The Rokel Commercial Bank has held its 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Becceles Davies Hall on Gloucester Street in Freetown. The AGM provided an opportunity for both minority and majority shareholders of the bank to ratify new board members, consider and adopt minutes of the previous AGM and discuss the Audited Financial Statements of the bank for the years 2016 and 2017.
Throughout the deliberations, it was evident that the shareholders who were quite pleased with news that the bank is now profitable were also desirous to eat the fruits of their investments through payment of dividend and bonusses. Therefore, when some assurances of an imminent dividend payment came from no less a person than the Managing Director, Dr Walton Gilpin, nerves were calmed, and the business of the day continued with the adoption of the 2016 and 2107 financial statements. Gilpin also implored the shareholders to be patient and collaborate with bank to ensure more profitability and growth. “We are hungry for profit, we are hungry to start paying dividend…. We want to develop a bank that will go along with innovation, creativity…. we need collaboration to rise up” he averred.
Concerns raised about non-compliance to the Bank of Sierra Leone’s prudential guidelines on single and aggregate obligor lending thresholds were effectively handled by the Managing Director and the KPMG representative who both posited that such a situation no longer obtains and that the auditor’s report which referred to the anomaly would always follow international standards in reporting the financials of their clients. He assured all that the Bank will remain compliant to the country’s banking laws and is on a positive growth trajectory as evidenced by an upward trend in its profit margins in recent times.
Earlier, the Financial Secretary Sahr Jusu who is also a member of the RCBank’s Board reiterated government’s commitment to working with the bank in realizing the aspirations of the shareholders as well as the general public.
Representing the Chairman of the National Commission for Privatisation, Umaru Napoleon Koroma, the Executive Secretary, Mohamed Alie Sesay said proper management structures have been put in place to reposition the bank and make it a forward-looking institution.
Representing the minority shareholders, revered banker and business mogul, Dr Sanpha Koroma commended government over the appointment of Walton Gilpin whom he said has done extremely well to turn around the fortunes of the bank. He said he had held several negotiations with relevant stakeholders that has ensured the inclusion of three representatives into the Bank’s Board.
Rokel Commercial Bank is a state owned bank with 65% shares by the government and 35% shares owned by private citizens.

H. E Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of our Republic considers sexual violence a culture that every human being should abhor. Man is born innately good but society corrupts and influences him.
Our First lady vividly believes that this act of violence can be controlled or stopped depending on how the society perceives it, and how willing we are as a people to say NO to this 21st Century evil. That is the exact reason why H.E Fatima Maada Bio’s approach is to embark on a sensitization of the public.
And for the very first time in our history, we had our First Lady engaged Wives of Paramount Chiefs on issues of national interest. She strongly believes that with them by her side, together they would make history by winning the fight against rape in our country.

Where do we stand as a nation if we see girls who are supposed to be leaders of tomorrow become mothers? What do we seek to become if our children become prey to men who couldn’t zip up their pants?
How can we interpret the failure of a school going kid becoming a dropout due to the effects of rape? How many of us can bear the sight of seeing our girl child carrying unwanted pregnancy?
Today, we witness some of the saddest moments in our nation’s history, worse than some of the toughest moments during the eleven (11) years civil war.

The girls we see today being raped are not victims of that civil war, they are the direct result of people who in most cases should be protecting them. The level of rape we witness today was never the case during the course of the war. Lives were lost, properties destroyed, but the rape of under-aged girls was never at the level we are witnessing it today.
We see 12-13 years girls get unwanted pregnancies due to rape and in some cases forceful marriages, and subsequently become mothers. Is this the future we seek for our own children at home? Do we want to become grandparents of rapists? I’m sure the answers to these questions are NO. A big NO.

It is therefore incumbent on all of us as Sierra Leoneans to support our First Lady, and seek the strictest form of punishment for rapists, so as to deter those who might want to commit same in the future.

Our President has emphasized on investing in human capital. What sort of capital could we invest in if the girls that are supposed to be competing with boys are dropouts from schools? If the girls have their very own children to fend and care for at home? If the girls face stigmatization from the people who witnessed them being raped at first hand by calling them names in societies?

If the crimes committed on these girls were never reported? If tradition (as is the case in some areas) give the hands of our girl children in marriages to men old enough to become their grandparents?

Rape victims suffer from both physical and psychological violence that stain the heart and brain forever. This can be very harmful to victims and their families in society and in some cases have resulted to victims taking their own lives.
This MUST NOT and SHOULD NEVER be the case in a civilized nation. Sex or marriage in whatever form should be consensual, and children below the age of 18 should not be a party to both.

Rape in its entirety is evil. It is a forced and an unwanted sexual intercourse involving the genitals or any other part of the body. Rape is also a sexual assault. It is an act of violence; it is not a form of consensual sex, love, or intimacy. All these summed up, one can easily say Rape is only committed by indecent beings.
Being a rapist does not always mean that a person is mentally ill, we have mentally stable people engaging in rape today. We have all witnessed the level at which rape crimes are reported in our local media. This however does not in any way conform to normal human practice. As the popular saying goes, “Real men don’t rape”.

I stand to choose the path of the millions of our real men in our society today who stand against rape. Let us all be seen as whistle-blowers for rape victims and not silencers or contributors to this act. Committing rape is a criminal act. Rape and sexual assault may be committed against females or males; children or elders; wives, dates or intimate partners.

Many rapes are never reported to the police for certain reasons, resulting from treats on the lives of victims, to ignorance, to tradition. Rape might be committed by a stranger, but often it is committed by someone known to the victim, and sometimes relatives to the victims.
Some people get their victims drugged, drunk, or otherwise unable to respond before committing rape on them. This is wrong and we must put an end to it.

Taking into consideration circumstances surrounding rape cases and the victims’ willingness to report the cases may strongly undermine the law and institutions put to enforce and ensure that perpetrators are brought to book. In light of this, Our Frist lady extends her sincere thanks and appreciation to her husband President Julius Maada Bio for declaring National Emergency on Rape in Sierra Leone.
This could not only create fear in the minds of people who want to commit rape but has raised the flag on the need to stop this heinous and despicable act.

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has signed Performance Contract Undertakings with Cabinet Ministers that will be facilitated by the Office of the Chief Minister, during a brief ceremony held at State House.

In his opening statement Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis, said the event created a moment to hold Ministers and their Deputies accountable to the people of Sierra Leone and for the confidence reposed in them by the President by graciously appointing them to their respective roles.

He said the performance management would ensure and strengthen effective public service delivery that would positively impact the lives of the people, saying that as public leaders they had been entrusted with the responsibility to deliver services. He stated that signing the contract would build a culture of delivery and service delivery responsiveness.

“This contract will improve Government’s effectiveness in service delivery, develop a culture of accountability and trust in the public sector, transform the negative image of public servants and political leaders through performance and delivery, create value for money and a clear understanding of incentives and sanctions for service delivery,” he said.

In his brief response, President Bio said the event was a milestone in the journey to make Sierra Leone a better place for everyone. He said during his campaign, he had pledged to effectively deliver services to the people of the country, which he was doing through his ministers.

He added: “I want us to deliver tangible results that will have impact on the lives of Sierra Leoneans. Most Sierra Leoneans had lost trust in government but as a new government we are changing that narrative now and I need you all to show leadership in your respective ministries. Together, we can deliver on our mandate to the people of this country.”

Out of the two funding sources of Plan International is sponsorship. It creates communication relationship between a sponsor and the sponsorship child (SC). Where the financial resources collected are used to implement projects in sponsorship communities. In that perspective the Sponsorship child is considered an ambassador in his/her community.

In seven days, Plan International Sierra Leone hosted two Sponsors from Holland and Germany in two different visits, in Port Loko and Moyamba Districts.

In Port Loko District, community members at Rogbai and Masimra Villages, came out in their numbers on Friday February 1st, to welcome Mr. KO Out; a Plan International Sponsor from Holland.

These Villages are hosting a Sponsored Child under Mr. Out Sponsorship.

Community members expressed thanks and appreciation for the support given to them by both Plan International Sierra Leone and Mr. Out. They highlighted the building of Schools, Community wells, toilets and the Village Saving and Loan Scheme as some of the projects which Plan International Sierra Leone has implemented in their communities.

In his response, Mr. Out thanked the communities for their support in ensuring that, children especially girls are sent to school. He encouraged them to take good care of the facilities, and support Plan International Sierra Leone in achieving its aims toward enhancing better lives for children.

In another development, Anna Haberl, another Plan International Sponsor from Germany visited Moyamba Ngieya Village in Moyamba District, on the 7th February, to see Jestina her Sponsored Child. Community members turned out in their numbers with cultural displays to welcome her.

In a brief community meeting in the presence of Chiefs, Community Elders, School Authorities, Community Members and School Children, the community thanked Anna for her support to Jestina and by extension other children in the community.

During her response, Anna Haberl said that, she is overwhelmed to visit the community as this is her first visit to Sierra Leone. She reiterated her support to Jestina and the community.

With the objective of transforming Freetown it has been scheduled that 500 street bins will be installed on key streets in the city. The street bin installation process started on 23rd January, the eve of the Transform Freetown Forum and will continue. The street bins are emptied daily and residents are encouraged to use the bins for their intended purpose. A clean city is a healthy city! Let’s all play our part!

First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatima Bio has gently warned school-going pupils especially girls to restrain from taking their teachers’ mobile phone numbers (especially male teachers) with the objective of calling them off-school hours as this would be very detrimental to their future.
She warned that the dangers of this is that most times, schoolgirls who indulge in such, end up visiting the teacher at home and eventually end up pregnant; become dropouts or end up worse. She admonished schoolgirls especially to always be wary and focused on what would develop them for a better and brighter future when they would have completed their education.
The First Lady was delivering her Keynote address on Tuesday 5th February, 2019 at the Atlantic Hall, Stadium Hostel, in Freetown, where the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with SALCAB and NATCOM staged the first-ever Safer Internet Day (SID) celebration in Sierra Leone.
The First Lady went on to warn school children on the uses and abuses of the Internet. She called on them to be agents of change and consider themselves as the next generation of leaders and in that direction they should ensure they use the internet to their best and positive advantage in conducting research and exploring other educational pursuits.
She went on to say that improper use or abuse of the Internet by school children can result in regrettable results such as attracting unwanted attention into one’s privacy or presenting oneself as prey to pedophiles.
Earlier, a power-point presentation done by MIC ICT guru, Mrs. Mariama Yormah explained the Safer Internet Day objectives and singled our four thematic areas she described as the 4Rs school children should consider when using the Internet, namely: Respect, Responsibility, Reasoning and Resilience.
Several other speakers including the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swarray made similar sentiments. The Minister emphasized that the Safer Internet Day (SID), is an annual landmark campaign celebrated worldwide since 2004 and that February of each year, SID is organized to encourage safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially among children and youths across the world. He added that although the campaign started in Europe, it has continued to grow and was celebrated in more than 140 countries in 2018 and this year, Sierra Leone launched its first SID campaign.
Other speakers were NATCOM DG Mr. Maxwell, a representative from the Ministry of Social Welfare, National Children’s Commission Director Mrs. Olayinka Laggah among others.
The ceremony attracted a galaxy of government officials, children drawn from various schools, the press and many others distinguished guests. The climax of the celebration was a performance by Vicky the Poet, Wilma C.E. Knuckles from Methodist Girls Secondary School and a short skit by comedian Vamboi and his team.

The fundamental principle of natural justice is the right of an accused to be heard in his/her own defense either by self or with the help of a lawyer.
For the next six months, the three judges heading the three Commissions of Inquiry will be sifting through documents and other evidences to know what transpired amongst officials in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), in the execution of their official responsibilities.
President Bio has said he is keen to recover stolen money for use in the development of the country, a move that has been well received by the people and the International Community.
Well-meaning Sierra Leoneans are hopeful that the Commissions of Inquiry would help serve as deterrent against the reckless and brazen abuse of office by public officials to acquire ill-gotten wealth. But again, the fairer the process, the more credence it would get.

However, the now opposition APC members are raising concerns on issues bordering on evidences and are threatening not to cooperate, if those concerns are not addressed.
Whilst it is the right of the accused not to put in an appearance before the Commission, and one of the judges having stated that nobody will be compelled to appear, many legal minds have opined that it would be prudent for those summoned to respect the Commissions, as there are legal sanctions for not doing so.
However, it would be counter- productive on officials of the past regime to attempt snubbing the Inquiry should they be summoned, as there are enforcement measures in place, to institute compliance.
Where there was any doubt about the integrity and uprightness of the judges, Lawyer Charles who worked with one of them in the Law Officers Department has vouched that Justice Thompson is an independent incorruptible jurist; even though he, the Bar Association and some other concerned individuals and corporate bodies have called on the Government to heed to the APC’s concerns which the judges at the opening ceremony sought to allay by stating that they will be guided by established legal principles guiding Commissions of Inquiry in Sierra Leone..
We assume that Justice Thompson’s two other colleagues are of the same cloth as him.
Hon. Justices Biobele Georgewill, William Annan Atuguba and John Bankiole Thompson must not allow themselves to be influenced by opinions or claims posted on social media or articles written under the guise of Concerned Citizen, which could be baseless and malicious attempts to unlawfully implicate persons because of reasons listed above or else at the end of the day, posterity will not treat them kindly for wrongfully implicating people of corruption.
The three men must instead look at convincing elements surrounding a particular matter and use their legal experiences to arrive at a judicious conclusion, rather than on hearsay.
This is of great importance as the recommendations they as Commissioners would compile and present to the Government, would have far reaching implications in the lives of individuals named, and society as a whole.

The three Commissions of Inquiry set up by President Bio to look into the activities of all former Ministers and their Deputies that served under President Koroma after receiving evidences from the Attorney General and her panel of assistant State Counsels in presenting the state’s case has now officially written to erstwhile President Koroma, Vice Presidents Sam Sumana, Victor Bockarie Foh, all former Ministers and their Deputies summoning them to appear before the Commissions.
The directive from the Commissions’ Secretariat asks all those invited to send to the Secretariat their current addresses and telephone contact numbers.
Last week Tuesday 29th January 2019 before the Commissions adjourned to today February 11th 2019, the State tendered witnesses from the Auditor General’s Office, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Government Printer.
In the main, the Attorney General and her team will try to convince with documentary evidences drawn from several sources, but mainly from the Auditor General’s Reports from 2007 to 2017 alleging that the former Government engaged in large scale theft of state properties, assets, resources and funds.
At the opening of the commissions, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice said the COI was established to combat impunity as waging war against corruption is a constitutional mandate enshrined in Sierra Leone’s Constitution.
She said information and evidence against a person of interest over a specific period of time from November 2007 to April 2018, will be presented and probing will be done on the activities of the President of the past administration, Vice President, Ministers, heads of ministries, departments and agencies and Board Chairmen of various institutions.
As such, the Commissions seek to inquire about governance systems, assets owned by former government officials, whether they are commensurate with their earnings.
With the All Peoples’ Congress stating that it would not subject itself to what Secretary General Ambassador Yansaneh called a kangaroo court, citing that it is not properly constituted and has no formal rules of evidence.
However, during their first sittings, the three judges sought to allay the fear of those that will be invited to face the Commission that they will go by the Sierra Leone High Courts Rules of 2007 as a guide in conducting the proceedings of the inquiry.
The judges noted that they took into consideration based on the contentions that they heard.
The judges also pledged that the hearings will follow the rules of natural justice and far hearings, in as much as the hearings would not be strictly bound by the rules of evidence as found in the High Court.
What however remains uncertain is whether the APC party will permit its former officials to subject themselves to the investigations as last week, the party filed a petition with the Supreme Court calling the court’s attention to lack of rules of evidence and also complaining violation of human rights.
Meanwhile, the nation is split between those who stand with President Bio in demanding for democratic accountability from officials of the former Government and those who maintain that the inquiry is targeted at discrediting APC and therefore deem it as a witch hunt.

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Many have acclaimed the Africa Young Voices and Africell for initiating a transformative input in Sierra Leone’s entertainment landscape with the rolling out for the first time in the history of this country a Television Reality Show branded Big Brother 2019.In a positive light the prime objective is geared towards youth empowerment as the main trust is showcasing natural in-built talents in multi-faceted ways as well as providing polish for them.
The 14th February 2019 will be a watershed as twenty successful contestants will finally enter the Big Brother House for six weeks where they will be thoroughly assesses by competent Judges until finally the winner emerges to bag a prestigious prize of one hundred million Leones (Le100,000,000) .
Already, country- wide auditions have been completed and by estimation they were very interesting as some of the contestants left viewers laughing their sides out because of the funny ways they responded to questions, some out of ignorance, nervousness and others comically.
Without any iota of exaggeration some of the competitors captivated brilliance by responding intelligently to the questions posed by the Judges even having a blind girl in Makeni who through her expressions held viewers spellbound.

Those interesting aspects of the auditions have now whetted the appetite of fans or viewers to really see how their favorite would-be housemates will convincingly display their God-given talents.

It is interesting to note that after the end of the auditions in various parts of the country the Judges shortlisted 40 contestants setting the stage for another phase where the public were given the opportunity to vote via Africell Toll Number 5500, which is totally free, for 20 out of the aforementioned shortlisted names (10 male & 10 female) to enter the House. What is so ironical about Big Brother as opposed to Big Sister is the fact that the former is going to be a combination of male and female housemates were as Big Sister was exclusively a female event.

AYV and Africell are working behind the scenes to give Sierra Leoneans here and abroad the best in entertainment as many are eagerly looking forward to an interesting thrill.

Sierra Leoneans in-country and overseas, who will be fortunate to tune in to AYV Television are of course going to stay glued to their TV sets to watch the six weeks series of performances by the housemates who are expected to impressively display their natural talents in different ways to fit into the stipulated criteria that the Judges will be looking forward to in order to making their assessments.

It is important to note that Big Brother is highly competitive and is an elimination contest with the determinant factor having to do with the number of votes that a particular housemate pulls. However, for each day a housemate stays in the House he or she is entitled to the sum of One Hundred Thousand Leones (Le100, 000).

Certain analysts have postulated that with the successful organization of two outstanding TV Reality shows such that will really put Sierra Leone on the international entertainment pedestal and showcase the country’s young talents.

Against that backdrop, a foreign diplomat commended the organizers for taking the bold steps in rolling out the two events Big Sister and Big Brother.
Amb. Anthony Navo Jr, disclosed that on day one of the show (i.e. 14th February 2019 – St. Valentine’s Day) the first eviction will be done and this will be the 20 unlucky aspirants out of the 40 shortlisted contestants that the public had voted for, who were unable to poll the votes to qualify. They will receive Le 1 million each and other prizes like data, phones etc. The Le20 million was set aside by the AYV, whilst the other prizes will be offered by Africell.
All the 40 shortlisted candidates are qualified to be in the House, but only 20 housemates are needed, hence the turning of the choice over to members of the public to choose. This is to show how transparent the selection process has been. He also disclosed that all 40 aspirants will be showed to the public and take part in a float parade to end at the National Stadium on a seven day calendar which started on Wednesday 6th February 2019 and will end on Wednesday 13th February 2019 during which there will be a Pick up Point & Checking at 5 pm to finally enter the House.
On the 14th February all the aspirants will enter the House and on the same day the 20 who failed to poll the votes polled by the other 20 aspirants will then be evicted and handed their packages. He further disclosed that anxious time awaits the other housemates who will remain in the House, as during the week there will be what is called Valentine week eviction. The contestants will be paired and the first pair will be evicted over that weekend based on the number of votes as earlier stipulated.
From what was learnt after series of investigation conducted Sierra Leoneans in and out of the country have commended AYV and Africell for rolling out what they have described the first ever Reality TV show that will show case the talents of young male and female Sierra Leoneans saying that such is a real demonstration of boosting the entertainment industry in the country.