By Amin Kef Sesay
So far, so good, Sierra Leoneans – both the duty bearers and us citizens – have done well and continue to do well in observing the restrictions placed on our Freedom of Movement by the Government due to the corona virus disease.
Generally, we can pat ourselves on the back that we are bearing up admirably and courageously to the hardships imposed on us by the health emergency that confronts us.
We cannot however help but express grave dismay at our brothers and sisters who call themselves traders that have taken the current hardship that we face as a very good excuse to inflate the prices of the commodities with no sympathy or pity for the plight of the majority poor that constitute the bulk of our population.
However, we should not be surprised. Traders generally thrive on calamity to make excess profit; whether as the Bible and Qur’an say they will face judgment for the wickedness to their poor suffering brothers and sisters next world, is an open question.
It is not easy for the average ordinary Sierra Leonean living under the present economic climate by any stretch of the imagination when we recall the untold hardship that we went through in 2014 and 2015 during the Ebola outbreak period.
We can recall how President Koroma’s immense and timely efforts in containing the Ebola outbreak was widely appreciated in the country as many lives were saved, although, as we recall then, the curfew order placed extreme strain to especially Freetown commuters living in the peri-urban areas such as Waterloo, Goderich and other places to rush home in the evening hours.
Given that transportation is very hard to find during the evening rush hours, many people living in the outskirts of the city are calling on the Government to consider lifting the start of the curfew from 9pm to 10pm.
Citizens however do not quarrel with the Government’s order for commercial bus owners and drivers to reduce the number of passengers that they carry, given that before the emergency, they used to cram us into their tight vehicles like herrings in a basket.
Many are praying that even after the emergency, the SLRSA considers making the present sitting arrangement in poda-podas the standard norm; only that many observe that restricting the front passenger seat which is meant for two passengers to only one passenger is not fair.
Vehicle owners and their drivers enjoyed this illegitimate right to carry excess passengers because they were licensed by SLRSA. Going forward, there must be extensive sensitization exercises by SLRSA to enlighten drivers that cramming passengers in vehicles is uncomfortable and dangerous.
