May 25, 2021
BY PROBLYN JOHN ALPHA
Some people in the municipality of Koidu and Kono District as a whole have expressed mixed feelings over the series of mysterious attacks on the Koidu city ever constructed and yet to be commissioned clock tower. The clock tower was finally completed with the intervention of Her Excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone Madam Fatima Maada Jabbie Bio.
It could be recalled that the yet to be commissioned clock tower has gone through at least two major mysterious damages.
The first one was noticed when people living around the aforesaid clock tower woke up one early morning and saw the mysterious damage on it which thereby created so many mixed feelings among some residents of Koidu City. Many have been questioning what was responsible for the said damage on the clock tower but to no avail.
Meanwhile, speculations that made the rounds by then suggested that Kono District and Koidu city in particular are politically charged and divided. This political division many say could have led to the vandalization of clock tower. There is widespread belief that those opposed to the support of Madam Fatima Bio have been pelting stone at the Clock Tower.
On the other hand it was also speculated that for political gains the clock tower must have been allegedly built with substandard materials and as a result it could not stand the test of time.
When contacted the Mayor of the Koidu New Sembehun City Council his worship Ambassador Komba Mathew Sam maintained that the damage on the clock tower cannot be connected with poor weather condition.
He noted that plans were underway to repair the damage which they later did but surprisingly there was a recurrence of the same damage at the same point on the clock tower that was initially mysteriously damaged.
It has been indicated that owing to a song done by some local musicians about the rampant damage on the clock tower, police at the Criminal Investigation Department at the Tankoro police divisional headquarters are investigating certain local musicians reported by the Mayor for being allegedly responsible for the two damages on the clock tower. The matter is still under police investigation.
Meanwhile, this same clock tower was ran into by a commercial truck with registration number ARH 478 on Monday morning 17th May, 2021. According to Mohamed Koroma who was in control of the said truck a rider in front of him broke what he called traffic rules and regulations whilst some traffic wardens were in front of him performing duty and there was no alternative but to run into the Clock Tower. The driver is said to have tendered an apology and a commitment to repair the damage.
According to an independent investigation mounted by this medium into the said matter, the mayor has reportedly intervened by inviting the driver and his truck to the Koidu New Sembehun City Council for further enquiries.
Efforts by our reporter to ascertain the said information up to press time proved futile as the mayor could not pick his calls neither respond to the text message that was sent to him with regards the damage on the clock tower. The investigation continues as both the damages on the top and bottom parts of the clock tower still remain unresolved.
In a similar development, some residents of Koidu have also expressed dismay over the damage on the structure that houses the NRA office in Kono District which was allegedly caused by some unscrupulous commercial bike riders during what they called a strike action late last year. Some of the residents who spoke to this medium noted that the damage on the said building does not befit NRA and therefore urged the management to promptly address the damage as it is one of the government institutions that generates income for government operations.