Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has cautioned citizens to respect law and obey. The Vice President stated that if citizens operate within the confines of the law, they need not worry. He explained that the responsibility of government is to ensure that citizens are provided with the requisite socio-economic and health provisions as required by law for the benefit of all law-abiding citizens.
He maintained that Government is determined to instil discipline into public life. Vice President Juldeh Jalloh made the statement in response to the statement made by President of Sierra Leone Labour Congress, Jennings Wright, saying: ‘Sierra Leone is presently in turmoil.’
“There is no turmoil in Sierra Leone. I totally disagree. The fact is that the SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) won the election and is ruling, and Government is implementing policies” he said.

He informed the gathering about the huge strides made by the Bio administration since it assumed office, citing achievements like approving new schools and teachers, among others.

He articulated the recruitment process of nurses and the prioritization of pin codes for nurses in the government health sector. Dr. Jalloh clarified the government’s decision to disengage and not interfere into the affairs of the Labour Union and university administrations. He made it clear that Government will continue to oversee institutions in the country despite the progressive disengagement. He stated that the responsibility for institutions to function well in the country lies in the hands of Government.
Vice President Jalloh assured labour workers of Government’s willingness to give liberty to the Labour Union and other institutions to operate at liberty as well as provide the necessary support required for institutions to work better, and admonished the Labour Union and other institutions to be law-abiding.

Dr. Jalloh said that the International Workers Day is designed to celebrate the hard work of the labour force in the world. The day, the Vice President stated is celebrated to remember with equal pride and reverence, the selfless labour and indefatigable contributions of compatriot workers in the country and across the world. He referred to the labour force as a critical force to nation building, stating that a modern state cannot function adequately without a viable workforce. He maintained that it is incumbent on government to provide the environment that favours the emergence and sustenance of a viable labour force.

Dr. Jalloh informed the listeners about the Government respond to the needs of the work force over the last one year by increasing salaries of junior workers and the public sector from 5% in July from the revised 2018 budget to 10% in November from the 2019 budget which have taken effect. He encouraged the Labour Union and the labour force to form a viable partnership with Government, and work in unity for the purpose of moving the country forward. The International Labour Day celebration was organized at the forecourt of Miatta Conference Centre, Brookfields in Freetown on May 1, 2019 on the theme “Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Empowerment.”

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has joined family members and loved ones to mourn the Late Major-General Mohamed Sheku Tarawallie during a laying out ceremony at the House of Parliament in Freetown on Tuesday 30 April 2019.

The retired military leader, who passed away on Wednesday 10 April 2019 in London, United Kingdom, was born in 1941 in Dankawali, Falaba District. He was a retired officer in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, RSLAF, and rose to the rank of Major General and Military Commander.

Various tributes and well wishes for the Late Major Tarawalli were delivered by representatives of the RSLAF, Political Parties, his family among others. The Late Major Tarawalli would be remembered as a patriotic and gallant officer who was devoted to duty, persevered, and selfless in serving his country.

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has received Sierra Leonean descendants living in the United States of America during a courtesy call at State House in Freetown.

In his presentation, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, William Robinson, said that President Bio was willing to welcome back home Sierra Leoneans living in the diaspora and who had long been searching for their heritage.

He said since their arrival, the delegation had visited some districts in the country, where they were well received and given local Sierra Leonean names.

Head of the delegation, Chavonna Frazer, said they had started planning the visit since they established their Sierra Leonean origin through a DNA test. She said they were thrilled to be back home and to receive such a warm reception from the President. She assured State House that they would be working with the administration, in the years to come, adding that they would bring home other Sierra Leoneans living abroad.

On his part, President Bio said he is happy that the visiting team had rediscovered the connection that they had lost for years. He said they were divided by history but that it was about time they made a conscious effort to reconnect with their origin.

While officially recognizing their new statuses, by handing over their Sierra Leonean passports to members of the visiting team, the President also assured them that Sierra Leone was headed in a new direction and with a determined leadership that was also ready to rebrand a country working hard to catch up with the rest of the world.

“We are touched and moved by your move because we want everyone to come back home. We want you all to come back with your knowledge and expertise and everything to make our country great. Let us use this moment as the beginning to make the future better for us and our kids. The past has happened and it is now history, but let that history serve as something to inspire us to know that we can do better things,” he said.

As a way of complementing the government’s free quality education under the New Direction, Africell – Sierra Leone has started providing necessary school materials to class six pupils in the southern and eastern regions of the country, ahead of the National Primary School Examination (NPSE).
According to the company’s Head of Event and Sponsorship, Abdul Aziz Kamara, the reason for their support is because of the objectives of the New Direction government to provide free, quality education to vulnerable and school going children, to help them gain better education.

Mr. Kamara went on to state that during the official launch of the free, quality pre-primary, primary and secondary education for government and government-assisted schools, President Bio used the opportunity to call on all Sierra Leoneans to support the initiative, noting that the introduction of the government’s flagship programme marked the beginning of free quality education in Sierra Leone and one that is centered on developing human resource.
He said Africell therefore thought it fit to give their support because educating a child is an important investment for national development, and is the foundation of moral regeneration, as well as a strong pillar for industrial development. He added that without quality education no nation can get the requisite manpower for socio-economic development.

He maintained that the company is well-known for its support to the grassroots and needy Sierra Leoneans, adding: “We feel elated over the chance to once again make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children who the company believes have potentials irrespective of their situation and backgrounds.”
Abdul Aziz Kamara reiterated that Africell is the dominant supporter of developmental activities in the country, including education, and sporting activities by helping the government in its nation-building drives.

That there is something fundamentally flawed in the relationship between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and the main opposition All Peoples’ Congress is becoming all the more glaring as the APC has again staged a walkout from parliament during the official opening of the 2nd session of the 5th Parliament by President Bio pursuant to the constitutional provisions.
When The Calabash asked one of the APC Members of Parliament, the reason for their walkout, he said they are tired and fed up with being bullied by the President and his government. Observers saw the APC MPs walking in the vicinity of Parliament with protesting placards in their hands.
Asked to elaborate, he said that as partners in governance with the ruling party, as well as the other political parties in parliament, the APC, he said, believes that the President and his government do not listen to the opposition, but have since the election of the speaker of parliament, rode roughshod over them.
“We cannot go on this way,” the disgruntled APC MP said, adding that in a democracy, the voice of the opposition must be heard by the government, especially when that opposition has the majority in parliament.
He furthered that both the President and NEC have so far failed to listen to their party’s demand for the NEC Chief Commissioner to resign, citing his alleged woeful conduct of the Kambia district council bye-election in Tonko Limba, which he said does not give APC trust and confidence in the current NEC leadership to conduct free, fair, transparent elections.
Whilst a good proportion of the population sympathizes with the APC, others have said that APC must understand that existing political tensions in the country cannot be resolved by staging walkouts from parliament every now and then. This they say, gives the ruling party a free hand to do just what it wants; as happened in the case of the election of the speaker and his deputy last year; as well as passing into law of the emergency Act.
“Boycott is not the way to solve problems and to express different opinions,” one Sierra Leonean living in UK said about the latest APC walkout from parliament.
“We understand APC’s struggle to enforce democratic values in the governance system,” the Sierra Leonean in London said, “we sense that the ruling party is cracking down on the opposition; we understand APC’s mistrust in the President and his government, however running away from the battle is not the answer.”
“Let APC take their grievances to the people through involvement with civil society, the media and international partners,” suggested one sympathizer, adding that, “In Africa generally we know that the party in power always behaves like a tyrant, but with the involvement of the people, civil society and the media, the party in power can be reminded of its role, responsibilities and limitations; failing which the people can always express their grievance against the party in power at the ballot box.”

Waste management has been a serious problem in Sierra Leone for decades it not only affects the environment, but the health conditions of the citizens.
As part of addressing this problem, Masada an institution that has been working tremendously to mitigate waste in the country is poised to place 40 small-scale digesters, called waste transformers within the Freetown municipality.
These waste transformers will transform organic waste into energy, onsite. And it will also tackle the issue of sanitation, as this will allow communities, schools, and hospitals to turn their waste into value. The waste will not only be turned into energy, but it will also be turned into a high grade natural fertilizer for farming, create and provide employment for young people.

Speaking during the launching ceremony, Chief Executive Officer of Masada, Gibril Wilson, disclosed that this project is aimed at turning organic waste into biagraph that can be used for electricity, cooking Gas, fertilizer etc. He maintained that a demonstration of this new technology will be staged at the Well Woman Clinic at Aberdeen. This will be the pilot phase in anticipation of a 40 consignment, which will be rolled out across Freetown over 5 years. Whilst it will provide a greener way of disposing waste, it will also provide jobs for young people, especially those involve in the collection of waste with push carts and also Masada trained staff. He stressed that the challenges that population growth brings to the waste disposal system of the city will be a thing of the past. The absence of sufficient resources for waste disposal, absence of waste dumping sites, high cost of importing artificial fertilizers will be addressed by the Waste Transformers, as it will transform all organic waste to energy (electricity), turn them into natural fertilizers for farmers, no more will organic waste be seen in landfills, he stressed.
Potential locations for these waste Transformers will be in Industrial Parks, Hospitals, Households, food markets and neighbors. Waste Transformers are a set of shipping containers equipped with latest technologies to generate value from organic waste.

The work of the Legal Aid Board in implementing Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on access to justice has been showcased at a side event at the just concluded World Justice Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. Sierra Leone, South African and Brazil were the only countries to be showcased at the side event.
The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles presented a paper on the topic, ‘Agenda 2030 – Approaches to nationalizing and Implementing Goal 16 and Access to Justice’ at the Forum on Tuesday 30th April 2019.’
She told the Forum that the provision of primary justice services by Paralegals across the country has significantly improved access especially in remote communities, which have very limited access to the Criminal Justice System.
‘We do this through mediation of minor disputes which are of a civil nature; Legal Empowerment through community and school outreach to educate people about the laws, human rights and the legal processes; referral of matters from the Informal to the Formal Courts; monitoring of Local and Informal Courts in terms of the matters they hear and determine and provision of advice and legal assistance to traditional leaders and their subjects,’ she said.
In addition, she noted that the Board has established satellite offices, Community Advisory Bureaus (CAB) in twenty Wards in the capital Freetown, which are aimed at making justice accessible and affordable by empowering local communities to take ownership of their justice needs through the provision of primary justice services to members of the community.
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles intimated the Forum that the Board developed a National Training Manual for Paralegals in 2017. She added that plans are already in place for the introduction of the formal training of Paralegals at the Judicial and Legal Training Institute (JLTI). This will also be introduced in Tertiary and Higher Institutions in the Country in future.
She noted that the Board continues to train partners and traditional leaders on access to justice issues. ‘The Board trained 44 traditional chiefs of the Western Area Council of Tribal Headmen as Paralegals to educate them on their powers in terms of matters they can hear and determine, referrals for matters which fall outside their remit, mediation skills and assistance they can offer to their tribe’s men and women accessing the formal and informal justice system,’ she explained.
She added that the trainings were meant to empower tribal heads, who operate informal courts as to their powers under the law in terms of matters they can hear and determine, referrals for matters which fall outside their remit, mediation and assistance they could provide their tribe’s men and women accessing the formal and informal justice system. ‘These partnerships are important to the work of the Board in terms of collaboration in community outreach events, information sharing, establishment of access to justice structures, community mobilization and resource sharing,’ she said.
On the innovative use of technology to improve access to justice, Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said that WhatsApp groups are used to educate, report on activities on a regular basis, provide support to each other, discuss successes and challenges in a timely and speedy manner. ‘The Forums are crucial to the work of the Board, especially for Paralegals in remote parts of the country with little or no access to the internet in terms of providing instant updates on issues of justice,’ she said
The presentation was climaxed with the presentation of statistical data and criminal justice indicators for Sierra Leone. The cumulative date indicate that 250,499 people including non-Sierra Leoneans, benefited from the scheme from its inception in May 2015 to March 2019, by way of legal advice and Legal representation, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Legal Empowerment/ Legal Education.
106,655 people benefitted from the scheme in 2018. This is up 23,602 in 2017 when 83,053 people benefitted from the scheme. 30,009 females and 39,834 children benefitted from the scheme in 2018. These account for 14% and 19% of beneficiaries respectively. While males accounted for majority (78%) of beneficiaries of legal representation provided by Legal Aid Counsels, females and children accounted for majority (80%) of beneficiaries of the Alternative Dispute Resolution/Mediation.
She said that the Board has been able to secure the release of 117 inmates by habeas corpus; some of whom had been on remand without trial for seven or more years.