Time to…Mash!

Well…that time of the year is coming up fast and furious on February 23rd – the time for all of us to Mash. There they were – the Ministry of Home Affairs that’s supposed to “serve and protect” the nation launching their Mash band last night at the Mashramani 2026 Launch at the Railway Courtyard. Some folks still think that the point about February 23 is that it’s the day we became a Republic – free from having the Queen of Britain having a President to represent her as Head of State!
But from what your Eyewitness can see, the point we became a republic was to have a good old jump-up sport that we decided to call “Mashramani”!! Where we all Mash… Get it? Why else would we consign mention of becoming a republic to a midnight ceremony that hardly anyone attends? And Mash attracts thousands and thousands in GT and other locals across the country.
The story we’re told is the good folks of Linden – not incidentally coinciding with Burnham’s first name – decided on the jump up. They then pulled the name “Mashramani” out of thin air and claimed it meant “Celebration after a hard day’s work”!! It was just a cover for the jump up – since there was no noticeable hard work done before February 23!! It set a pattern, however, for us to equate nation-building with having a good time!!
What was interesting was if they were serious about the Amerindian origin, why wasn’t the “celebration” conducted the way they would’ve done it?? Like imbibing some locally brewed paiwari and knocking back some cassava bread with pepper-pot!! Then collapsing into hammocks to sleep off the fun!!
In your Eyewitness estimate, what we should be emphasising is exactly what was claimed to have preceded the sport – hard work! He ain’t aware of how we’ll ever gonna become developed – at the level of people, which development is all about! – if we don’t accept that ultimately we gotta lift ourselves up by our own efforts!! Do we really think that because we got this oil windfall we don’t have to work anymore – just sport?? C’mon… Please!! It’s the jump-up mentality that has Black Pudding Man’s party insisting that every year every citizen should have $1 MILLION plunked into their hands!!
Preferably just before Mash so we could jump up!!

…get on with Int’l treaties
Your Eyewitness wants to know if our Mashramani Republic puts the interest of the one over the interest of the all. International treaties or agreements signed by a country are done so on behalf of everybody in the country. So it’s all our reputation on the line.
So we arrive at this ridiculous state where some of our good citizens are actually questioning the motives of officials of the state when all they’re doing is trying to fulfil one of our Republic’s international agreements! Your Eyewitness of course, is referring to Sanction Man and his political vehicle WIN’s frantic efforts to stymie the operation of the Extradition Treaty that we have with the USA!!
C’mon now… Do we really think Sanction Man and his Daady are being railroaded…? that the entire US Justice System will be subverted for this minnow!!

…get Parliament going?
There’s no question that the convening of this 13th Parliament is a bit tardy. But does anyone believe it’s all due to preventing Sanction Man from becoming the LOO?
That doesn’t save him.