To the PNC, President Ali’s gotta be seen like a juggernaut – a humungous, unstoppable force that crushes everything in its path. And since they’ve placed themselves in his path, they’d better come up with a plan before they’re flattened into pancakes, or crushed into foo-foo!! Just this morning, your Eyewitness woke up to a new initiative by the President. Reacting to ground realities, the Government’s gonna be purchasing $1billion worth of fertilisers and distributing them to farmers.
The funding? Well, remember that $5 billion in the budget set aside to bring down the cost of living?? Fertilizer prices have more than tripled due to a host of conflating factors – the hike in natural gas prices (the feedstock for urea) being one – and pushed up farm prices. So, the theory is that the farmers’ input costs will be reduced, and they’ll be lowering the prices of their vegetables etc. to us, consumers.
It’s analogous to Pres Ali earlier removing shipping costs being included in the computation of duties on imported goods, and commensurately stabilising the prices of those goods from that source. You mumbled that you didn’t see that at your supermarket’s checkout counter, dear reader? Well, imagine what it would’ve been without those interventions. But from a purely political standpoint – which is where the PNC come in – for sure, one of the biggest voting blocs – farmers – gonna be tickled pink!! It’s all about the votes, baby!!
Then there’s the $25,000 cash grant to EVERY household in the riverine and hinterland populace. Wow!! In every survey done in the last half a century, those folks have remained the poorest of the poor. And that $25,000 will go a long way to alleviate their present straits. From that political angle, that’s the prime swing vote – and many will remember who stretched out their hand when they enter those voting booths in 2025!
Then there was the “Home Construction Assistance Facility”, which follows up on the massive house-lot distribution that has far exceeded its targets. In the past, there’d been complaints that many house lot owners couldn’t fund homes. Well, this programme targets those same house lot holders who’re unable to build, and who face challenges. It’ll coordinate lending by the banks using the land and the house as collateral! The icing on the cake was the removal of VAT on sheetrock and concrete board for all those hipsters who want that new-style look!!
So, exactly what can the PNC and their camp followers do to get their message through? Up to now, they’ve just been jumping up and down and yelling “DISCRIMINATION”!!
But like the boy who cried “wolf!!” one time too many, that’s not getting any traction!!
…in Ukraine
Way back, when the Ruskies invaded Ukraine in late February, your Eyewitness declared very clearly that Russia was looking for “strategic depth” – because of what it saw as an encirclement by NATO. The latter, of course, is a military alliance – and even American analysts have said it was no surprise that there was a military response. But just as it had annexed Crimea back in 2014, your Eyewitness really thought Russia was gonna be satisfied to hive off the regions adjoining its territory – which had long declared their affinity.
So how about the Russian attacks in the west – including Kyiv? In your Eyewitness’s humble opinion – then and now – that was just a feint to keep the West off balance. There’s no way the Russians would get bogged down in a war of attrition in Ukraine. Even if the West didn’t step in, Ukrainian nationalism – especially its right-wing manifestation – would’ve been their Achilles heel.
So, with Mariupol fallen, the Ruskies will now pull out from the western theatre.
…against legal change
Your Eyewitness is pretty pleased that ex-AG Basil Williams, SC, surfaced to protest proposed changes to the law of evidence: that a person’s confession can be used against others involved in a crime.
He’s worried about the Rigging Four’s confessions?
