Are these the top one hundred most influential Sierra Leoneans of 2016?

13 Comments

1. Now and then we all have to take a light hearted view of life to ease the pain , stress and demands of everyday living. This is especially important in a country like Sierra Leone which has had its fair share of misery in recent years. The alternative can only lead to stress related diseases like heart attack , cancer and depression , to name just three.

   I believe the list is having its desired impact : to make us laugh. According to reliable medical research , laughing helps to relieve stress and hence health.

   The compilers of the list were sensible enough to literally just throw in a name or two – like that of Christiana Thorpe – to make us take them seriously , for no one can look at the list and think otherwise.

   Blaming the Sierra Leone Telegraph for publishing the list is grossly unfair as Abdul R. Thomas has more or less pointed out. The paper merely facilitates free speech which we should all be grateful for. If anyone does not like what he/she sees or read a counter argument should be developed and expressed with civility and clarity.

   Nearly all the other newspapers , including Cocorico , take a one -sided view of events in Sierra Leone , which effectively precludes anything which resembles an opposing view , which to me is not healthy , especially if the opposition is done within the bounds of propriety.

   If I were to compile a list of influential people in Sierra Leone for 2016 I would top the list with the names of all those in the medical profession , including nurses, who laboured under impossible conditions , sometimes losing their own lives, on the course of saving the victims of the Ebola outbreak. They did not run away but stood to fight stoically and valiantly to help us. If this is not influential to the highest degree I do not know what is.

   I would next confer honorary citizenship on all the foreign nationals who dropped everything they were doing in their respective countries to fly into our Ebola stricken country . This would be in the name of putting them at the top of the list alongside our nurses and doctors.

   We cannot ignore President Koroma whom I criticise very often. He would come behind the doctors and nurses , both local and foreign. He cancelled a foreign trip to be in the country throughout. How his government dubiously handled the financial aid that came in is another matter altogether.

   Next on the list would be the fearless Sylvia Blyden who defused the rather explosive issue of Bondo. Added to this is her transparent way of doing her job. Only those who are corrupt to their bones would not want to be like her.

   Who would not want to see Chritiana Thorp’s name on the list. She is another intrepid one. In an operation you want her by your side.

   I have to stop here and hope other right minded people will help.

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2. What the hell is this? My God… are you guys out of touch with the realities of all the epidemics that plagued our country Salone?

   Where any of these people with us in the trenches during the Ebola crisis? Where are the names of the men and women who lost their lives saving Sierra Leone? Where is my name, Sahr Filo?

   You people need to go to Bo, Kenema, Kailahun districts, etc., and ask the people who are their Heroes. Please.

   Anyway…Let me hold my peace and let it go.

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3. What a massive joke. As always with affairs of the State of Salone mediocrity reigns. The whole damn thing lacks accuracy – does not even add up, as I would say in my profession. Whoever compiled the list has little regard for accuracy. For example Madam Haja I Kallay-Kamara (Commissioner General NRA) comes in both at 5th and 67th as does Alpha Kholifa Kororma coming in at 35th and 72nd.

   Basic spelling was also an issue – Kaneh instead of Kandeh (as in Kandeh Yumkella), for example plus more but by this point I had lost the will to live or to read any further.

   We really must start striving for excellence in everything we do or our beloved country will continue propping up every social and development tables known to mankind. The list has no credibility in my books.

   Not with such woeful school boy errors. Says so much about the care that was taken to prepare it. Absolutely none, in my view. And I picked up those basic errors from my very first cursory read. Or was it a case of the individuals whose names appear more than once paying for more than one spot?

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4. The Sierra Leone Telegraph does not take responsibility for the so called list of top one hundred most influential Sierra Leoneans of 2016, published by Ecomedia Corporation Sierra Leone. The accuracy or efficacy of the list is entirely the responsibility of its authors.

   The Sierra Leone Telegraph is committed to publishing any content that it believes is of interest or interesting to our readers, irrespective of whether we agree or disagree with the judgement of the authors of the content.

   Criticizing the Sierra Leone Telegraph for publishing the list is acceptable, but totally out of place. We respect your right to free speech and have therefore not deleted your criticisms. Lets keep the debate going. This is why we exist – to promote civil liberty and free speech. Thank you.

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5. Did I miss something? I understand that the list in question was compiled and published by an entity called Ecomedia Corporation Sierra Leone – NOT The Sierra Leone Telegraph, which has re-posted it here for it’s readers.

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6. I regret wasting my precious time going through this list of the 100 influential Sierra Leoneans. I agree they are influential in perpetuating pervasive poverty within society, endemic corruption, recycling pseudo-politicians that are embezzling the state treasury from one ministerial position to the other.

   The political system in Sierra Leone is Siaka Stevens’ legacy that propagated Sierra Leone to a civil war that fittingly labeled Sierra Leone a failed state. So lionizing these corrupt politicians and their surrogates as influential Sierra Leoneans is unconscionable and disrespectful to smart thinking Sierra Leoneans.

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7. What a joke!! It is insulting to some of the people on the list; especially to start this list with a respected journalist and then sprinkle their distasteful list with a few upright citizens.

   It is obvious that Ecomedia is singing the praises of the most corrupt elements of the political power brokers in Sierra Leone, as a means of gaining favors from them. They should change their organization’s name to the “Grio media.”

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8. Mr. Thomas this is one time I have been forced to impeach the seriousness and integrity of your newspaper which I have always been enamored by, merely reading through the so called list of “influential people”.

   I will rather spare you the unpleasant scenario of having to tear in pieces some of the unsavory characters listed as “influential”, especially folks like Alpha Kanu, Minkailu Mansaray, and Foday Osman Yansaneh.

   Mr. Thomas, the sovereign nation of Sierra Leone is going through political convulsions and social vicissitudes on the part of the criminal cartel led by the very man you listed as “influential” – Ernest Bai Koroma.

   It is lamenting and sad that a reputable paper of yours can descend from the disciplined reasoning of Journalistic norms to the mystical aphorisms of big market antics, by pandering to the lowest of lows in skulduggery for cheap political recognition.

   Indeed, sad day in Journalism.

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9. A silly nonsense joke. But that is truly salon where influence and popularity is measured by your political standing and connectivity.

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10. Good thing that the title of the post is not definitive as, for the most part, the names on the list looks like a rogues gallery. One can easily see why Sierra Leone is at the bottom of ALL international indices, if those 100 names are posited as the most influential …Lol

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11. This is a bad taste joke. Even some of the names are repeated in the list. There are quite a couple of personalities who may deserve recognition if the list makers had highlighted the achievements made by those people and their influence on the common people, across the society.

    All the ministers and government officials included on the list were simply plugged in for their influence on the list makers and not judged by merit. They are all failures and whose notoriety is best known by under-performance in their duties, and corrupt practices. Most of the people on the list are all of APC caboodle.

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12. Most of the names are repetitively mentioned and do not reflect recognition of any sort, except champions of kleptomania and acute corruption.

    I wonder how most so called journalists publish false articles without material facts, based on their research if any. Such so-called writers must be warned for fear of action of litigation in tort. You have been warned?

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13. It is unbelievable that most of the nominees are politicians who are not fit for purpose or have done absolutely nothing to change the lives of our people/

    In fact some are greedy politicians who have enriched themselves and their tailcoat carriers. Some are rouges who do not merit mentioning among others.

    Your criteria for measuring who qualifies is laughable. I hope those who are responsible should actually state the contribution of these people mentioned.

    Sierra Leone is a joke and if we are not careful our generation will NEVER see or witness a society with genuine intentions to better its people. All i can say is some of the non-politicians on the list have never been heard of.

    This is another sad day to cry home about. Is there a sportsman/woman mentioned in this list? What a joke!!!!!. Whoever wins should be prepared to make an acceptance speech that reflects the current plight of our country and the people of Sierra Leone.

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