2013 has been an interesting year all round.
Early January saw the discharge of Malala Yousafzai from a hospital in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. She is the schoolgirl from Pakistan who was shot by the Taliban in October 2012 because of her campaign for girls to be educated.Of course the Taliban still remain at large continuing to suppress women and girls in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Nyamacoro Sarata Silla
January also saw Mali’s former colonial master France jetting into the country with troops to quell the rebellion from Islamist groups which had threatened the fragile peace and stability in the country. My one enduring image of this time was seeing a wizened old lady sat in front of her hut complaining that she wasn’t allowed to smoke her tobacco because of strict Islamic laws which the Islamist insurgents were trying to impose on Malian nationals.The BBC website reports at the time that French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said France had been obliged to send in troops “very very rapidly otherwise there would be no more Mali.” West African troops were later deployed in an attempt to support the efforts of the French.
In the United Kingdom allegations surfaced in January against veteran fund raiser and entertainer Jimmy Saville of extensive and horrendous child abuse claims. These allegations left a lot of folk reeling in disbelief and wondering how it was that all of this had been going on and no one had raised the alarm. Saville had died in 2011 before any allegations had been made public.
January 2013 also saw the inauguration of Barack Obama’s second term as president of the United States.
Meanwhile in Sierra Leone someone thought that it might be a good idea to turn the oldest girls secondary school in West Africa the Annie Walsh Memorial School established in 1849 into a marketplace. The incomprehensible notion was soon abandoned amidst vociferous protests from all quarters.
The first quarter of the year saw a record number of fraudulent and corrupt practices being exposed within the banking industry and other agencies in Sierra Leone. There are several estimates of just how much money has been stolen from various sources. Some estimates are as high as $10 million. My guess is that we will never know the exact amount of how much has been taken from the ordinary Sierra Leonean but we see the devastating impact on the lives of people daily.
Quelle horreur! Pope Benedict XV1 resigned in February amidst speculation that there must be a reason for his resignation. It turned out that there was no reason except the poor pope was old, tired, felt it and wanted to retire. Good enough reasons for retirement I’d say!
In February 2013 Oscar Pistorius the acclaimed South African athlete was charged for shooting his girlfriend in a very bizarre incident at his home in Pretoria. The trial is set for March 2014.
In April 2013 Baroness Thatcher aged 87 dies following a stroke. She was the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.Thatcher in life as in death evoked very strong feelings from the British public. Nonetheless she was the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom and had won three elections as leader of the Conservative party. Her particular brand of conservatism had become known as Thatcherism.
Throughout 2013 the Syrian conflict which had started in 2011 when the “Arab Spring had sprung” rages on and has escalated considerably. Over this period an estimated 100,000 people have died with a further two million fleeing to neighbouring countries and beyond.
In September 2013 the trauma of rape was brought to our national attention in Sierra Leone when a deputy Government minister for education was sacked following allegations of rape from a university student. Unlike India where the general public and all sorts of groups had marched in protest against such a heinous crime no such support was demonstrated on behalf of the victim.
In October 2013 359 African migrants in a boat from Libya were killed just yards from the coast of Lampedusa a small island just off the Italian coast. Eight days later the tragedy is repeated when 34 people die in similar circumstances. Of course no one addresses the root causes of these intolerable happenings namely corrupt regimes and lack of opportunity at home for those who risk their lives in such ventures.
On the 5th of December Nelson Mandela was gathered to his ancestors aged 95 and after a considerable period of illness. Unlike Margaret Thatcher his death made an overwhelming impact worldwide. There was International outpouring of tributes to the great man. Over a 100 dignitaries from all over the globe attended his funeral in South Africa. Including several British and American current and previous leaders and of course every African leader under the sun. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mandela were to bump into Ghadaffi in the great beyond what would the conversation be like. Would it be a sort of I told you so!
Meanwhile in Sierra Leone the year ends with spectacular songs being released from Emmerson a very popular Sierra-Leonean artist. The message in Emmersons songs is that the social and economic landscape remains unrelentingly grim for many ordinary Sierra Leoneans and corruption rages on unabated. The year end report from the auditor general also gives us Sierra Leoneans much food for thought and confirms all our worst suspicions that our country continues to be deliberately mismanaged in all sorts of ways.
Roll on 2014!!!!!!!!
Nyamacoro Silla. (An African with a Global outlook)