstances. Those of us who taught in the days of the APC know that for a graduate, your incremental date is July 1 and August 1 for HTC graduates respectively and that both categories of teachers are always sure of receiving their drawbacks without arrears in December. That has been the procedure unlike in the Kabbah administration where appointment dates for teachers have not only been shifted to September, but even after being approved, they are never sure of when their first so called salaries would be paid. Some go for a whole academic year without salaries and even when Wurie eventually decides to pay them, it is always in fragments. Is that really fair ? Let Wurie or Kabbah honestly answer this question. So under such conditions of service, where even long serving teachers are never sure of when their next salaries are due, does this government really expect them to give their best in the classroom more so when one considers the galloping inflation that this nation is going through ? No way. This is why it is hard to come across a teacher who is really proud of that profession today in this country. Almost all our young graduates take the classroom as a temporal economic refuge while seeking for better paid jobs. Many even see the profession as a social embarrassment as teachers are always marginalised in social settings because the profession is today been associated with indigence, insolvency to debts and the rest of it. So if our young ones continue to perform so disgracefully in public exams who should justifiably carry the blame ?

The situation is just as bad even in our universities. When one reads the scripts of some graduates or listen to them speak, one finds it hard to believe that they ever darkened the walls of a university. This is why one would not help envisaging a bleak future for this country if the people we look up to succeeding the present crop of administrators continue to at best depend wholly on leakages for success or at worst fail their exams woefully as in the case of the recently released results of the 2005 WASSCE.

It is therefore of urgent necessity that the SLPP government tries to sort out their priorities in the educational sector by shifting the emphasis from building more schools to improving on the conditions of service for teachers, timely payment of salaries if only quality and affordable education is to be achieved. That way, we will be sure of handing this country over to competent future administrators.

Think about that Dr Wurie.

The increase in the cost of a newspaper today is not unconnected in any way whatsoever with the high cost of living in Sierra Leone, which is becoming increasingly unbearable as the pump price of fuel products including petrol, diesel and kerosene have skyrocketed with the speed of hurricane Katrina which left thousands of people in New Orleans not just homeless but also destitute. When the US and her allies declared a war on the government of erstwhile Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein a few years ago, those who lacked foresight didn’t realise the potential fallouts of such a situation particularly for poor countries like ours, who are merely living on the goodwill of international donors.

Today, the cost of petrol which as rumoured, will further rise to Le15,000 by December, has made life very expensive considering the fact that without it, work and business will come at a standstill. Little wonder that the rise in the cost of production materials cannot be discounted in any discussion of the current swell in the cost of a newspaper which is now sold at Le. 1,000, a scenario that has also posed serious challenges for press houses, printers as well as newspaper vendors. Since Monday, not a single newspaper was sold on the streets of Freetown simply because no agreement was reached between the stakeholders in the newspaper industry who are equally affected by the increase in the pump price of fuel which is highly relied on to make work easy, now that NPA is almost defunct.

For instance, a company like Celtel cannot think of effecting a price increase without informing its dealers not because some of them are wealthy or have invested in the business in the purchase of top-up cards, but because they are one of the most effective channels through which the company sells its products and also because it is a sound business practice to consult all stakeholders in any business before decisions crucial to the survival of all are taken. Moreover, Celtel does have outlets corporately owned such as their shops opened in any of their areas of operation across the country. That does not mean the company cannot work with dealers, for example, informing them about a pending price hike in top-up cards simply because the dealers don’t have any investment in the purchase of top-up cards or promotional materials like phones.

However, the SLNVA must know that it is not through acts of defiance that they would get their way because if we were to be honest with ourselves, it is the press houses that are actually bearing the brunt when business goes bad especially at a time like this when every item under the hot burning sun and the cresent moon has skyrocketed as well as the challenge to pay salaries to journalists who are now been trained locally. We salute our colleagues Kelvin Lewis and Philip Neville of the Awoko and Standard Times newspapers respectively, for standing firm on behalf of the press over the past few days.

Finally, we are of the opinion that past acts of sabotage by press houses against each other have created the impression even among Vendors that journalists are not united. It is because of this that the SLNVA decided to try their luck, maybe the the press houses would slide into their acts of sabotage against each other. But we continue to say bravo to a reinvented profession of journalism as the vendors have really truly ran out of luck this time round.

Investment in education doesn’t just have social benefits. It also makes sound economic sense. Evidence across a wide variety of developing countries, particularly in East Asia, shows that investment in education- especially at the basic level - boost productivity and economic growth. A better educated person is also productive because he or she absorbs new information faster and applies unfamiliar inputs and new processes more effectively.

Investing in girl education makes even more socio- economic sense . Many studies indicate that mothers channel more of their own incomes to expenditures on children than do fathers and in virtually all societies, women are much more involved in the immediate care of children and in the critical decisions about food, sanitation and general nurturing, all of which affect children’s health and development.

Healthier Children
Better educated women have fewer and healthier children. In Africa, one out of five children die before the age of five if the mother has had no education. The probability is more than half for children whose mothers have had no basic education. Women who receive education and are employed also provide role models for young children.

Government policy on education continues to be directed towards the achievement of universal basic education and the reduction of adult illiteracy. The trust of this policy is to increase access, ensure quality and improve management and relevance. Sorry to say that so far the educational system has been disruptive rather than progressive.

One disruptive effect of the system is found in the area of social mobility. At present, education is an antithesis or opposite of social mobility or employment. In fact, it now appears as if the more educated one becomes, the lower he or she is in terms of social mobility.

Many hawkers are better off (financially) than the average office clerk. In other respect, employment opportunities in the modern sectors of the economy have not kept pace with expansion in education. The hordes of roaming basic secondary and tertiary graduates ( sleep walking ) is a clear and lucid testament. Sierra Leone offers a clear example of an educational system that has produced more output than can be absorbed. The poor fit which exists between schooling and social mobility or employment is increasingly becoming clearer and clearer with each passing year.

Another disturbing feature of the educational situation today is that access to real Secondary School (SSS) and hence to tertiary institutions is becoming increasingly correlated with the urban and socio-economic background of pupils, while at present the educational system may not strongly reflect elitist interest, there are already some signs of class consciousness related to education.

The question asked was "what provision is there for those who did not qualify to continue with their education and are therefore, forced to drop out of school at the age of 15, 16, or 17. What is even more exasperating is that those who passed are a mirage, illusory without substance in reality. Passed for what? Of those who passed, not more than 20% would enter any meaningful, purposeful and decent Senior Secondary, Vocational or Technical schools. The issue here is not availability of secondary school but accessibility to good quality schools.

The bulk of passers, granted they wanted to continue their education, would terminally end in impoverished, secondary institutions that exist only in fantabulous acronyms. Will you like to spend your limited purchasing income on your children in these schools? Educationally, their prospects are virtually dim.

I want to reveal that 60% of pupils in our primary schools are unable to read and write. Only a percentage of pupils can actually exhibit adequate knowledge in English. Performance in Mathematics describes the situation as a daunting problem for the country’s education system.

This mournful picture is made even more depressing by the fact that some schools in some districts scored zero per cent at the BECE. The challenges of pre-tertiary education in the 21st Century should be our focus.

The crux of the matter is that our educational systems are badly imbalanced. The distribution of urban and rural educational infrastructures is dangerously uneven. Reports indicate that in some schools in the Northern province, two teachers man a whole school, teaching 11 subjects.

The present situation creates inequalities between provinces, between urban and rural. Even within the same city, there are socially unacceptable inequalities in the provision of education. Such inequalities undermine efforts to achieve equity and political stability. Indeed. This is one of the reasons for growing sectional demands by those who feel marginalised.

A thorough re- examination of our educational systems is socially, politically and economically necessary. Intellectually, everyone agrees but the sense of urgency that it cannot wait is what is missing.

In many developed countries, now serves the crucial role of ameliorating unemployment, especially youth spend more of their early lives in schools in preparation for adult roles. In The US for example, the legal terminal education is senior secondary but over 70 % proceed to college if they want to. That is why youth employment is relatively low. After the first degree, many unemployed or unemployable graduates proceed to do post-graduate courses- relevant or irrelevant-with Federal, State or County subventions. This is why we always read, the unemployment rate in the U.S.is 7% Germany 8%, Norway 3% and Sierra Leone, 80 %. Let me say it again, we are paradoxically creating a situation that in the future threatens to counter our efforts to achieve greater equality and political stability.

The Sierra Leone Muslim Union and National Council of Imams with headquarters at No. 20 Willberforce Street in Freetown is one of the many religious organizations that has answered to the call of the SLPP government to support the Educational Sector of this country.

The origin of the organization could be traced as far back as 1972 when a humanistic and ardent follower of Islam in the name of Alhaji Mustapha Mohamed Barrie, thought it wise to set up such an orgnaisation to promote health, humanitarian activities, agriculture and most paramount, education which is the key to development.

In 1987, after Alhaji Barrie evaluated the conditions and well being of Imams countrywide, he again brought all the Imams in the country under one umbrella organization named the Naitonal Council of Imams and eventually he was appointed as president of the two organizations which later led to their being merged; and since then, Alhaji Mustapha Barrie has made remarkable landmarks to the satisfaction of his followers and the international community which has closely been monitoring his activities.

Alhaji Mustapha Mohamed Barrie is a household name particularly to past and present students in primary, secondary schools, technical and vocational institutions and even our colleges and universities countrywide as he had donated thousands of scholarship and has even built schools in various parts of the country which many students have benefited from.

Early this year, the union led by their dynamic president took a conducted tour of all the Mosques and Islamic schools in the city to be acquainted and evaluate the number of children who really need support to further their education. After the evaluation/assessment tour, Alhaji Barrie summoned a meeting that was attended by another strong believer of Prophet Muhamad (SAW) Alhaji Mohamed Sumah, in the capacity as Secretary-General, where a decision to offer scholarship to students within the city was reached.

This scholarship drive started on Wednesday 31st August this year when the union donated one year school fees for five students to the Mandingo Mosque at Magazine Cut . They also donated cash for the purchase of fuel for the generator at the Mosque; to which the Chief Imam of Mosque Sheik Abdulai Sankoh expressed appreciation. Hamdala Mosque at Brook Street-Nimbana Street junction also received their own scholarship package for ten students in mid September. The Chief Imam of the Mosque; Sheik Abu Bakarr Conteh, said he was not surprised because he had been following the activities of Alhaji Barrie for over a decade.

Four out of one hundred and fifty students of the Zainabiya Islamic School at No. 2 A Morgan Lane, Brookfields, also received their own package of the scholarship. When the union arrived at the Islamic (Quran) at Guard Street to deliver their own package of scholarship for five students, Imam Sheik Mohamed Allieu Barrie said their visit was just a continuation of the assistance the union had earlier on started to give to his congregation, because it was SLMU/NCI that built the platform which they are presently using as prayer ground and even the generator was donated by the union for which they are always grateful.

Special prayers were offered for the good health of the president.

Responding, Alhaji Barrie offered special prayers for the students and teachers to be united, and thanked the teachers for their pains and strains in taking the young students into the Islamic world.

With Sierra Leone not just limited to Freetown, the spiritual leader also visited the Eastern Provincial Town of Kono where he again donated scholarships to ten secondary school students plus five generators to five different Mosques in the township.

Recently, Mamboreh community in the eastend of Freetown also breathed a sigh of relief when the union visited the Masjid Ibrahim Mosque where they also donated a brand new generator together with five scholarship for five students.

Sunday 2nd October this year marks another mile stone in the history of Port Loko when the union’s Education Secretary; Alhaji Abdulrahman Fofanah, arrived in the township with a delegation. Four generators were also donated to four Mosques and ten scholarships offered to ten students.

In a related development on 24/9/05, one of the country’s oldest Islamic settlements, Karima village in the Biriwa chiefdom, Bombali District played host to Alhaji Barrie who was accompanied by his wife Haja Sidratu Barrie.

Upon arrival in Karina, they were received by students of the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood Primary School, Community Elders and the entire village and their neighbours. The ceremony which was colourful started with prayers which was offered by the Imam of the village Alhaji Foday Banko Kallon.

In his statement, the Imam gave a short history of the village and disclosed to the delegation that the village was actually founded by their forefathers in the year 1601 but up to date, not much has been done to improve on the lives of their children especially in the area of education.

Alhaji Banko expressed delight over the fact that the SLMU visited their village to make contribution to the development of Education for the benefit of their children.

The chairman of the occasion another son of the soil Mr. Mohamed B. Fofanah, an employee of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, recalled their days as being the most tedious in the history of Karina. He said they used to walk miles away to attend Secondary School in Kamabai. He thanked another sister of the land Haja Fanta Sannoh-Koroma, who actually pioneered the whole programme of taking the SLMU to that part of the country to establish a secondary school. Responding, Haja Fanta thanked Allah for making her dreams come true because according to her, it was not easy to get the attention of Alhaji Barrie as he is always busy. She said her intention was to see Biriwa chiefdom raised to higher heights. She implored the union to build a secondary school in Karina, and to enlarge the Mosque for the promotion of Islam.

Responding, Alhaji Barrie said as long as the people provide the land and the work force, the union would surely build a secondary school for the village. The construction of the new secondary school will commence immediately after the month of Ramadan