Sierra Leone Telegraph: 19 July 2017
After much speculation and pressure from the Sierra Leone Telegraph, demanding that the government of Sierra Leone makes a statement about the whereabouts of the estimated $50 million diamond, which was found a few months ago by a local pastor in Kono, the country’s National Minerals Agency has today issued a statement saying that the diamond is safe and sound, and that they have not been able to sell it on the open market in Antwerp.
But they said that they are hoping to have a buyer before the end of this month – August, 2017. The Agency said they have received several proposals which are now being considered. This is their statement:
SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH – “GEH GEH NAR TROt” [A NUISANCE]
Some years ago I distinctly remember being in a mosque for Friday [Jumu’ah] prayers. It is normally preceded by the Imam giving a “khutbah” [sermon] to everybody listening with wrapped attention to help them become better Muslims.
On that Friday, the Imam said something which I have never forgotten : “ every phirahun [pharaoh] has his Musa”[Moses]
Nobody reads the Koran or the bible who does not come across the story of Pharaoh and Moses – how Moses humiliated the former who had ruled his people on the false premise that he was invincible, even against Allah/God.
In April 1992, a young lad, by the name of Tom Nyuma, [Allah/God bless him] who had not been born when the All Peoples Congress [A.P.C] came to power in 1967/68 under Siaka Stevens, masterminded the most daring coup which toppled A.P.C., a government which, like pharaoh’s, had become convinced of its unshakable perpetuity.
Thus our Tom Nyuma became our Musa/Moses. He altered Sierra Leone forever politically.
Juxtaposing journalism as it relates to Sierra Leone with the Musa/Moses story, one can see how Sierra Leone Telegraph has become the Musa of the A.P.C. government, a most uncomfortable dilemma for Ernest Koroma and his entourage.
The diamond in question would have easily disappeared between State House and Lungi airport had the Telegraph not kept the story alive to constantly alert the people of the possible artificial cloud in which it could disappear without a trace, as so many others have done in the past.
The country may still not end up benefiting much from the eventual sale of the diamond, thanks to corruption, but only if the Telegraph has nothing to do with it.
I hope the paper has spies in place who are ready and willing to pass on pertinent information to keep the administration on edge.
Centuries upon centuries after Musa’s feat, his descendants [the Jews] are still grateful to him, and so shall it be for the Sierra Leone Telegraph centuries from now.
Sierra Leone Telegraph has become “ GEH GEH NAR TROT” [a lump in the throat] of A.P.C.
And, their twin partners -S.L.P.P, must be wondering what awaits them on the corner, should they gain power in 2018. I hope Kandeh Yumkella beats both of them.
We need a complete break from our past.
The Telegraph is not a nuisance but a conduit, through which everybody can relieve the stress which our politicians inflict on us without relent.