On 26 February 2020 the Independent Media Commission (IMC) organized a one day orientation seminar for members of the revived Advertising Advisory Committee of the Commission at its headquarters in Freetown.
Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Francis Sowa, in his opening remarks expressed regrets that the Advertising Advisory Committee was the only Committee in the Commission that had not been functioning until May 2019 when it was revived.
He explained the purpose of the orientation programme, which he said was to get participants well informed about Section 4 of the IMC Media Code of Practice, which deals with Advertising and portions of the Pharmacy and Drugs Act, 2001.
The Chairman stated that the IMC, through the Committee, therefore decided to partner with the Pharmacy Board, which also performs regulatory role in relation to advertising pertaining to drugs, in rolling out the programme.
He said that the IMC has been collaborating, and will continue to work in close partnership with advertising agencies to regulate all aspects of advertising.
The expected outcome of the seminar was to get all members of the Committee acquainted with the requisite provisions in the IMC Act, the Media Code of Practice and the Pharmacy and Drugs Act.
The session was facilitated by Dr. Julius Spencer of Premier Media Consultancy, and a former Commissioner of IMC, Mr. Joshua Nicol of the Mass Communications Department, Fourah Bay College; University of Sierra Leone.
The Advertising Committee was established as provided in Section 9(1c) of the IMC Act 2000 as amended; and Section 4 Sub-Section 28.1 of the Media Code of Practice.
On the 24th February 2020 the Anti-Corruption Commission filed an indictment against Henry Kamara, Marion Follah Musu Kamara, of the Holy Family School Quarters, Deep Eye Water, Wellington, Freetown, and Emmanuel Kobby of No. 355 Bai Bureh Road, Freetown, on a combined total of Five (5) counts of Soliciting an Advantage, contrary to Section 39(1)(b), Accepting an Advantage, contrary to Section 39(1)(b), and Conspiracy to Commit a Corruption Offence, contrary to Section 128(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 respectively.
Between January and September of 2019, Henry Kamara , in his capacity as agent of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), without lawful authority solicited the sum of Two Million Leones (Le. 2,000,000/00) from one Olu Williams, as an inducement to show favor to one Simon Williams, a cousin of Olu Williams, by allowing Simon Williams to take the West Africa Senior School Certificate Private Examination (WASSCE) 2019 at a dwelling house, rather than the designated center set up at the Holy Family Secondary School for that purpose. Henry Kamara faces one (1) count of Soliciting an Advantage, two (2) counts of Accepting an Advantage, both contrary to Section 39(1); and one (1) count of Conspiracy to Commit a Corruption Offence, contrary to Section 128(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 respectively.
Marion Follah Musu Kamara, in her capacity as an agent of WAEC, without lawful authority, solicited the sum of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Leones (Le. 1,500,000/00), from one Olu Williams, as an inducement to show favor to one Simon Williams, a cousin of Olu Williams, by allowing Simon Williams to take the 2019 Private WASSCE, at a dwelling house, rather than the designated center set up at the Holy Family Secondary School for that purpose. Marion Follah Musu Kamara faces one (1) count of Soliciting an Advantage, contrary to Section 39(1), of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008.
Emmanuel Kobby , being the I. T. Engineer at the Holy Family Secondary School, Deep Eye Water, Wellington, between January and September 2019, conspired with other persons unknown, to commit a corruption offence. Emmanuel Kobby accepted the sum of One Million Seven Hundred Thousand Leones (Le. 1, 700, 000/00) from one Elizabeth Kamara for the purpose of allowing her to take the 2019 Private WASSCE Examination, at a dwelling house, rather than the designated center set up at the Holy Family Secondary School for that purpose. Emmanuel Kobby faces one (1) count of Conspiracy to Commit a Corruption Offence, contrary to Section 128(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008.
Meanwhile, the indicted persons are expected to appear in the High Court Holden at Freetown on 2nd March, 2020.
The Commission reassured the general public of its undeterred resolve to fighting acts of corruption at all levels in Sierra Leone, especially in the Education Sector.
Indisputably, it has been proven beyond all reasonable doubts that hard work and sincerity pay fruitful dividends. This medium is of the view that the sole Government agent for the exportation of timber in this country, Babadi Kamara possesses those important attributes.
This perfect gentleman has excelled in his vocation so remarkably well to such an extent that he has gained widespread recognition and respect.
In June 2018 President Bio appointed him as the sole agent of the Government in respect of timber export. Babadi, after his appointment proved beyond all reasonable doubts that he is indeed capable to undertake the task and he showed the whole world that this country will benefit immensely from timber exportation.
Contrary to baseless castigations by certain saboteurs against this result-oriented personality a release from State House dated 20th February, 2020 stated how the Government is satisfied with the way Babadi had carried out his mandate .The release quoted the staggering amounts that have so far been generated from the exports of timber . “A total of US $ 37,050,000 has been realized from the levies on the export of 13,000 containers of timber and US $ 90,000 recouped from previous exporters being payment for cities. Out of these amounts, US 4,640,000 have been raised for reforestation and US $32,500,000 transferred to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The US $ 32,500,000 has been part of the budgetary resources used to finance Government programmes,” the release highlighted.
Very much appreciative with the transparent manner in which Babadi carried out his responsibility and impressed with the staggering financial returns in revenue from the arena, the release noted that the President was pleased to reappoint Mr Babadi Kamara of Leadway Trading Company, Sierra Leone Limited, to continue serving as the Sole Government Agent for the export of timber.
One thing that is very certain is that his reappointment by President Bio will not in any way make this pragmatic entrepreneur to rest on his oars but rather he will continue to raise the bar high and do more to the very advantage of the country.
He will continue to be very proactive and productive.
In order to celebrate banking excellence in Sierra Leone, the Sierra Leone Bankers Association and the African Achievers Award Association in partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone and other institutions convened a Press Conference at the Hill Valley Hotel on the 27th February 2020 to officially launch the Sierra Leone Bankers Conference & Awards -2020.
In his address, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association, Dr. Alex Bangura disclosed that the banking system plays significant roles in the modern economic world. He underscored that it is indeed safe to save monies in banks maintaining that such savings could be utilized to produce capital for investments.
He further disclosed that banks contribute significantly to national growth processes stating that the Sierra Leone Bankers Conference and Awards will be hosted for the first time in Sierra Leone on the theme: “Sustaining the Sierra Leone Banking Sector in a Competitive Market for Economic Growth”.
He explained that they will be discussing pertinent issues that are relevant to the sound operations of the banking sector in Sierra Leone in relation to the business landscape as a way to promote economic transformation and growth.
The CEO noted that there is the need for more enhanced financial technology in Sierra Leone to combat financial terrorism and money laundering.
He said the award ceremony will be held to celebrate banking excellence, to raise awareness on issues relating to the financial sector, marketing, research, development and innovation.
He disclosed that the award ceremony will be based on success stories, best practices and how key challenges facing the Sierra Leone banking sector in the global market were tackled.
He said that during the award ceremony banking executives will be honored for their tremendous contributions towards the development of the banking and financial sectors and how they relate to the development of the country.
Dr. Alex Bangura said the Sierra Leone banking sector plays a crucial role in the economy of Sierra Leone, saying it is estimated that the sector excluding the Government of Sierra Leone provides more than 60% of the workforce of the country and contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy.
“The sector is the heart that pumps the economic blood to the vital organs of the Sierra Leone’s economy,” he furthered adding that the sector promotes wealth and prosperity in the country adding that the SLBA in partnership with the Sierra Leone Government and other institutions in the private sector introduced the 2020 Sierra Leone Bankers Conference and Awards.
He said the rationale behind the initiative is to identify and recognize performing bankers in the country, saying the award ceremony will showcase the country’s most outstanding Sierra Leone bankers and financial institutions.
He maintained that the winners will be awarded and such will be based on the principles of fairness, trust, credibility and transparency.
According to the Country Head of Blue Crest College, Dr. Shailesh Kumar the initiatives will help to improve the banking sector in the country.
Momoh Vandy extended thanks and appreciation for the initiatives saying it is a way of showing appreciation and recognition which will definitely motivate financial institutions to do better.
He finally suggested that Government should encourage financial institutions to support the initiatives. He also said that t as Board Members they will do everything possible to make the forth coming conference and award ceremony a success.
Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr Foday Rado Yokie
By Amin Kef Sesay
Eighty Six (86) former employees of London Mining Company (LMC) who were later incorporated by Timis Mining Corporation (TMC) are passionately appealing to the SLPP Government, headed by President Julius Maada Bio through the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources to timely come to their rescue in order to facilitate the process to actualize the payment of their financial benefits due them after they were terminated from their jobs without following due process.
According to their representatives, Reginald Garrick and Mohamed Kallon SB, who were also former employees of the two companies, London Mining went into administration in October 2014 after halting share trading and output in December as funds dried up and iron ore prices fell to six-year low ,less than $60 per tonne.
They further maintained that the outbreak of the Ebola disease also affected the operations of London Mining and as a result the company had to sell its 100% owned Marampa Mines to Timis Mining Corporation through its administrator Price Water Coppers (PWC).
“London Mining was having 1,200 direct employment of local Sierra Leoneans in their operational areas,” they intimated this medium adding that after TMC came on board they were offered a “new contract” which “promised continuation of contracts and terms of service by TMC going forward from November 2014” in the defunct LMC employment contracts to all local staff.
They said the new situation was unsatisfactory and therefore they decided to write a letter to the then Ministers of Labour and Mines appealing for their intervention in order to secure their end of service benefits from their new employer Timis Mining Company (TMC) but lamentably the two Ministers failed to respond to their request.
“On the 8th April 2015 TMC terminated our employment contracts without any end of service benefits paid or any formal explanation with regards the reasons for the quick closure of the mines,” they bemoaned furthering how they saw such a move on the part of the company and the regulatory bodies at that material time as a complete recipe for incitement to violence, collapse of law and order but decided that as responsible citizens they decided to seek redress in the Court of Law.
They further narrated that while the matter was in the High Court, the erstwhile APC led Government clandestinely revoked TMC large scale mining license without any recourse to their pending litigation in the High Court of Sierra Leone a move which they saw as a means to pervert justice.
The aggrieved former employees said during that period they heard that the Government has transferred the license from TMC to Gerald Metals without liquidating or placing TMC on administration as the case should be.
“On the 19th May 2017 the High Court passed a judgement in favour of the Plaintiff (Former Senior Staff) stating that the Plaintiff recover damages of breach of contract, damages for workplace discrimination, terminal benefits, interest and cost,” they revealed.
According to them when Gerald Metals /SL Mining surfaced it was a big shock to them as they knew Gerald Metals to be a commodity trading company not having any experience in mining stating that some of their colleagues were party to the pre-finance loan agreement between Gerald Metal and TMC.
They then decried the decision by the past Government to give the Marampa concession to Gerald Metals/SL Mining which they said was done quickly during the eleventh hour of the last Parliament but painfully the judgement in their favour was never executed.
“To this day, many of our colleagues who were laid off have been without employment and are struggling to make ends meet as they continue to await on the High Court to enforce the court ruling of 19th May 2017,” they further lamented.
These former employees strongly pointed out that all those iron ore SLMC sold were mined by former employees of LMC/TMC but they were not paid questioning how long such an injustice will continue to exist in the country against Sierra Leoneans.
These former employees are now calling or appealing to President Julius Maada Bio, the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr Foday Rado Yokie, and by extension the Government of Sierra Leone to facilitate the payment of the amounts owe them which is to be calculated, be recovered on their behalf.
“Imagine yourself or any of your relative with responsibilities in such an awkward position. It is really heart rendering and painful which is why we are making such a passionate appeal,” Reginald Garrick and Mohamed Kallon SB stated maintaining that it is very much important to respect our State institutions underscoring that the matter has been judicially concluded in their favour but they continue to suffer in silence.
During a meeting held on the 25th February 2020 at the NaCSA headquarters on Charlotte Street in Freetown, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Statistics SL which is the implementing partner and the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) for the establishment of the Social Protection Registry for Integrated National Targeting, Associated Access and Impact Evaluation of the Social Safety Net (SPRINT).
The MOU will serve to identify, prioritize and select households living in poverty and vulnerable conditions so as to help Government to take effective actions that will reduce the structural factors affecting poverty and social exclusion in those communities.
In his statement at signing of the MOU, the Commissioner of NaCSA, Abu Bockarie Kokofele stated that it is an historic day as lots of hard work have gone into putting together the MOU that establishes what Stats SL’s role as implementing partner will be and that of NaCSA as contracting agency.
He furthered that Stats SL will specifically implement the Social Protection Registry for Integrated National Targeting (SPRINT) which has 3 stages. Stage 1, he says, will be geographical targeting which will be a transparent criteria for the selection of regions, districts, chiefdoms, wards, localities, or other relevant geographical units and corresponding resource allocation mechanism.
Stage 2 will be community identification of potentially eligible beneficiaries and the final stage will be verification by Proxy Means Testing (PMT) or a variation thereof.
He therefore urged the implementing partner to give it their all to get the work done stating that he very much values and holds into high esteem, the professionalism that Stats SL has.
The Statistician General and CEO of Stats SL, Prof Osman Sankoh (Mallam O), said that they at Stats SL feel privileged to be implementing partners for the establishment of the Social Protection Register.
He intimated all present that Stats SL certainly has the requisite expertise to do the job and explained that Stage 1 and 2 of the targeting process require existing statistical data to produce poverty maps of the country via the recent Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey data at the lowest geographical level available i.e. locality or enumeration area, including geographical data to locate potential beneficiary communities via locality names, GPS coordinates and shape files, whiles Stage 3 of the targeting process involves use of a pre-defined questionnaire to collect data from the potential beneficiary households.
The questionnaire collects information that is statistically highly correlated with poverty i.e. household demographics, housing conditions, and assets, and other identifying information like a unique identifier.
He concluded by saying that Stats SL will therefore be responsible for collecting and processing Proxy Means Testing data from all potential beneficiary households using computer assisted personal interview which is data collection via the use of tablets
The signing of the bilateral MOU by the Commissioner of NaCSA, Abu Bockarie Kokofele and the Statistician General Of Stats SL, Prof Osman Sankoh climaxed the meeting.
Amb. Dr. Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh
National Secretary General – APC
By Foday Moriba Conteh
During a Press Conference that was convened by the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party on the 27th February 2020 at its head office on Railway Line in Freetown, the leadership of the party stated that whereas the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) has the mandate to develop and maintain a permanent Civil Register for the entire population of Sierra Leone, however, the NCRA Act 2016, specifically Section 1 of the Act defines a civil register as meaning a register of Adoptions, Births, Deaths, Divorces, Marriages or nullities as the case may be for the purpose of issuing out Biometric Identity Cards on the basis of the data generated by its civil registration exercise.
They pointed out that the exercise is expected to be a continuous exercise and not an episodic event from which NCRA can make baseline data available for use by other Government institutions that may need such information in the exercise of their duties.
“The APC party wishes to make it abundantly clear that the NCRA does not have the mandate to independently generate a Voters Register for use during National or Local or any elections in general and certainly not for the 2022 Local Council Elections and 2023 National Elections,” they maintained.
According to the party, the authority to register voters is vested in the National Electoral Commission (“NEC”) pursuant to Section 33 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone the supreme law of this land.
They informed that their understanding as a party of Section 33 of the 1991 Constitution as well as Section 7 of the Public Elections Act of 2012 is that only NEC has the constitutional mandate to conduct and supervise the registration of voters for, and of, all public elections and referenda in Sierra Leone – and that includes developing a comprehensive and credible register of eligible voters.
The Party told newsmen that based on the above, the public notice issued by the NCRA that “The authority further wishes to inform the general public that only those whose details are in the Permanent Civil Register will be eligible to obtain Biometric National Identification Cards and to vote in all public elections beginning with the 2022 Local Council Election.” and that “Confirmation of Registrants’ Personal Details and Registration can be done at any of the NCRA Centres in the country within the specified timeframes” is flawed and ultra vires our National Constitution as well as its enabling Act, the NCRA Act of 2016 itself.
“This declaration by the NCRA further contravenes Section 22 of the Public Elections Act which states that only a Sitting President on the notification of NEC shall have the power after two years since the last order from President Koroma to order the creation of a “National Register of Voters,” they furthered.
They said the APC party views this latest action by NCRA as a badly crafted political manoeuver to manipulate and distort the baseline civil registration data in Sierra Leone, and use it as a basis to disadvantage and disenfranchise opposition political parties that do not have access to the raw data.
According to them the NCRA’s desperation to take over the creation of the voters register and in the process usurp the power of NEC and His Excellency the President is highly suspicious and puts the very essence of our democracy at risk and every well-meaning Sierra Leonean and our revered development partners MUST resist it.
The APC Party, stated that they further wish to make it known that never in the history of Sierra Leone has Registration or Verification of Sierra Leonean nationals either for the purposes of preparing a voters register or a Civic Register been done in only one week. Such an exercise has also always been done simultaneously across the country and not one region after the other.
“The one week allocated for the verification and registration of entire populations (thousands of people) in a whole region (comprising of 3 to 4 districts) is unrealistic and will definitely disenfranchise populations in difficult terrains, hard to reach areas, and the Diaspora. The attempt to refrain from doing same simultaneously across the country can only lend credence to the belief that the NCRA in cohort with others unknown is embarking on a desperate attempt to manipulate the Voters Register and lay the foundation for rigging all subsequent elections,” the party purported .
They said it would certainly undermine the hard won democratic credentials that we have tried so hard over the years to nurture and sustain, and even risk plunging this country back into chaos and anarchy.
The APC Party intimated that they have sent a letter to His Excellency President Bio drawing his attention to the attempt by the NCRA to usurp his Executive Authority as President and those of the NEC.
The APC Party called on the President to uphold the Constitution and stop the NCRA from undermining the Constitution and bringing our democratic institutions into disrepute. The APC Party further called on the country’s development partners and the international community, as our revered moral guarantors that have invested so much to nurture our democracy and build the foundations for sustainable peace and security in Sierra Leone to note these constitutional breaches and appreciate the repercussion should this course of action continues.
Finally, the leadership of the APC Party assured its members at home and abroad that the Party shall utilize all democratic and legal means at their disposal to constructively resist any attempts by NCRA and its cohorts to undermine their votes, to undermine the Constitution of this great land, to thwart the democratic process and undermine the democratic and good governance credentials that they have all worked so hard over the years to nurture and sustain.
It has been established that the positive development strides of the National Petroleum (NP) SL Limited, has made it the epitome of a viable indigenous national enterprise in the Petroleum industry. It embodies what the ordinary Sierra Leonean can achieve when they come together with a shared vision and goal. With a capable Board of Directors and Management the company is contributing positively to the development of the nation.
Good entrepreneurial initiatives have turned the fortunes of this company since its inception into a viable profit making and job creation entity. In its employ are Sierra Leoneans occupying various senior and junior positions.
With honouring its tax obligations to Government via the National Revenue Authority (NRA) in a timely manner, the company is contributing immensely towards the boosting of the country’s economy as well as the steady and meaningful execution of its Corporate Social Responsibility, which continues to improve the standards of living of many Sierra Leoneans.
The pro-active and sterling initiatives of NP’s Board of Directors and Management in respect of timely procurement of petroleum products and ensuring its availability on the market for public consumption, has seen a marked deviation from the days of fuel shortage to that of abundance.
It is highly commendable for a well-established and result-oriented company like NP to have climbed to such an enviable position especially when cognizance is taken of the fact that it is exclusively owned by Sierra Leonean shareholders, a typical testimony of how local entrepreneurs could raise the bar high.
Going down the annals of history the former British Petroleum Company decided to sell its shares to the Government of Sierra Leone that was in Governance at that material period of time.
Things took a different twist when in 1996 the Government sold its 60% shares in NP to some of the company’s members of staff. Again it was made known that 55 % was paid upfront from the end of service benefits of the workers from BP and the 5% offered to all the other workers. Thus the company known as LEONEOIL was born.
The 55% sale of Government shares to the former workers came as a result of the World Bank’s advice to privatize the latter. It was also revealed that among the 4 companies that bided, which included ELF, LEONOIL won the international competitive bidding conducted by Arthur De Little, a United States based Management consultancy firm hired by the World Bank.
It could be recalled that the World Bank, which advised Government to privatize the company, monitored the bidding process for the three international companies and one local company that competed culminating in LEONEOIL, which metamorphosed to NP, meeting all the set criteria.
Financial experts, whom The Calabash Newspaper had the privilege to talk with, noted that the aforementioned members of staff were indeed entrepreneurial enough to properly manage the company to such an extent that, unlike others, it survived most of the bottlenecks that it encountered throughout the years it has been in existence.
Shedding light on the historical background of NP, it came out glaringly that the 40% PMMC’s stake in the company, owned by the late Jamil Sahid Mohammed and Tony Yazbeck, was given as collateral for a loan from a Bank by one of the parties.
The business mogul, Jamil Sahid Mohammed, later sold to Cape Oil PMMC’s 40% shares to offset a fidelity loan, but LEONE OIL was not satisfied with that move and took the matter to court on the grounds that it was in violation of the M and A which dictates that the other side has the first option to buy. The outcome of the matter was that the High Court gave judgement in favour of LEONE OIL that later became National Petroleum.
For mischievous reasons certain individuals have been churning out rumours that NP has a monopoly over the petroleum market in the country which is totally untrue, baseless and misleading as it has been factually proven that there are other Marketing Companies marketing petroleum products that are registered with the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA).
It must be noted that Petro-Leone is a storage company developed by both Addax and Leone Oil so that petroleum products will always be available in the country and avert shortage. Experts further stated that if such a venture is disrupted, the country will relapse to the former state of shortage of fuel and long queues will once more re-surface across the country, causing a lot of inconvenience and national hiccups.
At present, NP-SL has filling stations in different parts of the country with other facilities like tyre mending, mini marts and sale of gas in some of them.
Today the company stands tall for effective service delivery bagging the accolade of 1st for Customer Care with sophisticated calibrated pumping machines that display quantity pumped and price displayed.
NP Smart Card is now in vogue and very advantageous as it prevents the movement of cash to procure petroleum products, is very convenient to use, shows remaining balance. With regards NP Gas it is going like hot cakes, is environmentally friendly, non-hazardous and easy to refill with gas that could also be procured at the company’s Filling stations and authorized dealers.
From an humble beginning the company is now a towering business entity that has branches in neighbouring Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and The Gambia and indeed it is contributing immensely to the socio-economic developments in those countries.
In their quest to enhance wider access to innovation and technology in the country, Orange-SL, one of Sierra Leone’s leading GSM mobile operators, in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and ST Foundation, Bridge the Digital Divide-Sierra Leone has on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February 2020 launched the Super Coders Project at the Ahmadiyya Secondary School and the Methodist Secondary School respectively within the Kenema District.
The event was graced by Orange SL Regional Business Manager- East, James Barlatt, Principal Ahmadiyya Muslim Senior Secondary School -Kenema, B.S Massaquoi, Director of ST Foundation, Bridge the Digital Divide-Sierra Leone, Mohamed Dumbuya, Principal of Methodist Secondary School- Kenema, Madison M. Bockarie, Chairman Education Committee, Kenema City Council, Councillor Alimamy Rogers who officially launched the Super Coders Scratch Project at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Kenema.
In his statement, on behalf of Orange SL, the Regional Business Manager -East, James Barlatt, expressed appreciation to the various school authorities and pupils for gracing the event, adding that the launch of the Super Coders Project in their schools will enable the pupils to make their own interactive Stories, Animations, Games, Music and Art adding that Scratch has large collections or libraries of cool graphics and fun sounds to play around with that enable children to solve real life social issues through coding and animation which will not only benefit them as pupils but the country as a whole.
He said the Super Coders Project is an introductory ICT training program for children between ages of 9 to 16 and that Scratch is a computer programming language, adding that with Super Coders Scratch, programs are made by joining together coloured blocks using the Mouse. This group of blocks (called scripts) tells characters on the Screen what to do.
He maintained that coding, once introduced in related schools by Orange, will be included in their ICT curricular and will be taught by the ICT tutors in each school saying many will recall that Orange commenced the execution of its FQE project in October 2019 when the company distributed 2,000 hygiene packs to 20 schools in the Western Urban and Rural areas, conducted awareness and sensitization raising on menstrual hygiene and sexual reproductive health. He furthered that within the course of this year, Orange SL will roll out all five projects before the end of 2020.
He added that Orange, being a multi service provider and a responsible corporate citizen places emphasis on corporate social investments, adding that in the last three years, Orange has invested about $ 400,000 dollars mainly in the areas of women empowerment, health, education and the environment and that the company remains the first mobile operator in Sierra Leone to contribute to the Government’s Free Quality Education (FQE) initiative by pledging the sum of $1.5m in material assistance over a period of five years.
He additionally disclosed to the audiences that Orange will be hosting the biggest inter-school competition which will commence soon and the winner will be given a well equipped computer lab built and finished by Orange-SL.
Director, ST Foundation, Bridge the Digital Divide-Sierra Leone, Mohamed Dumbuya, disclosed that Scratch is a free programmable toolkit that enables kids to create their own games, animated stories, interactive art and share their creations with one another over the internet.
He expressed appreciation to Orange Sierra Leone for partnering with ST Foundation in implementing the Super Coders Scratch Project in secondary schools across the country.
He also buttressed and reiterated that the Super Coders Project is an introductory ICT training program for children between ages 9 to 16 adding that the union, marriage or partnership they are enjoying was created by UNICEF-Sierra Leone by introducing the two parties and brought them together.
He revealed how STF/BDD-SL has been working in providing ICT education for schools and tertiary institutions in Sierra Leone for the past 10 years and within that period of operations over 145,000 Sierra Leoneans have benefited.
He said ST Foundation has 31 locations in the country, but Ahmadiyya Secondary School and the Methodist Secondary School are the only beneficiaries in Kenema District, adding that they have presented a list of schools that will benefit to the Ministry of Education for approval and urged the pupils to make good use of the opportunity offered by Orange and ST Foundation.
Orange CSR Officer, Rebecca Sogbeh, disclosed their package for the Free Quality Education revealing that Orange as a company remains to be the first operator in Sierra Leone to contribute to the Government’s Free Quality Education (FQE) initiative by pledging the sum of $1.5m in material assistance over a period of five years.
She said in fulfilling their commitment, in 2019 Orange has launched and rollout hygiene packs for girls aged 12-18 years adding how they are going to donate 10,000 packs over five years and over 2,000 sanitary packs yearly to schools.
She noted that Orange-SL will launch and rollout during this year solar kits for school children in the rural areas out of which 1,000 solar packs kits will be distributed over five years to 200 villages without grid to be covered per year stating how they will install them in local libraries/community centers/schools etc. and 100,000 individuals are expected to benefit from the project.
She said Orange in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), designed five projects. One of such projects is the Super Coders Scratch Program which Orange in partnership with ST Foundation intends to introduce through ICT training on basic coding for children in 100 secondary schools with existing ICT labs over a period of five years.
Chairman of the Education Committee, Kenema City Council, Councillor Alimamy Rogers, who officially launched the Super Coder programme at Ahmadiyya Secondary School, also expressed appreciation to Orange-SL and ST Foundation for the implementation of the project in Kenema District.
He admonished the pupils to make good use of the given opportunity underscoring how it will enhance the development of the children and the country as a whole.
Principal of the Methodist Secondary School in Kenema, Madison M. Bockarie who officially launched the Super Coders Programme at the Methodist Secondary School said it is not the first time Orange SL has been supporting them, adding that prior to this launch Orange availed them so many platforms highlighting that they have been bringing all their promotions to their school.
He also admonished the pupils to make good use of the opportunity as the entire program is centered on them, adding that they should also use the internet wisely noting that so many pupils do misuse the internet.
Swedish-Spanish Faces2Hearts team heads to Sierra Leone
Swedish-Spanish vlogging duo, Kirstie Hall and Esteban Novillo, will travel to Sierra Leone from 1 to 31 March as part of the European Commission’s Face2Hearts campaign. They will explore the country and report through video on projects that the European Union is funding in the country, in a wide variety of sectors.
Although they are seasoned travellers, Spanish filmmaker Esteban and Kirstie, a North Carolina-born writer based in Sweden, will be both visiting Africa for the first time.
While in Sierra Leone, they will have the opportunity to connect with people who are leveraging EU support to bring about positive change in their communities, working in areas as diverse as education, agriculture, renewable energy, transport infrastructure and electoral reform. The projects that Kirstie and Esteban will visit include:
Support to the education sector in Sierra Leone – a major bilateral programme with budget support to improve public finance management and promote reform and community participation in education at local level;
Technical Assistance in Sierra Leone in the Areas of Civil Service Reform, Parliament and the Electoral Cycle;
Fostering Smallholder Agriculture in Sierra Leone;
Promoting Renewable Energy Services for Social Development in Sierra Leone (PRESSD-SL);
Rehabilitation of the Road from Bandajuma to the Border with Liberia;
Construction Works for the Improvement of Three Bridges;
Enhancing Cocoa, Coffee, Cashew, Horticultural Crops and Livestock Diversification, and Income Generation for Smallholder Farmers and Exports; and
The Boosting Agriculture and Food Security (BAFS) project.
Follow Kirstie and Esteban as they explore the country and discover these EU-funded projects that support local communities in building a more prosperous future for local communities. Follow their trip on@europeaid via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to the Faces2Hearts YouTube channel.
For more information about the campaign, visit the Faces2Hearts website HERE.
Background information
Faces2Hearts is a global campaign which takes 20 international vloggers to some of the most remote places in Africa, Asia and Latin America to cover EU development projects that are changing people’s lives for the better. Last year, the campaign reached over 30 million people across the globe.
Faces2Hearts is organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, which aims to help end poverty and create a safer, fairer and more prosperous world for all.
Faces2Hearts is a life-changing experience, which will take 20 enthusiastic vloggers to unusual destinations across the world to report on how the European Union is changing people’s lives for the better in partner countries around the world.
These 20 vloggers will be selected via a public competition during which they must demonstrate their passion for video, storytelling and wiliness to help change the world. The applications will be assessed in three stages: eligibility, pre-selection and final selection by a jury. The evaluation will be a mix of video originality, technical quality, personal drive, language skills and previous experience.
Local and European vloggers will be paired up to discover communities beyond faces and reveal compelling stories to the world. Their adventures will take them for one month to one of the following ten destinations: Argentina, Bhutan, Cape Verde, Jamaica, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, to learn about innovative and transformative EU actions and foster cultural exchanges and human connections.
The impact of Faces2Hearts
In 2018, the first Faces2Hearts experience saw over 500 young bloggers apply and the four winners were taken on a 5-month journey across 29 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. On social media alone, this first campaign reached + 30 000 000 people and stimulated around 5 000 000 engagements. For more information visit the website and re-live the first four bloggers journeys here.
Why become a partner?
By becoming a partner of this campaign and helping to promote its values and message, you can benefit from increased visibility through a variety of means. This can include:
Association with the values of the campaign and the European Union, demonstrated through featured logo on the Faces2Hearts website, newsletter and other promotional materials
Social media interaction with the vloggers throughout their travels. These interactions can be entirely tailored and unique and range from partnering with vloggers, to setting specific challenges or bucket lists for the vloggers to complete within the scope of Faces2Hearts.
Get increased visibility worldwide and in the region by promoting this interaction with the vloggers through the intensive global outreach available through EuropeAid’s social media channels
Exclusive re-purpose of the material produced by the vloggers (i.e. articles, photos, videos) about EU-fundedl initiatives that have changed the lives of hundreds of people, communities and contribute to the development of a better society in the respective country
Opportunity to interview the vloggers and acquire exclusive material, including joining the vloggers on their fields visits
Visibility as a media partner via the Faces2Hearts project before, during and after the world leading forum for development European Development Days in 2019 and 2020.
Becoming a partner is both easy and rewarding, and means you will contribute to positive change in people’s lives. Get in touch at info@faces2hearts.eu to join the network today!
Be sure to take a look at the partners from the previous edition of Faces2Hearts below:
101 Reporters | Afectos com Letras| Caracol Blu Radio/Colombia | CARACOL TV | Channel 4 | Deutsche Welle | El Espectador/Colombia | El Mundo | El Pais-Planeta Futuro | Euobserver | Euronews/Africanews | FOLHA DE SAO PAULO/Brazil | FRANCE 24 | Hrvatska radio televizija | Huffington Post | IO Donna (Corriere della Sera) | IOM | ITV | Jutarnji list | La Nacion/Argentina | OneStep4Ward | Oxfam | Pan European Networks | Radio 24 | RFI | Ricoh Imaging Europe | RNE | RTBF/VRT | RTE Radio 1 | This Is Africa (Financial Times Ltd.) | Travel Inspiration 360 | TV People | TVE | UNDP | Unicef | VITA | Worldpackers —
