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Debunking False Publications… Samir Hassanyeh Remains Lebanese President

Samir Hassanyeh

By Amin Kef – Ranger

After perusing various skewed media publications aimed at smearing the good image of the President of the Lebanese Community in Sierra Leone, this medium decided to take look at the situation and come up with an objective dissecting and analysis of the real situation on the ground.

Before going further it must be hammered home here that President Samir Hassanyeh and his Executive were legitimately elected for their popularity during an election that was declared as free and fair by credible observers and therefore has the locus standi to represent the Lebanese Committee in this country.

This medium will like to intimate that through a thorough, sustained  investigation professionally mounted by this news medium into the imbroglio said to be rocking the Lebanese Community in this country facts have been  unearthed pointing to the truism of a calculated and well machinated ploy to unethically oust the existing President of the Community, Mr. Samir Hassanyeh, who over the years has constructively enhanced the longstanding bi-lateral relationship between Sierra Leone and Lebanon besides peacefully resolving certain misunderstandings involving Lebanese nationals that do from time to time emerges.

Though the Community does not have a constitution and has no constitutional clause to expel or remove members, it is however based on mutual understandings and trust.

Samir is well known to be a man of principles and has on various occasions demonstrated a very firm posture not to be part of any illegal ploy or machinations that some may want him to support. He has on various occasions stated that if any Lebanese deliberately do anything untoward he is in no position to advocate on his or her behalf.  Lamentably, it now appears that certain saboteurs within the Lebanese Community in this country are really hell bent on smearing the good reputation that this reputable personality, in the person of Samir Hassanyeh, has well built over the years.

This time around they decided to use the tactic of not only provoking but also verbally attacking his wife, over the social media,  using all kinds of invectives against her with the avowed objective of provoking her and then later use her retorts or responses to cast allegations against her husband in order to create the impression that her husband is supporting or backing her with the calculated aim of using that as the basis to clandestinely oust the charismatic gentleman who has done so much to the appreciation of many geared towards positively furthering the interests of Lebanese in this country.

It has been proven that these saboteurs, headed by one Adnan Antar and Co, who is the main architect behind the dastardly plan, are falsely claiming that the man who has done a lot to champion the interests of Lebanese in this country was involved in a shady and fraudulent contract relating to the supply of uniforms to the military and contravened procurement laws and procedures.

This is the same Adnan Antar, who is known of inflaming  incitement when the Lebanese Community had the opportunity to be evacuated via a chartered aircraft was all over the place posting on social media false alarms that they want to fleece them of their monies. Most have regarded that he is a Mafia who is bent on terrorizing others. But it understandable that he is bent on cleverly terrorizing people with the fake impression that he is telling people the gospel truth when in actual fact he is acting on the contrary, a true hallmark of a terrorist who is very notorious of abusing women with  reckless abandon as if he was not borne by a woman. His moves are well premeditated.

For confirmation that this is not a mere fabrication or allegation against Adnan Antar social media is awash of his past proclivities in using very caustic and unprintable adjectives against people and getting away with it. The guy is damn too rude to the annoyance of his Lebanese brothers and sisters who are residing in this country.

Backfiring right in front of their faces, the country’s anti-graft institution, the Anti-Corruption Commission  (ACC) proved it beyond all reasonable doubts that indeed the alarm is false, that nothing went amiss relating to the issue and Samir has no case to answer or any doubt to clear in that regard. This has been affirmed.

This medium’s investigation has made bare the fact that Adnan Antar, the man who made the false allegation against the Lebanese President but failed in his diabolic scheme, decided to resort to the using of all kind of abusive languages against President Samir Hanssanyeh sustainably for two months now, but in a matured way the Lebanese President refused to respond to his attack.

Having woefully failed in one range or in the aspect of raising a false alarm, Adnan Antar, resorted to raining unimaginable abuses against the wife of Samir Hanssanyeh, Mariam Bittar, using all kinds of unprintable language.

Scientifically and medically, it has been established that human beings, when provoked naturally have the tendency to retaliate and the manner of retaliation could depend largely on the person’s frame of mind at the material time. Within this context, Mariam Bittar, as a woman who no longer decided to stand such abusive languages from those she considered as haters against her and her husband, caustically retaliated and in revenge also replied using the same language out of the belief of giving the devil its due.

It must be underscored at this juncture that the aforementioned imbroglio is seriously laced by serious political shenanigans that have rocked the Lebanese Committee based on some who have resorted to insubordination and stage managing a coup against the current Executive especially the President of the Lebanese Community. The plan is to get rid of Samir, a personality that has so loyally and faithfully served members of the Community so well to the pleasure of many, has indeed been exposed with Adnan as the ring leader hiding behind the excuse of insanity.

This medium is not holding a brief for the Lebanese President but as an objective media outlet we cannot sit idly by allowing some unscrupulous persons to pull down others. Either, we cannot be complicit to acts that are seriously permeated by hate, jealousy and misrepresentation of facts without setting the records straight.

Adnan Antar’s ranting in the video clips he sent viral actually borders on outright and deep seated hatred for the Lebanese President and being confirmed by his family members as a mentally deranged who has failed in his business enterprises, cannot someone who should be taken with any modicum of seriousness, trust or credible. The fellow, presently residing in London, is very idle and is now used by others as a conduit to cause mischief and raise hell within the Lebanese Committee.

Adnan Antar and certain Lebanese nationals in this country are on a mission to make the current Lebanese Executive very unpopular and unable to govern as a result of all their machinated distractions.

It must be reiterated that there is huge fight amongst the past Lebanese Executive and present one because of differences in ideology.  It is on record that the Lebanese President Samir Hassanyeh has been under constant attack from Adnan Antar and Co. It is now outright that this is a political war hinging on “if I cannot win I will not allow you to rule or govern in peace”.

Based on this current impasse there is news making the round that the Lebanese Community has dissolved because certain members have tendered their resignation. It must however be underscored at this moment that the numerical composition of the Community is made up of sixteen members out of which seven members are said to have resigned. This clearly shows that the few failed coupists do not enjoy the unanimous support of the entire membership. It is an indication of the fact that there is an unjustifiable split.

However what is realistically known is that there are reputable and influential Lebanese nationals in this country who strongly believe in the leadership of Samir Hanssanyeh and are au fait of the diabolic plan of provoking his wife and use her reactions as a basis to oust him but those who know what has so far being unearthed will see the facts and agree that indeed it is a calculated and diabolical plan.

As was understood the Lebanese Community is intact with Samir Hansanyeh as President. Though the Community is going through turbulent times yet plans are afoot to restore sanity within its membership. However, it must be maintained that the truth must be told other than giving the false impression that the President is no longer relevant after doing so much.

Orange-SL Donates Five 10, 000 Ltrs Milla Tanks to Constituency 128

By Foday Moriba Conteh

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility one of Sierra Leone’s leading GSM Telecommunications company in the country, Orange Sierra Leone has on Monday 1st June, 2020 donated 5 Water Milla Tanks (10,000 Liters) to residents in Constituency 128 through their Member of Parliament, Hon. Benjamin Turay. The donation took place within the Constituency, specifically at Signal Hill in Freetown.

In her welcome address, the Public Relations Officer of Orange-SL, Mabel Manson, acknowledged the strides that the Honorable Member of Parliament has made so far in combating the spread of the deadly virus, adding that they received a request from the Honorable Member of Parliament demanding support of securing Water Tanks based on the fact that women and girls do face a lot of constraints in accessing pure water supply especially during the dry season.

He noted that Orange-SL, as a mobile company that cares for the welfare of Sierra Leoneans,  decided to support residents within the Constituency with 5 Water Milla Tanks (10,000 Liters each) that will be located at strategic positions within the Constituency with the strong belief that they will ease the water constrains faced by  constituents.

Handing over the items, the Head of Public Relations of Orange-SL, Annie Katta, commended the Honorable Member of Parliament for his perseverance disclosing how because of his concern for his people, the dream of having 5 Water Milla Tanks of 10,000 Liters  donated to the community became a reality.

She noted that water is very important in any community and that through fetching water at night many girls have inadvertently become pregnant, noting that when a community lacks water its women and girls suffer the most further adding how it was against such a backdrop that they decided to donate the water tanks which she said will help reduce the constraints faced by residents.

She urged the beneficiaries to make good use of these tanks and also use them for the right purposes in order to increase accessibility and relevance.

Receiving the items, the Honorable Member of Parliament of Constituency 128 in the Western Urban Area, Hon. Benjamin Turay expressed gratitude to Orange-SL for the donation of the 5 Water Milla Tanks and promised that his constituents will make good use of them.

He said that the donation from Orange-SL has demonstrated that the company cares for the people of this country, stating that water is very key to the development trajectory of any nation.

He added that girls have suffered from rape by men all in the name of fetching water underscoring that the water tanks will reduce the constraints faced by residents in the process of accessing water.

He assured Orange that the items will be used for the right purpose and benefit the right beneficiaries reiterating that the tanks will be placed at strategic places within his Constituency.

Women Leader of Constituency 128, Patricia Kargbo also expressed appreciation to Orange-SL for the kind donation describing it as a timely also affirming how it will help overcome the constraints faced by members of Constituency 128 in fetching water.

She also assured that the water tanks will be used for the right purpose and enjoined all to make their use sustainable in the Constituency.

Yulisa Cuts Across as One of Sierra Leone’s Influential Young People

By Amin Kef Sesay

This medium is very proud today to throw the light on one of the country’s influential young personalities in this country.

Yulisa Ahmadu, who is widely known, is a recipient of the 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans Award, an honorary recognition from the Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone. He’s a highly respected youth and motivational speaker who was also recently honored by the Ministry of Youth and a Non-Profit Youth Organization as ‘Youth Ambassador’ in Sierra Leone for his outstanding contributions in promoting youth affairs in Sierra Leone.  He is also a Radio and TV personality in Sierra Leone and his most popularly known for his Love program “The Dr. Love show”.

Yulisa has over 10 years wealth of experience as a broadcasting personality on various shows and radio’s including: AIRadio (Afri Radio), Star Radio, AYV to name a few.

With an extensive background in digital content production, strategic communications, and marketing, Yulisa also works for Sierra Leone’s leading Mobile network, Orange Mobile Company as Digital Communications Manager in charge of Digital PR and E-Reputation Management, Corporate Branding, Communication Strategy, Sponsorship and advertising.

Touched by the spate of youth unemployment in Sierra Leone, Yulisa co-founded (in partnership with Emmerson Bockarie), Sugar Entertainment SL Ltd, the nation’s top Music and Multimedia Company. The goal is geared towards capacitating Sierra Leonean talents in order to maximize their talents and monetize their craft through music.

Yulisa serves as President of the company and Manager of its lead Artist and CEO Emmerson Bockarie and worked assiduously to ensure that Emmerson’s music is globally accepted. Emmerson is regarded as a huge influence in the Sierra Leonean Socio-Political landscape.

Amazingly, Yulisa  recently launched his personal website www.yulisaahmadu.com.

With his passion for colored socks, neckties and men’s suits,

Yulisa has been featured on several international media like Aljazeera, Sky News, and the BBC on Youth matters.

Yulisa, is one of the most followed Sierra Leoneans on popular social media platform Facebook, with over 36,000 followers on his fan page.

13-Bed Treatment Facility @ 34 Military Hospital Constructed by WFP

By Theresa Kef Sesay

A 13 bed treatment facility equipped with necessary accessories including ventilators was on the 28 May 2020 commissioned at the 34 Military Hospital. This facility will be used as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for critically ill COVID-19 patients. This is a joint United Nations project done with technical coordination from UNFPA while WFP designed and built the facility along with a 250KVA generator and procurement of supplies.  This $120,000 project was funded was by the United Kingdom through DFID.

Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of the United Nations, the Resident Coordinator, Mr. Sunil Saigal said that the facility is part of the ongoing support by the UN to the Government of Sierra Leone in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to mitigate the impact of the disease.

In his statement, the representative of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Mathew Vandi described the facility as timely, adding “this will boost the response of Government in the fight against the pandemic.” He thanked the UN for the infrastructure which caters for the worst impacted COVID-19 patients and underscored that such a facility is the second in the country which  will be useful long after the pandemic.

The event was also attended by representatives of the National Case Management Pillar, the Minister of the Defense and National Coordinator COVID-19 response, UNDP, and the UNFPA Country Representative.

In addition to providing  storage and transportation support of non-food and medical supplies, WFP is also helping the Government’s COVID-19 response in strengthening infrastructures such as Treatment facilities and Holding Centers; providing food support for quarantined people, as well as the most vulnerable people like the homeless and orphans prior to the two lockdowns.

Let’s Talk About The Immediate Development Challenges We Face…

Julius Maada Bio

By Amin Kef Sesay

No doubt, President Bio and his New Direction Government since coming to power in April 2018 have made quite significant development gains across the board; not least in the areas of administrative and public financial management, the fight against corruption; increased revenue generation and a host of other infrastructural and human development achievements that the President outlined to MPs and the nation last week in Parliament.

Remembering that the development of all developing countries fall within the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals, the main challenge that the Government faces is that of robust political commitment to the fundamental challenge of reducing poverty; against which all other achievements pale into insignificance.

Truth is, we are not halfway near putting in place the superstructures needed for addressing poverty on a whole scale – talking about education, health, housing for the poor and low income earners, food, water, electricity, transport, and most important of all jobs for the growing youth population.

Still, we are largely dependent on natural resources to achieve growth and development. As at now, we are virtually not exporting anything, with the economy in the doldrums due to COVID. It is against this background that we should consider that to achieve the SDGs, the biggest challenge is money – money to adequately finance improvements in the above mentioned critical development areas.

On the environmental front, the challenges include the adverse impact of climate change, increasing water scarcity, biodiversity and ecosystem loss, low resilience to natural disasters, energy crisis, food crisis, limited benefits from globalization, health security, the global financial crisis, smuggling, trafficking and piracy, low penetration of ICT services, urbanization, need to develop better disaster response mechanisms, food security and technology transfer among others.

As we continue to lose our forests rapidly to logging, farming and other human activities without any concerted effort to replace them, we tend to forget how this relates dangerously to climate change.

Persistent loss of biodiversity is also a major problem that we have to urgently attend to going forward as we continue to practice slash and burn farming and clearing of forests for charcoal and firewood which are the primary causes of loss of biodiversity and major sources of climate change.

Persistently high food prices remain a problem. Addressing biodiversity loss requires long-term solutions in the form of development and implementation of appropriate policy guidelines, institutional capacity-building and deployment of adequate resources.

Improve water management and storage capacity to ensure continued supply of water for domestic and economic purposes and for ecosystem balance is another major challenge we face.

In a nutshell, we are still severely constrained in our development strides by very low agricultural productivity, insanitary living conditions, poor access to electricity, halving extreme poverty, reducing hunger, reducing child and maternal mortality, promoting gender equality and reducing deforestation.

However, interestingly, these challenges provide opportunities amongst which is potential growth in the context of a green economy particularly with the vast and largely untapped natural resources.

A shift in development planning in adapting to and mitigating climate change also presents opportunities with access to additional resources.

To maintain the momentum in the implementation of sustainable development programs, it is necessary to:

  • Mobilize and increase the effective use of available financial resources and achieve the national and international economic conditions needed to fulfill internationally agreed development goals;
  • Explore ways of generating new public and private innovative sources of finance for development purposes that provide quick wins;
  • Promote, facilitate and finance appropriate access to and the development, transfer and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies;
  • Use information and communication technologies, where appropriate, as tools to increase the frequency of communication and the sharing of experience and knowledge;
  • Continue to focus on education as critical for promoting sustainable development;
  • Enhance and accelerate human, institutional and infrastructure capacity-building initiatives, and promote partnerships that respond to specific development needs;
  • Remove resource constraints, enhance inter-departmental coordination, improve the capacity for implementing and monitoring national policies; and
  • Complement existing coordination at a high level, with sufficient opportunities for the coordination of implementation mechanisms at the Councils’ levels.

Lastly, the development agenda needs to be more focused and better harmonized, especially where there are limited resources for implementation.

Indian Community Donates Food Items & PPEs to Staff of FBC Isolation Centre

By Amin Kef Sesay

During a short but impressive donation on the 30th May 2020 on the Fourah Bay College Campus in Freetown, marking the third donation since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Community handed over food items and Personal Protection Equipment to members of staff of the Isolation Centre stationed in that part of the country.

Present at the donation ceremony were Harish Agnani, Rajesh Hemnani, Manoj Rajwani, Coordinator of the Isolation Centre Major Patricia .S.Briama, Tamba W Ansumana –IPC Environmentalist/Public Health Officer-FBC, Matron of the Centre Josephine Sellu, Staff of the Centre and journalists.

The items that were donated include  120 Kavita Handwash, 120 Kavita Handwash Sanitizers, 6 Dustbin 300 Lt with wheel, 6 Handwash Device 200 ltr with accessories & 50 ltr dustbin, 20 Mgl 369- buckets 30ltr, 1 basin 50ltr in Dozen,1 basin 70ltr in dozen,10 plastic tables, 40 classic chairs,2 5000 ltr Milla Water tank,10 bags(25kg)Sonia Rice, 5 Boxes Nutrillac,10 boxes Nutrilon, 10 Padi Oil (10ltrs).

Before handing over the items, a representative of the Indian Community, Harish Agnani, disclosed how they received a request from frontline workers at the Isolation Centre soliciting assistance based on the fact that they are facing certain constraints in the discharge of their duties and that the bureaucracies in getting timely Government’s response may sometimes slow down quick response.

Harish stated that it is understandable that at this particular point in time the Government is overwhelmed with efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus and therefore could not attend to all concerns instantaneously which was why they decided to respond to the request that was communicated to them.

He highlighted that the coronavirus does not differentiate in terms of its attack based on race or status underscoring the need to come together and collectively combat its spread and onslaught.

“This is the 3rd donation that the Indian Community has so far made. The first included rice,oil ,other items and was done at the Military Headquarter at Cockerill, the second was donating IT Equipment to the Emergency Operation Centre,” he further revealed, adding that based on another request they received from the 34 hospital requesting support for beds they, however ,decided to rehabilitate and renovate as well as rehabilitate a ward for the hospital saying it will soon be completed. He assured of continued support to combat the spread of the virus.

Coordinator of the Indian Community in the country, Rajesh Hemnani, said they have been trying very hard to offer whatever support they could garner in order to give their support to the Government in the fight against COVID-19. He wished all the staff at the Centre well and expressed hope that they will soon recover and return home.

Receiving the donated items was the IPC Public Health Officer, Tamba .W.Ansumana, who thanked the Indian Community and expressed optimism that the items will help in overcoming some of the constraints they were hitherto facing. He underscored the importance of enhancing and adhering to good hygiene and health practices saying such is very significant to prevent contracting the virus.

Major Patricia .S.Briama, Coordinator of the FBC isolation Centre disclosed how the centre was established on the 28th April 2020 and since then have received a cumulative number of over two hundred and fifty patients out of which a good number recovered and returned home. She highlighted that they have not recorded a single death, thanking the staff for the good work they have been doing. She also extended appreciation and thanks to the Indian Community for coming to their aid assuring that all the items will be utilized for the intended purposes.

Climaxing the donation ceremony was a vote of thanks delivered by Matron Josephine Sellu during which she profusely thanked the Indian Community.

NCRA Receives Pres. Bio’s Commendation

By Foday Moriba Conteh

On Thursday 28 May 2020 during the State Opening of the Third Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone in the Chamber of Parliament His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio commended the many strides made by the NCRA under the Management of the Director General of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi.

The President also called on citizens and non- citizens resident in Sierra Leone to cooperate with the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) in the development and maintenance of a Permanent Civil Register which is a critical tool for development. He recalled with satisfaction the case he made at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly held in September, 2019 to forge partnership and use innovation for ‘… a serially numbered identification instrument that can be used for governance, development planning, financial inclusion and also human rights imperatives”, a case the President notes is on track as desired.

The recognition of the pivotal role played by the NCRA in the country’s development trajectory by President Bio can no doubt be attributed to the astute leadership and efforts of the DG Massaquoi and his team of professionals at the NCRA. The DG, a man with enormous talent, training and experience has been directing the affairs of the Authority since his appointment in 2018 by President Bio.

He has transformed a once moribund institution that was once derisively known as ID Card office reserved then for retired Civil Servants to an efficient power house for data reliably sourced from Civil Registration and Identity Management System and is now on the dashboard of global institutions keen on the use of credible and real time data for development purposes and accountable service delivery as well as good governance in the country.

In his address at the Chamber of Parliament, President Bio informed the House of Parliament and the general public about the commencement of the nationwide Confirmation of Personal Details of all Registrants and Registration of the unregistered population by the NCRA and therefore, strongly urged every citizen and non-citizens resident in Sierra Leone to cooperate with the National Civil Registration Authority as he put it

“My Government has commenced the nationwide exercise of confirming Personal Details of citizens, resident non-citizens, and the unregistered population of Sierra Leone. The development and maintenance of a Permanent Civil Register will serve as foundation and primary source of information on the population of Sierra Leone.  On this note, I will strongly urge every Sierra Leonean Citizen and non-citizens to cooperate with the National Civil Registration Authority,” the President announced.

Like many well-meaning leaders, President Bio and the New Direction Government are cognizant of the invaluable role that Civil Registration and Identity Management plays in the development of the country. He therefore calls for the development and maintenance of a Permanent Civil Register which will “… serve as foundation and primary source of information on the population of Sierra Leone.” It is a job that the DG and his staff relish with passion.

With this clarion call by President Bio, the Director General of NCRA, Mr. Mohamed Mubashir MASSAQUOI  wants to assure the President,  the Government as a whole and the people of Sierra Leone that the NCRA will continue to render quality service delivery to all its clients and serve the nation diligently, professionally and transparently at all times.

When asked how he felt about the President’s commendation,  the DG opined that he feels inspired and motivated to do more and encouraged his staff to remain dedicated to  serve  our people. He maintained that he feels obliged to remain focused and provide the required leadership for a committed team at the NCRA to achieve remarkable accolades which are an indication of a job well done. He thanked the President for recognizing the work of the NCRA in the development aspirations of the unbeatable New Direction Government the NCRA DG added

 

Joseph Sannoh Donates 50 Bags of Rice to Education Broadcasting House

Executive Director , Heal Salone, Joseph Sannoh

By Edward Vamboi

Executive Director of a local Non-Governmental Organization, Heal Salone, Joseph Sannoh on the 28th May 2020 donated, on behalf of his organization, fifty bags of rice to the Ministry of Education Teaching Service Programme geared towards giving aid to facilitate the smooth implementation of the teaching radio programme.

Sannoh revealed during the short but very interesting handing over ceremony that he has been in the educational sector for over a decade now having acquired vast experiences in many areas related to it. He noted that he is very au fait with the constraints militating against pupils and students in terms of getting access to quality education.

The result oriented Executive Director said he knows that the COVID-19 has brought the functioning of schools and colleges to a halt and as a result children as well as students are not attending schools or colleges.

“As it happened when we were confronted by the Ebola outbreak the resultant effects could be catastrophic because these children are losing educationally and may not end up returning to school after the coronavirus pandemic,” he maintained adding that it is indeed a good idea for a radio teaching programme to be introduced as it will offer pupils and students the opportunity to gain from the teachings that are aired.

Sannoh said he thought it fit that those who are championing the program in terms of undertaking teachings of various subjects must be encouraged and it is along that line that he thought it fit to donate the bags of rice to the teachers doing the teaching as well as the members of staff of the Education Broadcasting Station.
He made reference to donations of food items and personal protective equipment he did some time ago to residents of both the Brookfields and Aberdeen communities.

Joseph Sannoh maintained that the donated items to the teachers and staff will serve as a motivation for them to continue the good work.
According to him the time table of the teaching program should be popularized in order for parents and the beneficiaries to know when the beneficiaries should listen and participate.
He said the time table organized by the teachers is easy and flexible for all children.  The time table was designed as follows:
n the morning 10am-11pm Pre-Primary,  11am-12pm Classes 4-6 also in the afternoon JSS 1pm-4pm and SSS4pm-10pm.
Joseph Sannoh called on all media entities to help popularize the  radio teaching programme.

He called on parents to purchase radio sets for their children in order to listen to the radio teaching program underscoring that when school reopens they will continue the syllabus from where they stopped.

Sannoh expressed appreciation to President Bio for his strides taken to combat the spread of the virus and called on donors to help boost the teaching program.

NCC & LAB Discuss Decongestion of Juvenile Detention Facilities

By Fatmata Jengbe

A team from National Commission for Children (NCC) comprising Commissioner, Joyce Wuyah Abu and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Alhaji Kolleh Yillah on the 27 May 2020 held a meeting with the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles at the Board’s head office on Wilberforce Street in Freetown on 27 May 2020.

The objective of the meeting was to find ways to decongest juvenile detention facilities amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic. Both Ms. Carlton-Hanciles and Ms. Abu expressed delight at working together on children’s issues particularly those relating to their rights and pledged to redouble collaboration of these issues.

Ms. Carlton-Hanciles assured the NCC that the Board will continue to provide legal assistance to children and also collect relevant data on juveniles. She welcomed the NCC to join the Board in its routine visits to correctional centres across the country.

Both discussed the issue of child offenders who are still on remand because they cannot meet the prohibitive bail conditions and those are granted bail but have no home or place to return to.

Ms. Carlton-Hanciles urged the NCC Commissioner to partner with the Don Bosco Fambul which has safe homes for children in conflict with the law, noting that the latter is constructing homes for diversion of remand children as opposed to them being sent to remand homes. ‘This is very important for referral of juveniles who are desperately in need of help,’ she said.

She also noted that on many occasions, children are detained with adults when sent on remand.  She drew attention to the fact that there are two remand homes in the country. Ms. Abu drew attention to the call from UNICEF to decongest remand homes and other detention facilities for children.

Both Ms. Carlton-Hanciles and Ms. Abu agreed to meet with the Chief Justice on the issue of bail for juveniles.  “We don’t have to wait until we have a COVID-19 case in a Juvenile Remand Home before we can act,” Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said.

Violence &Hate Messages Condemned by Inter-Religious Council

By Amin Kef Sesay

At State House on the 28th May 2020, representatives of the Inter Religious Council of Sierra Leone  held a meeting with President Julius Maada Bio at State House where they condemned hate messages and all forms of violence in the country.

Minister of Social Welfare, Madam Baindu Dassama Kamara, thanked the religious leaders for honouring the invitation and also commended them for adhering to Government’s measures in the fight against the Coronavirus and encouraged them to continue praying for the country to overcome the virus.

President of the Inter Religious Council, Sheik Abu Bakar Conteh, thanked the Government for its untiring effort in the fight against the virus, saying that that commitment was to ensure the country becomes COVID-19 free in order to reopen doors for economic development.

“We wish to reiterate our role as moral guarantors of the peace in Sierra Leone. In the wake of a violent uprising in some parts of the country, coupled with hate speeches, incitements and misinformation by some unpatriotic Sierra Leoneans, we issued a press statement condemning in no certain terms such incidents and indiscipline which were becoming disturbing and unbearable.

“We further appealed to the Government to continue carrying out her responsibility of ensuring that her citizens live in peace and tranquillity by upholding the Constitution of Sierra Leone, promoting unity, peace and justice throughout the country,” he said.

He again mentioned that they were meeting to appeal to Government to consider reviewing the sanction on the closure of Churches and Mosques, so as to help them overcome the great challenge of meeting their people and for ease of sensitization and education.

In his response, President Julius Maada Bio commended the religious leaders for their support to Government in the COVID-19 response, adding that the fight required collective efforts. He also emphasized the use of face masks, saying that despite its inconveniences, it had proven to be an effective way of stopping the spread of the virus.

He noted that his Government had always condemned all forms of violence because it is not in the interest of the nation. He also commended the religious leaders for standing against violence, adding that as moral guarantors they had an obligation to ensure that the country is safe and peaceful.

President Bio added that the meeting was part of his Government’s efforts to be inclusive and to also discuss ways they could continue to worship in religious centres while taking into consideration all the COVID-19 and other health guidelines.

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