And about some of the corrupt court clerks, the award of government contracts to corrupt individuals and companies without proper assessment and monitoring systems for individuals and companies’ performance in the country, business people not selling to customers according to the principle of first come, first served but by big man or status or by coat and tie, lack of maintenance of government vehicles and their misuse by senior government officials.
What about the dilapidated government buildings, the old Daily Mail building at Rawdon Street is a case in point, roads maintenance, the throwing of filthy things or dirt in the streets or roads, lack of road traffic signs, including zebra crossings, especially in the provinces, police Osusu (monthly contributions) that normally lead them to bribery and corrupt activities.
And also how about senior police officers taking bribes and encouraging corrupt attitudes which always lead to the junior police officers, especially those in the police stations, traffic police, national border police, immigration, vehicle licenses police, check points police to have a field day, a free for all harassment of the poor vulnerable general public.
According to my radar, If you want to prove me right or wrong, ask some of the junior police officers, retired police or the dismissed police officers; they will tell you more about such unpatriotic dishonest attitudes and behaviour of some senior police officers in the country. Particularly during police postings and the promotion of junior police officers to places like traffic, customs, national borders, check points and the promotion of them to certain ranks. Some actually pay big money for these transfers, a good investment, in their opinion.
So when we talk about viable democracy or good governance, accountability and human rights in the country,we are not talking only about political broken cups or who should lead which party but other equally important issues that are the bedrock of good governance and true human rights in any country.
But we always turn a blind eye to those issues, we concentrate too much on politics.. Be it Europe, America, Asia or Africa, every citizen has the right to live a comfortable and peaceful life, even the unborn child has the right to live and enjoy his life. Therefore, every human being has the right to sleep in a decent place, to work in a decent office, walk and ride or drive in good streets or roads.
Likewise every individual citizen has the right to carry out his or her obligations accordingly and to also perform his or her duties effectively and efficiently as a true and honest citizen without any sluggish attitudes, especially sluggish behaviour that will lead to the unnecessary suffering of other peaceful fellow citizens in the country.
Therefore, when we also talk about lawlessness, indiscipline, bribery and corruption in the country, the Sierra Leone police court prosecutors are no exemption because some of them are like an ebola virus disease against true and honest justice in the country according to my radar.
If you need more evidence, ask the magistrates or judges in the different courts in the country, the JCs (nationals visiting the homeland from abroad) and the general public they will tell you more about them, particularly those who have cases in the courts and in the police stations. But we do not normally pay much attention to some of these enemies of peace, unity, progress and development that I am always talking about in my writings.
These so-called police court prosecutors are complete enemies of peace, progress and development because they are always creating obstacles to the rapid dispensation of free and fair justice in the country by failing to produce their witnesses or by sitting on the evidence needed by magistrates and lawyers for cross examination as I stated earlier.
However, there are others who are really very patriotic and honest state court prosecutors doing their jobs diligently with very good morals. But many of their colleagues are rotten fishes among the good and clean ones. The corrupt stinking ones are always using delaying tactics (asking for endless adjournments) in producing their witnesses in court. They always fail to produce them on time to the court for court proceedings because of their dishonest corrupt attitudes.
Such unpatriotic corrupt attitudes and behaviour have always been great stumbling blocks to the dispensation of justice in the country by the true patriotic, honest and hardworking, magistrates and judges. Such ungodly behaviour by some court prosecutors sometimes also have some effect on the integrity or credibility of magistrates or judges either directly or indirectly.The fact is, the general public may sometimes think that they (the magistrates or judges) are unable to carry out their sacred duties effectively as magistrates or judges. Or maybe they work with the prosecutors to make some money on the backs of the hapless masses.
As I stated and want to emphasize,, some of these corrupt, stinking police prosecutors always create unnecessary suffering for innocent poor, defenceless, powerless and unprotected vulnerable fellow citizens in the country by always failing to produce their witness/s on time for court proceedings. When a court prosecutor fails to produce his or her witness/s in court for cross examination, especially without any valid excuse, the man or woman or boy in remand cell or prison will continue to languish in jail because of the inhuman, wicked and corrupt behaviour or deliberately inefficient work and behaviour of their brothers and sisters so-called prosecutors.
However my point is that these unworthy enemies of peace, progress and development prosecutors in the country who think they are above the laws of the state should be dealt with according to the laws of the land. Several times I hear and read about magistrates or judges threatening to dismiss court cases because court prosecutors fail to produce their witnesses for court proceedings or cross examination.
There should be strict measures to discipline them if they fail to execute their sacred duties for which they are receiving tax payers’ money every month as salary. Are they exempted from being sent to jail or remand cell for weeks or months, like some of their poor, defenceless and powerless fellow citizens that they are always punishing in the prisons or cells for failing to produce their witness or witnesses in the court for cross examination? I think corrupt prosecutors, if caught, should be sent to the filthy bedbug and rat infested prisons to taste their own medicine.
Recently I wrote an article on equality in the eyes of the law and how every individual or group of Sierra Leoneans should obey the laws of the country. And also how some Sierra Leoneans like to use their official big titles, political, professional titles to bulldoze or break the laws of the state willfully because he or she is Mr. or Mrs. Prosecutor, Mr. court clerk, Mr. senior police officer, Mr doctor, Mr. manager, Mr. director, Mr. minister, Mr. MP or Honourable, or Mr or Mrs political party flag bearer, Mr senior party member, Mr. journalist, Mr. lawyer, Mr human rights activist, Mr. professor, Mr. lecturer, etc.
If we are to maintain good peace, progress and development in the country, Sierra Leoneans with such big titles should be very good examples in terms of obeying the laws of the country. The fact is that the common man or woman in the street or market place or junior police officer is very easy to put under control if only those who are supposed to be good pacesetters in the country are really willing to change their unpatriotic attitudes and behaviour, especially by obeying the laws of the nation.
