Quality Management Awareness to be Enhanced by University of Sierra Leone

March 6, 2020

By Foday Moriba Conteh

Professor Foday Sahr ,the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sierra Leone (USL) on the 28^th February 2020 hosted a delegation from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to further discuss Quality Management capacity-building in Sierra Leone.

Head of Delegation, UNIDO’s Chief Technical Adviser, Dr. Shaukat H. Malik, noted that his organisation’s primary goal is to create a QMS awareness culture in Sierra Leone, develop a standard curriculum and train faculty members.

The UNIDO Consultant and Leader of ISO Joint Technical Coordination Group, Dr. Nigel Croft, noted that QM is a multi-disciplinary facetted programme and stressed that the curriculum will include management sciences, mathematics and statistics, IT, Social Studies and other subject areas. A key outcome of this initiative he said is “the bigger picture to establish a professional body or society for QMS in Sierra Leone, building links and partnerships with various international organisations and universities in the UK, USA and elsewhere”.

Dr. Malik explained that when he searched for the University of Sierra Leone on Google, he discovered that it was the first university in the West African sub region where nationals from other countries came to acquire higher education. He concluded that it would be a good thing and it would not come as a surprise if the University of Sierra Leone also becomes the first University in the sub region for the introduction of a Quality Management Systems curriculum.

The two UNIDO Officials concluded that by introducing Quality Management Systems training in the University of Sierra Leone, history would be repeating itself as nationals from the West Africa sub-region and other countries would be coming to Sierra Leone to benefit from gaining access to first class education.

Responding, Prof Foday Sahr expressed delight for this joint venture and all that has been achieved during this short period with the help and support of the Strategic Planning and QA Director, Mr David Gbao who will coordinate the project. Prof Sahr explained that the project was featured in his speech at the just concluded University Congregation and that the Minister of Technical and Higher Education is already keen to engage and support the implementation.

The Vice Chancellor and Principal assured the UNIDO Officials that the programme was timely and would receive the full support and cooperation of the University.

The UNIDO-USL capacity building initiative in Quality Management is part of UNIDO’s Africa Competitiveness Programme, which aims to stimulate Sierra Leone’s economic growth, boost the country’s private sector and generate new job opportunities. The goal is to strengthen institutional, technical and human resource capacities of national institutions to access reliable and efficient quality infrastructure services (QIS). The University has been enlisted by the agenda for training Quality Management professionals given its long history of delivering top class education.

The Director of Strategic Planning and Quality Assurance for USL, Mr David Gbao will lead the training project. Mr Gbao is an accomplished administrator and Project Management specialist who until June 2019 lived and worked in the UK. Mr Gbao hopes that further awareness training will be organised in April and May by International Experts and plans are already in place to link USL with world renowned universities and professional bodies for Quality Management.

Pregnant Guinean Woman Freed by LAB

March 6, 2020

Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles

By Esther Wright

Sonia Bobanie-Brown ,one of the lawyers working for the Legal Aid Board (LAB), secured the discharge of a nine-month pregnant Guinean national, Fatmata from the High Court Holden in Freetown presided over by Honourable Justice Sulaiman Bah.

Prior to her discharge the twenty-one year old Guinean national said she has been at the Female Correctional Center at the former site of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown for almost seven months on a one-count charge of Child Stealing contrary to Section 56 of the Offences Against the Persons Act of 1861. Apart from the aforesaid, the Legal Aid Board beneficiary also revealed how she was detained at the Eastern Police Station in Freetown for approximately ten days before being charged to court on 24^th July 2019.

Fatmata went on to state that despite the long time at the remand prison, she only made six court appearances. Legal Aid Counsel, Madam Bobanie-Brown secured her discharge in February 2020.

Asked how she feels after being released from prison, Fatmata stated that she was delighted to be out of incarceration, more so as the time for her labour is getting closer. She thanked the Board for coming to her aid, noting that before then life has been difficult for her especially bearing in mind that she has not got enough resources to hire the services of a private lawyer.

Fatmata informed the Legal Aid Board of her intention to travel back to her mother land of Burfin, in Guinea, stating that the man that got her pregnant during her stay in Freetown has abandoned her since her arrest last July.

Ms. Carlton-Hanciles told Fatmata that she was represented by the Board because nationality is irrelevant in accessing the scheme. “We are blind to nationality,” she said. “Any poor person living in Sierra Leone qualifies for the scheme. It does not matter which part of the world you were born.”

In addition, Ms. Carlton-Hanciles also assured her that the Board will repatriate her to Guinea. “This is a facility we accord our Sierra Leonean clients, you too should benefit from it,’ she said. ‘We have a partnership agreement with the Sierra Leone Motor Drivers and General Workers Union to assist with free transportation for our clients wishing to return to their homes upon serving their sentences or discharge by the Court.”

In another development, a group of women petty traders in the Western Area, The Community-Based Justice Advocates, under the guidance of the Lady Ellen Women’s Aid Foundation (LEWAF), presented a resolution to the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles at a ceremony at the head office in Freetown.

The resolution called on the Legal Aid Board to help ‘End dubious out-of-court settlements and compromise for Rape and Sexual Penetration cases by family members, local chiefs, community stakeholders and sometimes even the police’.

It also called on the Board to ‘Support the enforcement of Maintenance Agreements subscribed to by fathers in respect of wife and child abandonment cases.’ This it underlines entails the Board taking legal action against men who willfully abandon their wives, partners and children. “Madam, it is our experience that men deceitfully agree to sign maintenance agreements at police stations or with legal aid providers only to abandon mothers and children without support in the months ahead,” the Resolution notes.

The resolution further notes that there is growing evidence of non-compliance noting that about 80% of maintenance agreements are abandoned by men. Surprisingly, the complainants are complicit in some of these cases.

In response, Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said she is impressed with what LEWAF has achieved as a legal aid organization and pledged the support of the Board in addressing the issues raised in the resolution. She noted that the issues are close to her heart and therefore done a lot of work in these areas not least at the Legal Aid Board.

In furthering its work the Legal Aid Board and the Initiative for Creative Women (ICW) have agreed to forge a partnership to support and empower women serving time in correctional centers to rebuild their lives and make them become self-reliant.

The Chief Executive Officer of ICW, Binta Bah said her organization is implementing a project ‘Girl Innovation Center’ dedicated to training female inmates in the requisite skills that will earn them a livelihood when they return to mainstream society after serving their sentences. ‘We will train young female inmates in Tailoring, Bead Making, Weaving and Bag Making,’ she said.

She also intimated Ms. Carlton-Hanciles about activities her organization will be undertaking to mark International Women’s Day on the 8 March 2020 under the theme: ‘I Can Make a Change: My Story, My Voice.’ The campaign will focus on issues around Teenage Pregnancy, Early Marriage and Domestic Violence. She added that the celebrations will take the form of screening of documentaries and live drama performances.

The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Carlton-Hanciles welcomed the partnership with ICW. She said the partnership is coming at a time when the Board is looking for an organization to train in basic skills female clients of the Board who have served time in correctional centers.

The meeting was climaxed with the presentation of a Certificate of Appreciation to Ms. Carlton-Hanciles for mentoring and serving as a motivational speaker for young Women in the three day Leadership and Development Summit in June 2019.

Stats SL Mallam O Elected as UNSC Rapporteur

March 6, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

In New York this country’s Statistician General, Prof Osman Sankoh (Mallam O), was unanimously elected as the Rapporteur responsible for the reports of the United Nations Statistics Commission’s Sessions for a 4 year term (2020-2023), at the 51st Session of the United Nations Statistics Commission, the highest global decision-making body for Statistics.

Mallam O was unanimously elected by hundreds of heads of National Statistics Offices from around the world at the opening session of the 51st session of the UN Statistical Commission.

The 51st session of the UN Statistical Commission is discussing among other things, reports by the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDG indicators(IAEG-SDG),the High Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as a report of the Friends of the Chair group on the future of Economic Statistics, and a report by the Bureau on a more coordinated and coherent structure and functions of groups operating under the auspices of the Statistical Commission.

Reacting on what it feels like representing Sierra Leone on a global stage like the UNSC, Prof Osman Sankoh (Mallam O) said, “I feel great and blessed for the opportunity but the country is more important! I must therefore thank Sierra Leone’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations which pushed through the nomination for Sierra Leone to be elected based on its conviction that we have competent staff at Stats SL to represent the country. Dr Francis Kai-Kai, current MoPED Minister, was the Ambassador at the time. I am grateful to him.”
On how he will use the position to improve on the work of Stats SL, Mallam O furthered, “My Management, Council and I will interact more closely with national statistics offices of other countries to identify best practices in the diverse areas of our work, see what we can learn but also help those who are behind Stats SL because we are also good in certain areas” he concluded.

Concerning turning the Economy Around… President Bio’s Worries Are Clear To See

March 6, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

Poor, developing countries like Sierra Leone with weak export industries continue to be hit hard by financial and economic crisis identified in weakened national currencies and huge foreign exchange scarcity.

The crisis is worsened primarily by poor international balance of trade figures and financial outflows by the class that controls the business sector, forcing millions to remain in poverty. As such, attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, and now the SGDs is seriously jeopardized in countries like Sierra Leone that are yet to put their economies on a sound footing for robust diversified growth and expansion like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Asian Tiger countries have in the last fifty years succeeded to do admirably.

Poor developing countries like ours do not have the financial and resources required to stimulate the economy and protect our socially disadvantaged populations, even though considerable efforts were made by the former Government and continue to be done by this one to mitigate the effects.

What our Government now has to grapple with definitely defies its strength. What makes our situation very desperate is that unlike the previous decades, the developed countries are for the most part more concerned with their own problems. Thus their readiness to provide more extensive aid is limited.

We are in what one economist called the “phase of heightened instability”. The high growth rates registered by the Ernest Koroma Government have long since disappeared and we now have to face shrinking economic production. To make matters worse, the corona virus from nowhere has come to badly affect the economies of China, Asia, Europe and the United States.

Macro-economically the crisis manifests itself in mounting deficits in trade and payment balances, dwindling currency reserves, currency devaluation, increasing rates of inflation, higher indebtedness and soaring public budget deficits. This had a direct impact on the living conditions of the population – those who survive on the equivalent of USD 1 per day.

The imbalance is mounting. Far more people of both sexes are out of work than in employment. This means that achievement of the SDGs is fading into the distance.

Despite the Government’s attempts, we still have a clearly lower financial-political scope for stimulation programs and social measures to protect the poorest. Higher bilateral aid and liquidity aid from the international financing institutions could significantly expand the range of options.

Considerable international currency reserves to call on and high fiscal deficits leave the Government with little room for increased expenditure. Consequently, the emphasis must be on monetary measures, in particular facilitating credit access options for producers. However, we have to consider that money policy measures are strictly limited because easement in interest policy impacts the exchange rate of the currency and the rate of inflation. Thus, maybe in dealing with the foreign exchange crisis, the Government can as one option consider introducing selective trade restrictions on non-essential luxury goods.

There is no two ways about it – this Government cannot go far with its development ambition without access to sufficient financial resources. President Bio’s problem as such has to do with the question of the reform of the financial system, acquisition of additional liquidity, control and regulation of the market and the specific competences of a wide range of state institutions responsible for market control and economic stimulation.

In this regard, we need greater and deepened dialogue with the primary actors for development policy, i.e., the UN, the Bretton Woods institutions, the EU and the regional development banks and certain of their special organizations.

Wilberforce Barracks now has New RCB Outlet

March 6, 2020

By Fatmata Jengbe

On Friday 28^th February 2020, the Rokel Commercial Bank opened another outlet or branch in a bid to address the challenges faced by military personnel in respect of financial transactions, further bringing banking to their doorstep.

The Registrar of the AFTEC, Major S.S. Makieu, while giving a brief background to the establishment of the outlet said the dream of establishing this branch came at a time when the RSLAF leadership visualized the transformation of the then Armed Forces Education Centre to a technical college back in 2016.

He said the then Commander, Col. M.M. Hashim, was worried about how they would collect fees and other charges, and thus approached the Management of the Rokel Commercial Bank, requesting for the setting up of an outlet in the barracks.

He said the establishment of the outlet will promote cashless transactions between the college and the students, will address the issue of students boycotting classes because they want to rush to the bank to pay their fees and other chargers and reduce the transportation burden and stress on soldiers, who have always undertaken such laborious journey to and from town to access the bank.

He informed that the structure which has been transformed to a banking outlet was a dilapidated colonial building, adding that after the signing of a lease between the bank and the Ministry of Defence, the structure was handed over to them for the said edifice. He stated that the Management of RC Bank has been very much supportive to AFTEC’s development plans by providing learning materials.

The Officer in Charge of the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Sierra Leone, Hilton Jarrett, in his own contribution said just weeks ago, the Rokel Commercial Bank opened another outlet at Fourah Bay Collage, adding that the opening of this outlet in Wilberforce is a clear manifestation of the bank’s expansion strategy and financial inclusion drive, which supports the vision of the Bank of Sierra Leone, in terms of using financial inclusion to ensure broad based economic development. ‘We also note the efforts made in rebranding the bank as well as the introduction of new products and services,’ he stated.

He commended the Management of the bank for bringing their banking services to the doorstep of the people of Wilberforce, stressing that the opening of this outlet will therefore provide an opportunity to the community and its environs to benefit from banking services.

He emphasized that the outlet will also bring deserving relief to the hundreds of military personnel and their families who are faced with the challenges of moving to the Central Business District (CBD) to complete very simple banking transactions. He assured them that the Bank of Sierra Leone will continue to support the growth of the financial sector by introducing international best practices and providing a levelled playing field to all players, as well as ensuring that consumers are adequately educated and protected.

In his remarks, the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff for Training and Doctrine, Ministry of Defence, Brig. Gen. Michael M. Samura, said that the opening of the outlet is the primary effort to bring banking closer to its citizens. He informed the audience that Wilberforce Barracks is the largest military community in Sierra Leone and pointed out that Rokel Commercial Bank is one of the topmost banks that a greater number of their personnel are banking with and “We are particularly delighted to host this outlet, for the simple reason that it will relieve our soldiers and their families the burden of transportation costs to do their banking transactions in far distances within town,” he maintained, adding that solders will no longer take a whole day off from work with the excuse of collecting salaries from the bank.

He underscored that soldiers normally form long queues in the banks and they are also aware that some of their soldiers can be very stubborn in following simple banking etiquette, thereby causing a lot of trouble for the bank, thus setting up an outlet like this in the barracks will surely save them the embarrassments that this has been causing, adding that solders that are enrolled at the AFTEC, miss classes to do their banking transactions in town, often do not return to class, but with this outlet under their nose, such excuses will no longer be tenable.

In his statement, the Managing Director of Rokel Commercial Bank, Dr. Dayo Gilpin, said that it is part of the efforts of the bank to ensure financial inclusion of all in society; “As a bank, we will ensure that we provide innovative products and services for our customers,’’ he said.

He apologized to all soldiers that have been standing in long queues, adding that this outlet will address those challenges. He furthered that the outlet will not only serve the soldiers, but will serve those in the Wilberforce community and its environs. He encouraged other military personnel who have not opened an account with RC Bank to make good use of this opportunity and open one, especially as banking has been brought to their doorstep.

Staff of Africell Bags Best IPAM Male Graduate Award

March 6, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

A member of staff of Africell by the name of Alexander Ayodele-Manley emerged as the Best Male Graduate from the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), University of Sierra Leone for the 2019/2020 academic year and because of that he was awarded. After the graduation ceremony Alexander stated that he is determined to give back to society what he acquired from the University.

He maintained that he is even willing and ready to give more to society if the university administration can avail him the opportunity for further studies.

He received the prestigious award from the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio who served as Chancellor of the University on the 22nd February, 2020 at the Siaka Stevens Stadium.

The award was made possible through the Adonis Aboud Trust Fund with a cash prize of over Eighteen Million Leones (Le18, 000,000) for both the University of Sierra Leone and the University of Makeni.

Alexander Ayodele-Manley explained that his Dissertation was based on Procurement Best Practices for Organizational Performance using Africell as a case study which, he said, is just the beginning of a long academic journey.

He said attaining such a feat does not mean all was well for him at IPAM, but he was just resilient to be the best. “I am looking for opportunities to do further studies through scholarship but I do not know what the future holds for me and my colleagues,” he stated.

He emphasized that some of them are willing to go for further courses and would accept international scholarships if possible and later to payback to society.

Ayodele-Manley described his award as one that came as a surprise for him because he had no knowledge of it. “I felt honored to receive such an award from an institution that has two faculties with thousands of students,” he expressed delight.

Alexander Ayodele-Manley entered IPAM during the 2016-2017 Academic Year after acquiring a Diploma and an Advanced Diploma from the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM), during which period he was exempted from Year One and was sent to Year Two.

Ayodele-Manley confessed that he saw the course as challenging at first considering his workload as a full time worker especially as it entails traveling in and out of Freetown and coming to the classroom again. “Coming to IPAM was a challenge for me, it was challenging for a start,” he confirmed.

He maintained that when he started classes his target was for him to get the requirement to be admitted into the Honours Class and that came to pass as his grade point was good for him to be called in the Honours Class.

Alexander Ayodele-Manley got: 10 A’s and 2B+ in year three and 10 A’s, 1B – and 1C during final year and graduated with a First Class Hons. in Procurement.

He advised that for one to succeed in the university one doesn’t need to be the most intelligent or too clever person than others; but that one has to be disciplined, hardworking, prepares well and applies dedication to work. “There are times you have to handle a lot of projects. Most students don’t make it because they fail to comply with what is required of them and of the lecturers,” he stated.

He expressed hope that the Government through the university will recruit him as Research Teaching Assistant (RTA) which they grant at the universities.

He expressed thanks and appreciation to the Procurement Department of IPAM-USL, the Adonis Abboud Trust Fund, Africell as well as family members and friends for the support given to him.

Njala University Gets a Boost from Seawright Mining Company

March 6, 2020

Dr. Alfred Seawright and Minister of Fisheries signing their commitment to Aquaculture

By Theresa Kef Sesay

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Seawright Mining Company, Dr. Alfred Seawright as part of it goodwill gesture to Sierra Leone has made his commitment to transform Njala University Aquaculture System to a modern one. “We will support you 100% and will make sure that all the items you need, reach you,” he assured.

He made this commitment during the inauguration of the Sierra Leone Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Society and launching of the Sierra Leone Aquaculture and Fisheries Journal at the Ministry of Local Government conference room, Youyi Building, Freetown.

Njala University will be the first institution to benefit from the modern system from Seawright Mining Company and it will be the first modern Aquaculture system the company will introduce in the country he stated.

Dr. Seawright emphasized that after capacitating Njala University there are other communities where the company is operating that will benefit noting that at that time Njala University will take the lead as technical expert to those communities.

“The system we are putting together is 100% guaranteed as it will be able to generate 40 tons of fish every six (6) months, and we will do that full time,” he confirmed.

He pointed out that they want to make sure that the university makes money out of Hatcheries and also standardized what they are doing.

He stated that people need to showcase what they are doing and promised of the Company’s willingness to do anything that will make the project work.

“My position is that, I want to make sure that we have everything we need, all what we are buying is not for us, we are not making anything out of it, it is going to be for the communities and for the people,” he reaffirmed.

He maintained that part of their vision is creating employment for young people and that at the same time they want to see transparency in everything they do for them by putting proper system in place which will indicate that they are ready.

He mentioned that solar facility will be installed for the system to have constant electricity that will keep it going.

He encouraged others to go solar if they want to support any project in the country for sustainable and clean energy and also advised the Government to depend on the technical people as he can’t succeed without them.

Sometimes back Seawright Mining Company took the Head of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management Department at Njala University, his deputy and students to Ghana, Nigeria and China to under study those countries Aquaculture system in order to get the best type of system for Sierra Leone.

Dr. Olapade O. Julius, Head of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management Department, Njala University described the intervention of Seawright Mining Company through Dr. Seawright as timely.

He stated that the Sierra Leone Fisheries sector continues to play a significant role in the national economy and food security as it contributes about 12 percent of GDP noting that it is the most important economic activity along the coastline of Sierra Leone.

Fish is the largest source of animal protein for the majority of Sierra Leoneans, supplying about 80 percent of total animal protein consumption. Over 500,000 people are directly or indirectly employed in the fisheries sector, he explained.

Seawright Mining Company is now a household name in Kono and Kenema districts due to their outstanding work in those communities. The Company has constructed two schools, waters wells, two cold rooms, introduction of school feeding program and baray among others as part of its corporate social responsibility, he stated.

WIMSAL Trains 15 New Female Journalists

March 6, 2020

By Edward Vamboi

With the aim of promoting journalism in Sierra Leone the Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL) in partnership with the British High Commission in Freetown, on Thursday 5^th March 2020 conducted a training programme for fifteen (15) new female journalists in Sierra Leone. The programme took place at the British Council on tower Hill.

In her statement before the training proper commenced the President of the Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL), Femi Jarrett Coker, said it is the very first training they will be conducting in partnership with the British High Commission targeting fifteen female journalists who are very young in the profession with the objective to see how best they can build on their capacities to report on media freedom and gender studies.

She said they distributed application forms all over the country stating that the trainees voluntarily applied. She said as an organization they shortlisted the applicants with set criteria one of which stated that they should be practicing journalists who have practiced for one to five years and should also be journalists attached to media houses.

Femi furthered that they have been changing the narrative stating that there is a massive improvement as compared to the previous ways female practiced journalism for women. She highlighted how journalism was practiced differently as there were no access to social media platforms underscoring how they are lucky for starting practicing with all these facilities and technologies.

She concluded that these facilities will encourage them to endure and concentrate on their field of studies, saying that there are multiples of opportunities for female journalists in particular. The WIMSAL President said as an institution they want them to focus and put more efforts, concentrate during the training. She pointed out that they will provide them with mentors and they will do stories on different areas stating they will provide the story lines to see how best they can support them on a monthly basis.

In her address, the British High Commission Second Secretary on Media Freedom and Human Rights, Katty Hannam said that women empowerment is a very significant priority in the United Kingdom (UK) and for women especially in Sierra Leone and they are working together to enhance media freedom.

She said they are really impressed with the progress so far made within the media landscape but said there is a lot more to do. Katty intimated how such a training is mainly targeting women because women are underrepresented in the media land scape of Sierra Leone. She said they will also give them the opportunities and platform to understand the core issues in journalism and what will be the consequences of practicing wrongly.

She continued by saying that journalism in Sierra Leone has a long way to go especially for female journalists but assured them of continuing to provide them with basic training, equipment, knowledge and skills which journalists should marshal in the field.

Concluding, she said that it is really an exciting day for them to train these unprofessional female journalists as there is the need to do so stating how they will be really happy to see much improvement in terms of doing their work.

Hon. Tunis to Emerge as ECOWAS Speaker

March 6, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

Leader of Government Business representing the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) in the Sierra Leone House of Parliament, Hon.Sidi Tunis in an exclusive interview with this medium on Wednesday 4^th March 2020 disclosed that he will be sworn in as Speaker of the regional Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament come the 9^th March, 2020 in Niger, stating that such a development is a big plus for Sierra Leone.

The pragmatic and result-oriented legislator stated that after his tenure it will take 56 years before Sierra Leone will again occupy the position adding that it is a 4 year rotational position and by the time the 15 ECOWAS countries occupy the Speakership position it will be 56 years.

“This is an opportunity for Sierra Leone as a nation as such a development has the potential of benefitting the country,” the charismatic and eloquent lawmaker highlighted.

He disclosed that a high-powered delegation from the House of Parliament will depart from Sierra Leone on Saturday 7th March 2020 for the Sahel State of Niger to be led by the Honourable Speaker of the Sierra Leone House of Parliament, Hon. Abass Chernor Bundu, adding that the fifteen (15) man delegation from the Sierra Leone House of Parliament will comprise twelve (12) Members of Parliament (MPs) as well as three (3) supporting staff.

He noted that his appointment as ECOWAS Speaker will in no way affect his job as Leader of Government Business as the position is non-residential which means he will be the ECOWAS Speaker but will still continue to carry out his national responsibilities.

Hon. Sidi intimated that last year His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio in a televised video message to Members of the ECOWAS Parliament which was played at the Extra Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Monrovia, Republic of Liberia, endorsed and weigh in absolute support for the Leader of Government Business of Sierra Leone House of Parliament to serve as Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

Whilst endorsing Honourable Sidi Mohamed Tunis, President Bio said, “I have known him for several years and he served in several leadership positions in this country,” adding that, “I know his wealth of knowledge he will bring to the table to make ECOWAS Parliament a better institution than it is currently.”

President Bio further added that, “I endorse him as my candidate and I am appealing to all of us to support him and you will not regret it.”

Meanwhile, in a similar development, the candidature of Honourable Sidi Mohamed Tunis as Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament also received complete approval and endorsements from several major ECOWAS countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Liberia, Còte d’ivoire, Gambia, Cape Verde and others.

Sierra Leone has never occupied the position of Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament since its establishment in 1975.

Hon. Tunis is expected to take the mantle of leadership and he will serve till 2024, when Togo will be in line to succeed Sierra Leone. The position is rotational in alphabetical manner. The current holder is from Senegal, this means that Sierra Leone is next in line to take up the position.

Meanwhile, as part of his functions as Speaker, Hon Tunis will direct the business of the Parliament and its organs. He will also preside over meetings and conduct debates in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure.

The delegation that is set to leave Sierra Leone on March 7th 2020 will comprise Members of Parliament and staff of the House.

Govt. Sets Aside One Billion Leones as Corona Virus Preparedness

March 6, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

It has been made known to this medium that the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Finance has lodged the sum of one billion Leones in the Emergency Coronavirus Account as a means of demonstrating its heightened alertness or preparedness for any eventual outbreak of the virus in the country.

According to reports, the Coronavirus disease continues to wreak havoc in different countries and with the virus having showed its ugly head in Senegal and Nigeria , the authorities in Sierra Leone have wisely decided to put measures in place which will enhance a robust response in case of any outbreak.

Sierra Leone was seriously beaten and battered by the Ebola virus and exacted a devastating toll on human lives in the country and stalled its economic and social growth. The Government by then was caught on the hop or flat footed.

With lessons from the Ebola very much fresh and instructive, the New Direction Government has taken steps to avoid being caught in the same awkward situation. This move is laudable or commendable and speaks volume of how the Government prioritizes the welfare of its citizens.

1...826827828...1,051 Page 827 of 1,051