You don eat? [Sunday, June 24-Monday, July 2]

I sat under the Cotton Tree eating Le100 worth of popcorn, the only food I had been able to find a lazy Sunday afternoon in central Freetown. Women carried goods by on their heads, taxis fought around the round about, and poda podas huffed by as the aprentices shouted out destinations: "Lum-Lum-Lum-Lum-Lumley!" One group, wearing t-shits emblazoned with a picture of Libyan President Gaddafi and the text "Brother Muammar Gaddafi - World Islamic Call Society," was hanging on the cotton tree a massive poster identical to their shirts. Others hoisted a banner, in Arabic and English, that said "The Youth of the City of Freetown welcome the found of African Union." Gaddafi had been road-tripping through West Africa on his way to the AU meeting and was supposed to finally visit Freetown sometime this week, although no one knew exactly when.

An enormous megaphone with a taxi beneath it drove through the streets, blaring in Krio and English that "marginalization affects you" and that Brother Gaddafi will alleviate the suffering. I guess they got bored with shouting their message because they soon started playing Abba's "Take a chance on me" through the megaphone.

The excitement continued on Monday. Signs celebrating Gaddafi popped up all over the city: "Kwame Nkrumah to Muammar Gaddafi - Completing the dream of African Unity." Nkrumah was the Ghanian leader who spearheaded the independence movement from England in the late 1950's and was elected president of Ghana. I've included an excerpt about Nkrumah from a paper I wrote earlier this year on the politics of post-Independence Africa; it's more history than anything else, so feel free to skip ahead to the more exciting parts.

In less than two decades, Kwame Nkrumah went from a convicted criminal to prime minister leading the African unity movement to a man evicted from his own nation. A man with idealistic ideas far beyond the times, his refusal to acknowledge the realpolitik that dominated the African political scene lead to his demise on the global level, while domestically his increasingly inefficient and corrupt administration lost popular support.

Initially the charming spokesman of Africa, Nkrumah gradually become more socially isolated; he replaced this with “a citadel of power” in which he alone dominated the Ghanaian political scene. He dismantled any real sense of democracy and replaced it with an autocratic regime democratic only in theory. Since he claimed to be the visionary messiah of Africa, he had no problems in destroying the fragile system at whim – by 1964 Ghana was a one party state; the following year Nkrumah merely announced the winners of the elections without a vote. He refused to acknowledge any imperfection and claimed all failures had resulted from “imperialists and neo-colonialists plotting against him.” Additionally, his lack of coherent economic policy proved disastrous: “From being one of the most prosperous countries in the tropical world at the time of independence in 1957, Ghana by 1965 had become virtually bankrupt: it was saddled with huge debts and beset by rising prices, higher taxes and food shortages.”

As his domestic world collapsed, he became obsessed with the international scene and his real life-long infatuation of establishing the United States of Africa. While many leaders agreed with his ideas to some degree, most were already alienated by his foreign policy of active subversion of other governments. As a result, the 1965 OAU [Organization of African Unity] summit meeting in Accra at which Nkrumah called for union government was a dismal failure, completing his isolation not just at home, but on the international level.

The army, threatened by Nkrumah’s subjection of the military to his own policies, finally removed him from office in 1966. This was to become a common theme throughout Africa, as the first-generation of post-Independence leaders, corrupted by power, ignored the demands of the people.

(The book quoted is Meredith's "The Fate of Africa")

In short, Nkrumah was unable to successfully establish an effective continental government entity. Although the OAU did foster a dialogue between African leaders and supported the nationalist movements against white minority rule in Southern Africa, it was increasingly marginalized by Cold War politics and, more importantly, national sovereignty. As it was essentially an organization of African leaders who had no desire to give up any authority to a continental body, so the OAU gradually withered away as many leaders became increasingly autocratic and focused on state - and regime - security. The OAU watched As the OAU was a child of the state-centric politics of the post-World War II era, it only had protocols for handling inter-state conflict and subjected human rights, democratic governance and human security to state sovereignty and regime survival. As there was no mandate for intervention in intra-state affairs, the OAU could only watch from the sidelines as corrupt leaders created disaster and conflict - leading to the deaths of millions - throughout second half of the twentieth century.

As the OAU was effectively “held ransom by its own charter,” several leaders, such as Mbeki of South Africa and Obasanjo of Nigeria, began working to create a new pan-African body that would be more appropriate for a post-Cold War era that places value on human security. While based on the OAU, the this new organisation - the African Union - had many differences, the most important being Article 4(h), which gives it the right to intervene in internal state affairs in order to "prevent war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity" and respond to "serious threats to legitimate order." This recognition of the humanitarian problems - and the mandate to resolve them - created by primitive adherence to national sovereignty - has enourmous potential, although currently it is only that, as enforcement of Article 4(h) remains problematic. Leaders often give dramatic speeches promoting good governance, democratisation, and accountability at AU meetings, but such ideals are rarely being implemented once the leaders return to the plush benefits of leadership in their home nations. Many of these same leaders came to power through coups or fraudulent elections and rarely even budge towards democracy. Nevertheless, the AU remains a significant step towards ensuring human security for all.

However, like any bureaucracy, the AU is expensive and most African nations were not prepared to front the expenses of a continental body. With his usual theatrical antics, Gaddafi jumped on pan-African bandwagon and provided much of the initial funding for AU, even though his dictatorial Libya can not exactly be said to be a prime example of the ideals touted in the AU's charter. Additionally, his international image has been less than stellar due to decades of antagonism directed at the United States and the United Kingdom and his support and training of the leaders of rebel movements throughout sub-Saharan Africa, such as Charles Taylor of Liberia and the RUF here in Sierra Leone.

However, with this new promotion of the AU and humanitarian assistance to African nations, his image is improving here in Sierra Leone, although certainly not uniformly. Wikipedia states:

Gaddafi has also emerged as a popular African leader. As one of the continent's longest-serving, post-colonial heads of state, the Libyan dictator enjoys a reputation among many Africans as an experienced and wise statesman who has been at the forefront of many struggles over the years. Gaddafi has earned the praise of Nelson Mandela and others, and is always a prominent figure in various pan-African organizations, such as the Organization of African Unity (now replaced by the African Union). He is also seen by many Africans as a humanitarian, pouring large amounts of money into sub-Saharan states. Large numbers of Africans have come to Libya to take advantage of the availability of jobs there. In addition, many economic migrants, primarily from Somalia and Ghana, use Libya as a staging-post to reach Italy and other European countries.

There are many explanations for the change of Gaddafi's politics. The most obvious is that the once very rich Libya became much less wealthy as oil prices dropped significantly during the 1990's. Since then, Gaddafi has tended to need other countries more than before and hasn't been able to dole out foreign aid as he once did. In this environment, the increasingly stringent sanctions placed by the UN and US on Libya made it more and more isolated politically and economically. Another possibility is that strong Western reactions have forced Gaddafi into changing his politics. It is also possible that realpolitik changed Gaddafi. His ideals and aims did not materialize: there never was any Arab unity, the various armed revolutionary organizations he supported did not achieve their goals, and the demise of the Soviet Union left Gaddafi's main symbolic target, the United States, stronger than ever.

While everyone here has a different opinion of Gaddafi, most people were excited for his visit Sierra Leone, if only from the novelty of seeing a foreign head of state. The hot topic of conversation last Monday night in the taxi was the streetlights being on. Although most of the city has streetlights, they only function when a high government official from Sierra Leone needs to impress visiting dignitaries - so they were on for Gaddafi. Their unusual light revealed hundreds of people lined up along the roads, waiting for the Libyan convoy.

The taxi driver managed to negotiate the police roadblocks and dropped me off at the Y, but then I saw people running towards Siaka Stevens Street. Thinking to myself that joining an giant mob of people was a very bad idea, I ran with them anyways and made it to Siaka just as the first Sierra Leonean police escorts were flying by on their motorcyles. Next came the SL police pickup trucks complete with officers sitting on a wooden bench in the back with their weapons held nonchalantly at their sides. This was nothing unusual as such escort is customary for high government officials.

Then the Toyota Land Cruisers rolled by, caked in dark red West African dust but still clearly only a few months old - the beautiful white and maroon trim peaked out from under the dust. Some Libyans waved from the windows, but most continued sleeping, sprawled out in the back seats clearly bored by just another West African city. Others pumped their hands into the air in triumphant celebration of their own arrival, to which the Sierra Leoneans roared with applause fit for a returning war hero. In a sense, Gaddafi is just that - except he supported the side that lost, but in a war where there's no good guys, even the losers get recognition. Especially when they donate millions of dollars to your country.

After an nearly interminable amount of identical white and maroon Land Cruisers, the media truck rolled by with camera men poking out of the windows. The next Land Cruiser was jet black with a driver wearing immaculate white gloves, jesturing excitedly to an identical SUV behind him. The crowd screamed with excitement as tinted windows concealed what could only be their hero Gaddafi, but the only glimpse of him Monday night would be his likeness cheaply imprinted on the "World Islamic Call Society" shirts.

The procession continued on after Gaddafi with ambulances and buses and just about everything else imaginalbly - if there was a slight chance of the convoy needing something during their roadtrip, they had brought it along with them. Then, with a few more police sirens, the Libyans disappeared down the brightly lit streets as the Sierra Leoneans blabbered excitedly about their wonderful Arab friend from North Africa.

The next day was just like any other, except everyone was wearing the Gaddafi shirts. I heard on the street that their would be a rally at the National Stadium in the afternoon, and as I work right across the street, I ventured on over, curious to see the Sierra Leone-Libya interaction. While there were no signs of Gaddafi at first, the numerous police officers milling about confirmed he would be arriving soon.

While the stadium was about half full, it was almost empty compared to the Togo-Sierra Leone football match earlier in the month. Most people sported Gaddafi shirts or banners, while those in the VIP section were clearly those in favor with the World Islamic Council - all were dressed in white gown-like garmets (I'm sorry I don't know the real name for them). Chants of "Allahu Akbar!" roared through the stadium when the Libyan entourage arrived and drove their Land Cruisers onto the track. Hundreds of street sellers walked through the stands hawking everything from eggs to posters and oblivious to the Libyans disembarking on below the stands.

Photo by Moses Marrah

The Libyans knew they were the wealthier nation - and weren't afraid to show it by directing the event, as the Sierra Leonean officials watched from the shadows. Sparkling white minibuses inscribed with "Gift of the Leader and Libyan People to the People of Sierra Leone" filled almost half the track, each with a driver standing smartly at attention.

A dance troupe performed for the two heads of states as the crowd applauded. A crowd of Libyan doctors - or who I can only assume were doctors - paraded into the VIP section behind the two heads of state. The doctors wore jeans, tee-shirts emblazoned with Gaddafi's image and white lab coats. Some draped stethoscopes around their neck and wore surgical masks. One tried to smoke with surgical mask on, which didn't work out so well for him. They were a very interesting group of rather confused medical "professionals." After seeing them, I can understand how the Bulgarian HIV case !!!!!!!!!LINK!!!!!!!!! could have happened.

President Kabbah (SL) and Gaddafi both addressed the crowd, although unfortunately I can't report with any accuracy on the remainder of the rally, as I was busy convincing Libyan security officials that I wasn't a threat to their leader. Thankfully, they were quite reasonable once they realized I was just a student photographer.

After more speeches and chanting, the Libyan motorcade tore out of the stadium in their Land Cruisers and left Freetown to continue their road trip to the the AU summit in the capital of Ghana, Accra. Mobs of young boys chased after them, eager to catch one last glimpse of Gaddafi. The summit is going on this week, and the BBC reports that his dreams of a single African state are likely to remain just that, as most of his fellow leaders - and likely himself as well - are simply not going to give up their sovereignty to an unproven continental organization. The current pan-African trends seem to favor economic integration by means such as the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS. Leaders interested in actual governance rather than thousand mile road trips through West Africa have largely left Gaddafi alone, although a few states such as Senegal have supported the Libyan leader.

- - - - - - -

The day after Gaddafi's rally I was walking with Moses down the street near Grafton, a small village just outside of Eastern Freetown, glad that the excitement of Gaddafi's visit had finally quieted down when I glanced up to see a nightmare hurtling towards me.

A tractor trailer truck was bouncing down the road with dozens of people clinging onto the roof while a mob of their compatriots ran along side it. Some screamed with joy and raised pink plastic bundles over their head, away from the grappling hands of those who hadn't been so fortunate while others jostled for prime positioning to grab the pink packages that seemed to be inside - but when it went by, the truck was completely empty. I handed Moses my backpack - it suddenly becomes a lot less valuable when a white person isn't carrying it - and we weaved through the crowd and hopped in the first poda that was going back to town. A man jumped into the poda with his pink bundle of loot and sat next to me, guarding it with clasped hands and wary eyes. Once safely away from the mobs, he opened the plastic and peered inside. He blabbered excitedly and pulled out a woman's dress for closer inspection.

Our poda had finally left the crowds behind when a group of boys dashed by, heading towards the mobs of people screaming "res! res!" (rice! rice!). Before the poda could even stop moving, everyone inside - except Moses and me - had handed the apprentice Le800 and leapt out, joining those dashing back towards the the mobs. I was utterly confused, to say the least.

I think the truck had dropped off a load of clothing donated by Gaddafi at one of the buildings alongside the road, but the distribution had turned into a bit of a brawl, with the losers chasing after the truck in hopes of there being more pink bundles inside it There may have been some rice as well, as it looked like some had been spilled on the road.

People said Gaddafi had donated the clothing and rice as a gesture of solidarity with the Sierra Leonean people - and I assumed this mob would be the end of the matter. However, Gaddafi's donations were to remain a matter of converstation. The front page of that morning's Standard Times - one of the local newspapers - was filled with the title "BOMBSHELL - COL GHADDAFI EXPOSES GOVERNMENT" and the following article, initially only published in their print edition:

"At the National Stadium yesterday the visiting Libyan President revealed to the mammoth crowd which was predominantly Muslims, the numerous contributions he has made to this country through the Government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. Among the items donated were Two shiploads of rice, money to the tune of Two million Dollars, fleet of vehicles, forty tractors, skip trucks, bowzers of fuel, nineteen buses and other items . . . The two ship loads of rice, the President could not explain how it was utilized. What remains of serious concern to the majority of Sierra Leoneans present at the National Stadium is that the Government of President Kabbah has never informed the people about these gestures from Colonel Ghaddafi and his Government"

In short, the Standard Times reported that Gaddafi had mentioned donations to people of Sierra Leone that Kabbah's government had embezzeled, instead of giving them to the people. The Standard Times stated that president Kabbah then attempted to explain these donations, saying he sold the rice to finance NASSIT, the social security institution. Kabbah's SLPP (Sierra Leone People's Party) government published the following rebuttal of the Standard Times article the next day:

Government wishes the public to know that there is absolutely no iota of truth in the publication. Colonel Ghaddafi never made such a statement nor did he make any reference to donations made to Sierra Leone. On the contrary, it was President Kabbah who, in welcoming the Libyan Leader once again reminded the public about the various items Libya has donated to Sierra Leone.

It will be recalled that on every occasion when donations have been made, the President has always informed the public either through press releases as in the case of the Libyan rice, when that rice was publicly sold and proceeds used as seed money to launch National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) or as in the case of the tractors, a public ceremony was held at the Youyi Building at which the President presented the forty tractors to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

So also in the case of the twenty buses, skip trucks and water bowsers a special ceremony was held at the National Stadium at which representatives of the Libyan Government were specially flown from Libya to Freetown to take part in the presentation. All these presentations were given the widest publicity on the radio, television and in the newspapers.

Apart from the public presentations President Kabbah has on numerous occasions all over the country referred to these gifts in his public speeches.
With respect to the one million dollars gift, the cheque was prepared and issued in the personal name of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who nonetheless endorsed it to the Accountant-General for payment into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Again, a press release was made on that occasion.
Government considers the Standard Times publication as not only mischievous, malicious, inciting but also calculated to bring the President into hatred and excite public disaffection against the President and his Government

The relationship between the Government and the people of the Arab Republic of Libya and the Government and people of Sierra Leone has been collaborative and transparent.

It is, therefore, the hope of Government that media practitioners would practise their trade with objectivity, integrity and caution. The referenced article in the Standard Times woefully failed to observe these basic rules of journalism.

Meanwhile, the matter has been referred to the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for necessary action.

As I was being interrogated by the Libyans during the speeches at the rally, I can't verify if the Standard Times or the SLPP version of the speeches is correct, and - in either case - the speeches were in rather halting English, which is easy to misinterpret. The government did not merely issue press releases combatting the claims of the Standard TImes; the "necessary action" taken by the Attorney-General was to arrest the editor of the Standard Times, as reported by Reuters:

FREETOWN (Reuters) - Police in Sierra Leone have detained a newspaper editor over an article about gifts from leader Muammar Gaddafi after his visit to the West African country this week, state radio reported on Friday.

Police detained Philip Neville, managing editor of the Standard Times daily newspaper, after a search of the newspaper's offices which produced evidence that may lead to charges of sedition and criminal libel, the radio said.

Gaddafi held a big rally in the country's main stadium on Tuesday during a road tour of West Africa to drum up support for a continental government, which will be discussed at an African Union summit opening in Ghana on Sunday. The Standard Times led Wednesday's edition with a report that Gaddafi had detailed gifts Libya had previously given to Sierra Leone, including two shipments of rice, that the government had not made public. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said on Tuesday the rice had been sold to raise funds for a national social security unit to provide benefits to the unemployed, but revelations of the gifts have received broad coverage in local newspapers.

"Many news media have been talking about Col. Muammar Gaddafi's gifts, not just the Standard Times," New York-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres said in a statement on Friday.
"One has the impression that Neville was arrested in order to settle scores and to issue a warning in the run-up to the 11 August general elections," it said.

Charles Magai, the PMDC - (People's Movement for Democratic Change) candidate for the August 11 elections, hopped on the anti-Kabbah bandwagon with the following allegations published in the Concord Times:

Kabbah Sold the Rice in Ghana - Charles Margai
Peoples Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) leader, Charles Francis Margai Saturday alleged that President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah sold the much talk of the town controversial rice that was donated to the people of Sierra Leone by the Libyan leader, Muammar Qhadafi in Ghana.

Although opposition PMDC leader Charles Magai is using the issue as a campaign matter against the SLPP, it seems that Standard Times article may have merely misquoted and/or misattributed the statements at the National Stadium, as the other newspapers failed to report revelations of the rice, and many even support the governments claims. It seems that the government may actually be correct, as the Awareness Times published this statement by President Kabbah, apparently made in 2005 concerning foreign assistance from Libya that was questioned by the Standard Times:

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, ALHAJI DR AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH AT THE CEREMONY OF THE HANDING OVER OF TRACTORS AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS DONATED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF LIBYA ON WEDNESDAY, 17th AUGUST 2005. Culled from State House Website of www.statehouse.sl
What we are witnessing today by the presence of these tractors before us, bears testimony to the goodwill extended to us by friendly governments, more specifically the Arab Jamahariya of Libya whose Minister of Cooperation is here with us today. This great sister nation has generously donated to this government the tractors and implements - thirty in all - to support our Food Security drive. I may add that these tractors are only part of a package of donations which also include forty 50-seater buses, 20 skip trucks, 6 trucks for refuse collection, 20 water tanks, 14,500 and 11,000 litres capacity each, water tanks, and the construction of four executive villas. I should like, on behalf of my government and the people of Sierra Leone to express our profound gratitude to the Leader of the Libyan Arab Jamahariya and the people of Libya for these generous gifts.

The Libyan Government also made an earlier gift to the people of Sierra Leone in the form of rice as a contribution towards the rehabilitation of war victims. We came to the conclusion that to distribute the rice at that time would not have had the type of impact that was desired. We therefore sold the rice and realized the sum of two billion, twenty-seven million, six hundred and eighty-four thousand, three hundred and seventy Leones (Le2,027,684,370.00). This amount was invested in Treasury Bearer Bonds and later injected into our Social Security Scheme as social safety net. The intention is to use the returns of this investment to meet the cost of food and shelter for old people who have no children and are unable to work. Urgent needs of war-affected victims will also be financed from this source.

So it seems the Standard Times printed a baseless article, but the fact of the allegations against the government being false did not stop the people from taking action to obtain their share of the alleged stolen rice, as reported by the Awareness Times:

SEDITION in Sierra Leone as angry youths defy state Authority and Loot Rice because of LIES

Sierra Leoneans who were underestimating the amount of damage that Philip Neville’s last week publications have caused in the country had a second rethink after last Fridays’ incident along Guard Street which saw youths physically attacking a trailer load of freshly imported rice and carting away the bags of rice in broad daylight; all while shouting that they were collecting their own share of rice they said was given to Sierra Leoneans by Libya’s Colonel Ghadaffi but which was "stolen" by Kabbah.
Some of the youths were reported to have held copies of Standard Times Newspaper which had the ‘BOMBSHELL - COL GHADDAFI EXPOSES GOVERNMENT’ as its headline and which newspaper, they were showing as justification for their actions, to amazed pedestrians who watched in utter shock as the youths manhandled the trailer operator and a woman during their exercise to forcibly collect what they claimed was their "own share of the Libyan rice".
In complete defiance of State Authority including the Sierra Leone Police Force, the irate, misinformed but well fortified young men attacked the trailer and defied any member of what they termed as "Government Theives" to stop them from carting away their "own share of Ghadaffi’s donated rice."
It would be recalled that Neville had published several dangerous lies which had led to serious disaffection amongst the populace, causing the incitement of youths who believed the wicked lie that rice meant for Sierra Leoneans had been brought into the country and not accounted for by the Kabbah Government.
The broad daylight defiance of State authority with the attack and theft of the trailer’s rice was a culmination of the anger of the misinformed young men of that area who having been brainwashed with lies and who upon seeing freshly imported rice being driven from the Water Quay decided to intercept and loot the rice they wrongly believed was their donation from Libya’s Ghadaffi.
"Na we yone res we dey take so! [It is our own share of the rice that we are taking]" the irate misinformed youths reportedly shouted as they carted the rice away down to the wharf. According to eye-witnesses, within minutes, the trailer load of rice was emptied of all its content which found their way down to the shanty houses down the bay wharf.

Neville's article claiming the rice was stolen by the SLPP leadership seems to be false and, in any other situation, could have been corrected by well-publicized press release by the government. Instead, everyone seems to have overreacted, with the people upset and demanding their share of the rice and the government imprisoning Neville. To complicate matters further, Neville has a history of less sensationalist, distortion-filled journalism that has often targeted Kabbah. Neville is currently awaiting trial later this week; The SLPP government may merely be using the incident as an excuse to eliminate a troublesome opponent - Neville - by citing the Public Order Act of 1965:

33. (1) Any person who—
a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act with a seditious intention; or
b) utters any seditious words; or
c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication; or 

d) imports any seditious publication, unless he has no reason to believe that it is seditious, shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to a fine not exceeding one thousand leones or to both such imprisonment and fine, and for a subsequent offence shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, and every such seditious publication shall be forfeited to the Government.

The media in Sierra Leone is not very effective by western standards: there are a few radio stations, two TV stations - one of which is government owned, and a slew of newspapers which are often lacking any journalistic integrity. An effective and responsible media can hold the government in check - and vice versa - but in Sierra Leone, neither the government or the media serve as an effective guardian of the people's interests. When those same people are living on a dollar a day, it only takes a single outlandish claim - like Neville's - to spark a needless rice controversy.

While Nkurmah's dreams for a pan-African government were destroyed by corruption and autocracy, it remains the be seen if similar problems will derail the modern version of his dream, the African Union. Hopefully, a new era of leaders will be able to embody the principles of good governance and democracy to build an AU that has a positive influence on the individuals that should ultimately benefit - the people of Africa. However, the AU has yet to make a substantial difference in the everyday life of Africans, as issues of corruption still dominate politics, at least among those I've talked to here in Sierra Leone. Last weekend I interviewed several people about such matters - specifically the supposedly "missing" rice and their opinions of Gaddafi and Kabbah. I've posted the video below:



The Second part

Please note that at the time of the interviews, we were unaware that Neville's claims of "stolen rice" false.

This entry is exceptionally long already, so I'll leave you to decide what their comments reveal for Sierra Leone. Tell me what you decide.