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Sierra Leone Tourism Minister Excels at Tourism Conference in London 

By Amin Kef Sesay

Our proud minister of Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt is in high gear right now as she continues to promote the tourism sector as one of the drivers of economic development in Sierra Leone.

Currently, she is in London making giant strides in trying to uplift the sector from the doldrums it were to and make it relevant and profitable for the country. She fully participated at the International Tourism Investment Conference (ITIC) which took place in London from 1st to 2nd November 2019 with other participants from many countries. She deliberated on many issues on the theme: “Global Investment Opportunities in Sustainable Tourism” which focused on Africa, Island nations and emerging destinations.

One key area she contributed greatly including Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis’ paper on “The Global Financial Landscape – Investment Opportunities and Challenges”.  The tourism minister added value to the Director of eTourism Research Lab and Management and Marketing Expert at Bournemouth University presentation on the rebranding process of the sector with succinct contributions and this even changed the narrative story-lines and headlines in international media landscape about Sierra Leone being as a tourist destination, marketing and rebranding strides and targeting its focused smart engagements that attract right audiences.

This year’s WTM was difference compared to previous ones because the World Bank joined the Government and its concerned agencies to rebrand Sierra Leone to the fullest.  With a thorough tourism governance and leadership, coupled with a dynamic and non-stop tourism marketing initiatives, in ensuring the country is set in the tourism global village, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, National Tourist Board and partners have given the right attitude and clear strategy in enlisting Sierra Leone as the newest tourism destination in West Africa.

The country has now been highly promoted; rebranded and advertised of its profiled in an essential way within the core mandate of the National Tourist Board. In an interview by CNN’s Richard Quest following the end of the conference on Sunday 3rd November 2019 Dr. Memunatu Pratt said she will participate in a round-table tourism strategic meeting that is being moderated by Harold Goodwin on the topic “How Effective is tourism as a development strategy” on Monday 4th November. She is expected to give a stronger view on Sierra Leone tourism data which is a central asset in management and marketing of tourism destinations and businesses in the country.

Sierra Leone Internal Affairs Minister Outlines Successes 

Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Edward Amin Soloku

By Abdul Hassan Fackie

The Minister of Internal Affairs Hon. Edward Amin Soloku has spoken about his achievements since he was made minister in President Bio’s administration. This was captured by this medium in an exclusive interview. He said there has been marked improvement in all the departments and agencies of the ministry since the New Direction Government of President Julius Maada Bio assumed office on 4th April, 2018.

Hon. Soloku said the Sierra Leone Police has been strengthened by the Government with new recruitments of two thousand new officers and men of the SLP. This addition, he avers, will help to fill lapses in security where the police was not able to cover across the country’s security porous districts, towns and chiefdoms.

Congestion in prisons too has been scaled up as measures were taken to secure about ninety acres of land at Songo village where a new maximum security prison will be built to transfer the infamous Pademba Road.

The project is currently mobilising resources to start work on the building site. Though it is not yet in actual terms but efforts at transforming the sector from prisons to correctional centres was lauded by Hon. Soloku as a great achievement because it addresses the humane part of the treatment of offenders who are now benefitting from tutorial lessons and other opportunities in prisons so they would be transformed after leaving the centres with the right correctional measures.

”It will interest Sierra Leoneans to know that the inmates in the correctional centres are now given skills and they produce various kinds of items which they sell to the general public,” he disclosed, and pointed that offenders are now gainfully engaged to reduce psychological and emotional trauma.

Inmates also have bank accounts they save the money they make from the sales of items they produce in prison so they can have a start-up when they complete their terms of imprisonment to start a living. The female correctional centres have child-friendly facilities, toys and playgrounds for children who are living with their mothers in the centres.

The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), an arm of the ministry is currently building a Civil Register of all residents in Sierra Leone. The registration exercise is to help Government clean up the payroll register and reduce the wage bill and to help Government save about six million Dollars ($6,000,000.00) annually.

“Now if you want to recruit civil servants you simply go and clarity information about them at the NCRA. From the information at the NCRA all appointment letters that are now issued by the Government to its workers have the date and year in which they should retire. So now no more over staying in Government work,” he stated.

The NCRA, he furthered, is currently busy verifying the remaining people that are being registered and will also start issuing national identity cards to Sierra Leoneans and other residents in the country. In addition, the NCRA which now has offices all over the country will register births and deaths.

On the passport issue, Hon. Soloku maintained that the cost of a Sierra Leonean passport is seven hundred and fifty thousand Leones (Le 750,000.00) which can be acquired within few days. He warned people not to go to agents and give them money for passports, rather advised them to go straight to the Immigration Department and apply for a passport.

The last issue he deliberated on was the Visa on Arrival issue recently declared by Government. Today, travellers especially investors coming to Sierra Leone would require to get a visit at the Lungi International Airport.

This has been celebrated as an achievement as travelling to the country has been made attractive and easy while security checks and revenue collection made more effective.

In conclusion, Hon. Soloku said under his watch, the National Fire Force, the Coroner’s Office, National Fire Force, Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have all been upgraded with the equipment, finances, manpower and facilities that they  need to enable them to perform more effectively and efficiently.

President Bio Launches Sierra Leone’s National Innovation and Digitisation Strategy

President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio

By Alim Jalloh

The President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio has officially launched Sierra Leone’s National Innovation and Digitalisation Strategy, NIDS, after delivering the keynote address at the Bintumani Conference Hall in Aberdeen in Freetown on Friday 1st November, 2019.

The President said that the launch was a kick-start to the nation’s long journey to digital transformation as part of a series of Government’s innovative efforts, adding that it was critical to the kind of future he was trying to build where technology and innovation would be used to answer the myriad of questions around the development of the country.

“The cost of governance had been deliberately bloated because of fraud, misuse, and corruption. Effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in governance processes, revenue collection, and public service delivery had been severely thwarted by the failure to imagine how we could do all those better. I had pondered for years over issues like how corruption had brought the country’s economy and governance to its knees. I had pondered on using data to understand dimensions of urban housing and poverty, water, sanitation, and health and also using the power of technology to provide improved access to justice, access to information, and access to quality education fit for purpose. And more on education, using technology and innovation to provide quality education and introduce content in innovative ways, present new forms of pedagogy while improving outcomes and achievement levels for our students,’’ he said.

He mentioned that there were more questions, with the overarching question being how to use technology and innovation to fast-track Sierra Leone along the pathway of development. He said that since the establishment of the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, DSTI, they had made huge efforts in mainstreaming technology and innovation into the workings of government, adding that the launch of the NIDS was indicative of how DSTI had proven to be very instrumental in moving his vision forward.

“We had been excluded in the first and second industrial revolutions by factors of history. For the third industrial revolution, we had been consumers and mere spectators. The fourth industrial revolution is here and I believe that by enhancing the capability and capacity of our population, through comprehensive human capital development, we can achieve real economic growth and real development as a nation. Today, we celebrate collectively, as Sierra Leoneans, a vision for the future and exhort one another to steadfastly pursue that vision for all our sakes. We have digitised governance processes, simplified business registration and revenue collection and therefore reduced the cost of starting and doing business, providing public services, reducing the cost of and instituting more predictability and transparency into governance,’’ he said.

President Bio also said that his government had captured citizen data with unique national insurance numbers and had become the first African country to use Blockchain Technology to establish a national digital platform. 7Chief Innovation Officer, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, said that the event was about the future of a Sierra Leone that would be synonymous with innovation, a future where the children could access quality learning materials through solutions developed by their peers, a future where any farmer would have the information they need at their fingertips to increase the outputs of their farms by several folds and a future where a sick patient would know precisely which health facilities to visit.

“The NIDS is a living document. We know that technology changes so quickly that within a couple of years many things will become redundant and the solutions we are designing for our challenges now, may not even work. That means, as a country, we each have a responsibility to continue to shape it, particularly in how we deploy resources and how we choose to solve our collective challenges,’’ he said.

Kei Kamara honored with Mural in Sierra Leone

By Thaimu Thullah

Very few people (if any) would disagree that Kei Kamara has become a legend in MLS. He joined the league in 2006 and came into his own with Sporting Kansas City in 2009. Since then, the forward has “terrorized MLS defenses with elite athleticism, dominant aerial ability, and superlative one-touch finishing since entering the league in 2006 (90 goals, 36 assists in 268 appearances).

His 22-goal 2015 season was the high watermark for his career, as he finished second to Sebastian Giovinco while also helping Crew SC reach the MLS Cup Final.” Kamara made an immediate impact with the Colorado Rapids this year, with 14 goals and one assist in 29 games.

A native of Sierra Leone, Kamara has earned 29 caps with his home country since 2008, including appearances in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Kamara came to the U.S. when he was 14 as a refugee and has had, at times, a tumultuous relationship with the Sierra Leone Football Association for vocally criticizing the association. But at the end of the day, Kamara is a football legend in Sierra Leone as well, and his portrait was added to the wall at the Siaka Stevens Stadium, the country’s national stadium in the capital city, Freetown.

 

WAPIS Hands over ICT Equipment to Sierra Leone Police

By Theresa Vamboi

The West African Police Information System (WAPIS) has convened at a well-attended VIP gathering government officers including the Minister of Internal Affairs, Inspector General Police, Deputy Head of Mission European Union in Sierra Leone, Deputy National Security Coordinator and representatives from INTERPOL, Fixed Solution etc to hand over items relevant for police information.

The event which convened on Friday 1st November 2019 at the Police Headquarters in Freetown saw the handing over of quantity of Information Technology Equipment worth over 56,125 Euros equivalent to $ 62,613.89 to the SLP. “This equipment are very timely and necessary in the fight against Transnational Organized Crime such as terrorism, money laundering and other related Cyber offences”, stated Dr. Yansanneh, who is on secondment from the SLP to WAPIS.

He further stated that the equipment will help to strengthen the SLP’s database in terms of data collection, storage and processing, and wholeheartedly expressed thanks and appreciation to the European Union for providing the funds and supporting the project. He also requested for legislation Data Processing.

Hon. Edward Suluku said the government of Sierra Leone will continue to support the WAPIS project and expressed appreciation to the European Union, INTERPOL and WAPIS for the donation. The minister appealed for concerted efforts to eliminate the fear of crime and to neutralize the threat of terrorism in Sierra Leone.

Dr. Richard Moigbeh is the Inspector General Police and was very pleased with the support, coordination and collaboration from the European Union, INTERPOL and WAPIS to the WAPIS Office in Sierra Leone.  On behalf of the SLP Council, the IGP said it was a very unique opportunity to integrate cyber services in the fight against crime at the national, regional and international level. He also thanked the European Union for talking and doing.

The representative of the European Union Madam Jamila indicated that the EU was always ready to support and collaborate with WAPIS and emphasized that there was need for the sustainability of the project.  Other speakers including the Deputy National Security Coordinator and the Director of Crime Services also made meaningful contributions. The ceremony was chaired by the Director of Community Affairs, AIG Kalia Edward Sesay.

Update On Sierra Leone Commission Of Inquiry

By Theresa Vamboi

In Sierra Leone, the long-awaited inquiry into the assets of former President Koroma and other senior public officials in his APC Government, will commence sitting on Monday, 11 November 2019. The inquiry will look into the financial affairs of former president Ernest Bai Koroma, former vice president Victor Bockarie Foh, former ministers, heads of departments and parastatals.

Since 2007 when former president Ernest Bai Koroma and his government took office, after winning presidential and general elections, and then went on to serve two terms before he and his government were voted out in March 2018, there have been serious allegations of rampant corruption and amassing of unexplained wealth that need to be looked into, once and for all to set the record straight and hold them to account fairly.

Many in Sierra Leone believe that former president Koroma was one of the richest presidents on the African continent, alleged to have illegally accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars, stashed away in off-shore accounts and in real estate in Europe.
There are allegations also that the former president owns dozens of real estate properties across the country, especially in Freetown and Makeni – his hometown.

Other former senior government ministers are also alleged to have misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars from the State. These allegations will be investigated by the Commission of Inquiry set up last year by president Julius Maada Bio, to look into the running of the country by the former president and his ministers.

Sierra Leone is ranked as one of the poorest nations in the world, despite having massive reserves of natural resources and minerals. Average daily income per person in Sierra Leone is less than $1.50, while daily cost of living per household is more than $10.

Over 60% of the adult population are unemployed, with an average life expectancy of less than 50 years. It is estimated that the country loses about $500 million in corruption every year, causing widespread poverty, destitution, illiteracy and poor health among the majority of the population.

A Government Transition Team Committee report published by the Bio-led government last year, said it had found evidence of corruption on a grand scale, estimated at over $2 billion, most of which related to improper public procurement processes, abuse of office, misappropriation of funds, and theft of public property.

What the Commission of Inquiry will seek to do – with the help of the Anti-Corruption Commission is to sift through all the evidence collected by the Transition Team Committee, to match against all allegations of corruption by former government officials.

The Commission will also look into the annual asset declaration forms of former senior government officials, their Bank Account transactions during the period they were in office, in order to identify any mismatch between personal income, expenditure and asset portfolio of each official being investigated.

One thing is certain about this Commission of Inquiry, it may not be liked by the former government officials, but it has set new standards of accountability and probity, for past and present government officials as well as those in the future.

There must be an end to impunity in Sierra Leone. President Bio has started the ball rolling. The Commission of Inquiry into the activities of former government ministers and head of State is enshrined in the country’s laws, and can only be stopped through an Act of Parliament.

The people of Sierra Leone are waiting to hear the truth about corruption in the country, under the presidency of former president Ernest Bai Koroma. Are the allegations of billions of dollars stashed away by the former president and his ministers a myth, or is the nation going to be shocked by what the Commission will find?

This is the statement published by the Commission of Inquiry Secretariat

Sierra Leone: FCC Helps Youth Start Waste Collection Enterprises

By Lahai Daramy

Through the International Organisation for Migration, the Freetown City Council has benefited 20 tricycles, 2 motorbikes to help the Council manage waste in the city and achieve its target of having 60% of solid and liquid waste safely collected and disposed of by 2022.

IOM, as part of its efforts to reduce irregular migration by boosting youth entrepreneurship, supported Council’s efforts to improve waste collection & create jobs in Freetown by providing tricycles, safety gear, and business training for 200 youth. IOM also provided two motorbikes for monitoring the use of the tricycles.

The youth, who make up 20 youth groups, will collect waste from residents right across the city, especially in hard to reach areas and low income communities! Freetown City Council is determined to improve sanitation in Freetown and more tricycles are set to be handed over to young people in the near future for them to start their own waste collection businesses. We kindly ask our residents to make use of their services. Residents can get their contact information, and that of other waste service providers in Freetown, by using findmeinfreetown.com or by calling 030 064 811 or 075 434014.

Tonkolili District Council Calls on Sierra Leone Government and Stakeholders to Monitor Running of School Buses

By Abdul M. Jalloh

The chairperson of Tonkolili District Council, Madam Yabom Sesay has appealed to stakeholders to monitor the running of public buses given to schools in Tonkolili District.

Following the distribution of buses to the district, she has registered deep appreciation to the government over the buses which she acknowledged their importance to the children in easing the transportation challenges in the district and most especially within the township of Magburaka (the headquarter town) and Mathora village which hosts the Government Junior and Senior Secondary School for.

Such facilities will help address the problems faced by the Mathora and other school girls within the district to school and home conveniently. There are challenges though and these were said to be the first amongst is the bad conditions of the road network especially the one for Mathora. The self-help project that is recently launched by the people of Rowalla Village who teamed up with Tonkolili District Council and youths on the road couldn’t help enough. As a result, the government was still being called by her administration to support the efforts of the council to make the road.

Fuel shortage too became another imperil for her administration to pull over from the challenges she faces. The buses are reported short of fuel most times and this was becoming a problem to manage as they use 35-40 litres per day and this is not commensurable to the proceeds collected from pupils per day.

Last but not the least is paying drivers plying with the buses”. Each of the four drivers of the vehicles takes a home pay of Le,1,000,000 monthly and the money raised was not enough to offset their payments, lamented the Council chairman.  As a result, she has appealed to the government to support the initiative by giving government fuel chits to the buses.

Orange Sierra Leone Donates Menstrual Hygiene Packs to Services Secondary School

Head CSR Orange Sierra Leone addressing kids at Services Secondary School Juba over the weekend

By Fatmata Jengbe

It was the turn of Services Secondary School on Juba, West of Freetown when on Friday 1st November, Orange Sierra Leone donated one hundred menstrual hygiene packs to the school as part of their ongoing camping to introduce reproductive health services and education into the schools. The donation is consistent with the clarion call by President Bio to lure private sector support to his Free, Quality Education scheme in 2018. The company pledged a total USD 1.5 million material support to the scheme through five projects in menstrual hygiene packs for school girls, super coders, solar packs and building of laboratories and educational support to teachers.

Orange Sierra Leone Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Desmond Spaine headed the team and entreated all the school authorities to support the girls during their menstrual periods. He expressed concerned that they at Orange were aware that Girls are facing increasing challenges to stay in schools while they are undergoing their menstruation.

Abibatu Kamara of Girl Child Network Sierra Lone gave a short talk to the schools girls during the presentation of the reusable packs. In her talk, she encouraged them to open-up the discussions around menstrual hygiene to their teachers, parents and all other people who could support them during this period.

The issue of menstruation should no longer be a taboo and many girls have encountered problems as a result of the secrecy that has surrounded the process.
Authorities at Services Secondary School Juba lauded Orange Sierra Leone as usual for supporting the school and the girls by extension in menstrual hygiene packs and Education.They recounted that, they have been spending towards procuring disposable pads for girls who undergo their menstruation while in school. The climax of the ceremony was the handing over of the 100 menstrual hygiene packs to the schools authorities by Orange Sierra Leone.

Elizabeth Grace Kanu delivering the vote of thanks on behalf of the School
Abibatu kamara of Girl Child Network Sierra Leone delivering a short talk on menstraul hygiene to pupils of Services Secondary School

West Africa Youth Network Celebrates Africa Youth Day in Sierra Leone

Executive Director of West Africa Youth Network, Mohamed Kanneh

By Foday Moriba Conteh

Africa Youth Day has been celebrated in Sierra Leone on the theme: Combating Injustice, Marginalization and Corruption in the educational sector, at British Council Freetown. The African Youth Day is a day set aside every year to promote and increase recognition of youths as key agents for social change, economic growth and sustainable development African.

The Day was championed in Sierra Leone by young people in Sierra Leone led by the West Africa Youth Network (WAYN), a youth led organization in partnership with Patriotic Advocacy Network (PAN) on Saturday 2nd November, 2019. They joined several other countries in celebrating the Day.

Executive Director of West Africa Youth Network Mohamed Kanneh expressed warmest appreciation on behalf of the Board of Directors to young people who join them in celebrating Africa Youth Day. Mr. Kanneh stated that the theme was timely as corruption was taking a centre stage issue in Sierra Leone as a major factor affecting the educational system of the country.

He advised young people to serve as catalysts for change and must reject corruption and be prepared to expose malpractices. Since 2001 the West Africa Youth Network has operated in three African countries including Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The WAYN provides young people an opportunity to champion different issues affecting their lives.

James Fortune joined Mr. Kanneh is calling young people to eradicate corruption in the educational system because it has affected the development of the country. He said the Africa Youth should now be partners in development and not condoning and indulging in crime or to be used by politicians wrongly.

Youth in Sierra Leone faced huge challenges in the areas of education, employment, health, and governance and their desire to effect change in society has not be appreciated because of lack of seriousness; but such days as the Africa Youth Day inspires them to do so.

Celebrating this day thus makes sense in the fight against corruption. Since established, the WAYN said they have succeeded in establishing sound and active school chapters in various schools now serving as ambassadors in the fight against corruption.

This year’s celebration focused on three major areas education, empowerment and engagement. The event also looked at contributions made by young people and their energy and optimism to reinforce the efforts towards the achievement of sustainable development.

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