By Amin Kef Sesay
During the Opening Session of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Golden Jubilee Annual General Meeting, which was held in Bo City on the 4th June 2021, the Director General of National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), Daniel Kaitibi, in his statement, touched on the importance of economic benefits resulting from the growth of the telecommunications sector in Sierra Leone.
He highlighted how telecommunications has made it possible for certain economic activities and business operations in various developing countries to be sustainable even amidst the negative impingements emanating from the outbreak of COVID-19.
Kaitibi assured that NATCOM will continue to actively engage telecommunications service providers in order to ensure that they provide dependable telecoms infrastructure that will immensely benefit many saying they are doing so to translate President Julius Maada Bio’s agenda of giving an all-inclusive effective connectivity to the people of Sierra Leone.
He informed that the Commission will continue to create the enabling environment for effective telecommunications service delivery maintaining that there are critical elements which include accountability and predictability, consumer protection, dispute resolution and enforcement powers which must be enhanced and uphold.
The Director General informed media practitioners that some of the concerns the latter have raised relating to compliance checks, community radio station spectrum fees, Radio frequency harmful interferences are all now been addressed by the Commission.
He acclaimed the media for continuing to give the Commission’s operations the prominence it deserves on all available platforms furthering how SLAJ and NATCOM have worked very closely and collaborated on several issues of public concern on telecommunications from the regulator’s point of view.
Kaitibi pointed out how the Commission is committed to continue to deepen its collaboration and engagement with journalists in line with the theme of the AGM: “Looking Forward: Towards a Strong and United SLAJ and a Free and Professional Media”.
