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Health Ministry Bags Vice President’s Commendation

Minister of Health and Sanitation Alpha Timbo

By Aaron Bundu Lahai         

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation has been highly commended recently by the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. He commended the Ministry of Health and Sanitation for demonstrating unwavering commitment to support His Excellency President Bio’s program on Human Capital Development. He noted that Human Capital Development is about saving lives. He named health, education and food security as the three main components of Human Capital Development. The Vice President made the remarks during the turning of the sod for the construction of midwifery training college in Kenema on the 31st January, 2020.

Dr. Juldeh Jalloh called on authorities in the Health Ministry to look into the health sector seriously with a focus on strengthening the health system. He explained the strengthening of the health system to mean building health care facilities in order to have the human resources that will deliver in the health sector. The Vice President expressed Government’s expectation for the training institution to build the capacity required to support safe delivery and reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.

The Honourable Vice President described the year 2020 as a year of accelerated delivery in Human Capital Development. He explained accelerated delivery to mean overcoming bureaucracies and deliver outcomes. He informed the public about the allocation of an increased budget of 11% to the Health Ministry and 22% to the Education Ministry to boost the Human Capital Development in Sierra Leone. “We will not allow undue bureaucracies to stand on the way of delivery,” he re-echoed.

Vice President Jalloh encouraged the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to put in place an effective management of the facilities, so as to avoid breakdown of equipment like the transmitter of the radio station after two years of completing the construction of the college.

The cost of the project for the construction of the college is eleven million United States Dollars. The project includes the construction of hostels, staff quarters, lecture rooms, training of ten medical doctors and two hundred and eighty midwives, radio station and two buses. The program was climaxed with the turning of the sod by the Honourable Vice President who delivered the keynote speech.

Two Ernest Bai Koroma University Students Bag Pikin Bizness Cash Prize & Trophy

Chairman of Pikin Bizness and Adonis Abboud Trust Fund, Dr. Adonis Abboud & President Bio Handing Over the Cash Prize and Trophy to the Best Female Student

By Amin Kef Sesay

The Chairman of Pikin Bizness and Adonis Abboud Trust Fund, Dr. Adonis Abboud on Saturday 25th January 2020 awarded cash prize and trophy to best male and female students of the Court and Senate of the Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology at their congregation ceremony held at the University Secretariat in Magburuka for the Conferment of Degrees and award of Diplomas and Certificates 2019/2020 academic year.

Before handing over the awards and cash prizes to Miss Aminata Koroma and Ibrahim Saidu Kuyateh, the two best students, Dr. Adonis Abboud said this was part of the education support which his organization has been doing to help in the educational sector in the country. He furthered that his organization has nothing to do with the choice of the winners of these awards as their names were provided by the University to the organization as that had been a culture for many years.

The Pikin Bizness Chairman noted further that without a healthy and well educated citizenry a country cannot develop. It is in such a regard that they will provide support to not only schools but Universities in Sierra Leone.

Chairman of Pikin Bizness and Adonis Abboud Trust Fund, Dr. Adonis Abboud & President Bio Handing Over the Cash Prize and Trophy to the Best Male Student
Chairman of Pikin Bizness and Adonis Abboud Trust Fund, Dr. Adonis Abboud & President Bio Handing Over the Cash Prize and Trophy to the Best Female Student
Members of the High Table
Cross Section of Students at the Graduation ceremony

“Eastern Polytechnic will soon Metamorphose to a Technical University…” VP Juldeh Assures

Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh

By Aaron Bundu Lahai            

Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Vice President has given assurance to students, lecturers, administrators of the Eastern Polytechnic and the people of Kenema to upgrade the Polytechnic to a University. Dr. Jalloh informed the audience that very soon the Polytechnic will be upgraded to function as a “Technical University” in Sierra Leone. He assured that the Polytechnic will be upgraded at a promising time for a University education in Sierra Leone. Dr. Jalloh made the disclosure while serving as Guest Speaker in the 2020 Matriculation Ceremony of the Eastern Polytechnic in Kenema on Thursday 30th January, 2020.

Vice President Jalloh opined that the characteristics of the future university will be four campuses that will host faculties such as Education, Vocational and Skills Development, Health Sciences and Disaster Management, Engineering and Technology and Agriculture among others. He informed the gathering that the Government of Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Higher Education are working on the process to build the gains made by the Polytechnic, in order to pursue the reality of upgrading to a University.

Dr. Jalloh expressed happiness with the progress made so far in the area of curriculum development for the transformation process. He hopes that the Polytechnic when transformed into a University will become a center of excellence that will produce graduates in various disciplines to support technical and vocational institutions, and produce the skills needed to boost the socio-economic development of the nation.

The Vice President described Kenema as the center of gravity for the New Direction, whilst Eastern Polytechnic is the machine for the center of gravity. He noted that the future University in Kenema will therefore serve as the machine for the center of gravity. He encouraged the people of Kenema to exercise patience in the transformation process in order to follow due process  for the realization of the dream of upgrading the Polytechnic. Ten computers were donated by Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh for the use of the students.

Five National Youth Corps Volunteers Dispatched to Regional Offices by Legal Aid Board

Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles & the five Volunteers

By Esther Wright

On Wednesday, 29 January 2020  five National Youth Corps volunteers assigned to the Legal Aid Board by the National Youth Commission as part of the Graduate Internship Programme took leave of the Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles for their duty stations in Legal Aid Board offices in Makeni, Bo, Kenema after spending two weeks in the head office in Freetown understudying staff.

Ms. Carlton-Hanciles told the volunteers that their job will not be an easy one because they will be serving the poorest and most vulnerable people who will be knocking on their doors all the time with their justice problems.
She urged them to ensure that these people have access to justice. Moreover, they should ensure they are not taken advantage of.

“There is a lot of work for you at Police Stations, Correctional Centers, Local Courts and Informal Courts around the country,” she said. “More importantly, you have a lot of educating to do in communities to help people know and assert their rights while accessing justice.”
She noted that passion and selflessness are key to work at the Board. “You will soon realize you have no place at the Board if you do not possess these qualities,” she said. “This brings with it a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfilment at seeing the difference you’re making in the lives of people.”

She warned that there is no room for corruption and business as usual at the Board. “The worst thing you can do is to compound their problems by taking money from them for which we will weed you out,” she warned.

SLCB to Celebrate 47 Years of Existence

SLCB MD: Fidelis Turay : Forward looking

By Edward Vamboi

Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, rated as a very credible banking institution, is now very set and to celebrate its 47th Anniversary come 15 February 2020. As part of this year’s celebrations the bank will be having a sponsored walk in Freetown.

Since its establishment to serve as an engine of economic growth in the country, SLCB has remained true to its vision of being the country’s leading financial services provider delivering value to all stakeholders.

Celebrated today as the largest most profitable commercial bank in the country, SLCB boasts of over 300, 000 active customers nationwide with that number increasing as the bank continues to deepen financial inclusion with new grassroots branches, products and services.

SLCB Limited was founded on 15th February 1973 by the Government of Sierra Leone as sole shareholder to serve large corporations, small and medium enterprises and personal account holders.

It is Sierra Leone’s first fully indigenous bank with a wide range of world class services and thirteen branches across the country, with headquarters at Siaka Stevens Street and branches at Lightfoot Boston Street, Wilkinson Road, Cline Town, Kissy, Waterloo, Bo, Mobimbi, Njala, Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko.

Quite recently, it opened community kiosk banks at Goderich, Wilberforce and Jui in a further step to take banking services to the un-banked.

SLCB’s management across the country prides themselves on teamwork, innovation and high quality service to the bank’s customers that has resulted in the bank bagging several banking excellence awards.

Migrating dynamically into the 21st century banking culture of using ICT to provide customers with safe, speedy secure banking services, SLCB has efficiently incorporated mobile money platforms, automated banking and tailored credit facilities for a dynamic commercial banking market to achieve financial inclusion.

These include Mi Yone Online banking, Mi Yone mobile app, Mi Yone online direct, Mi Yone Teller, Mi Yone Kiosk, Swift money transfer, Western Union, etc.

The results of SLCB’s seamless transformation whilst growing its customer base show impressively in the bank’s last three annual financial statements that place it at number one on the Bank of Sierra Leone customer and profit rankings.

NP Has Mastered the Business of Petroleum Transaction

By Amin Kef Sesay

In Sierra Leone when we talk of credible indigenous private companies that are doing extremely well and have stood the test of time then we would be remiss in our assessment if indeed we fail to make mention of the National Petroleum Sierra Leone Limited, popularly known in many quarters as NP.

Established years back by 35 Sierra Leoneans, who were former employees of the British Petroleum Company which sold its shares to the Government of Sierra Leone which in turn resold those shares to these Sierra Leoneans that subsequently set up NP-SL Ltd, the company has grown by leaps and bounds. Since its inception the founding fathers decided to maintain the indigenous nature of the company by ensuring that all or the vast majority of its workers are citizens of this country. This unique feature of the company has set it apart from most companies in the country and up to date that posture has been maintained.

In line with the furtherance of the country’s Local Content Policy the initiative by the company of having in its employ Sierra Leonean members of staff has over the years contributed immensely towards offering job opportunities to many Sierra Leoneans from Managerial positions down to drivers and what this basically means is helping to reduce poverty as well as building the capacities of these workers to make them become more relevant to the development trajectory of the nation. These fortunate employees are today at vantage positions to take care of family responsibilities which should have been very burdensome if otherwise they were not gainfully employed.

It could never be an understatement to state that one of the key factors that have catapulted NP-SL Ltd to a higher height to such an enviable position is the emphasis that it had since placed on optimizing customer care which has led some to rate the company as 1st For Customer Care. The Shareholders and successive Management teams have always maintained this posture and it has been paying fruitful dividends. As far as they are concerned customers of the company in particular and members of the public in general are very much important to the growth of the business and so therefore must be accorded all the respect and attention they deserve. What the company highly believes in is giving back value for money and taking into consideration valid views and recommendations in order to attain a win-win situation.

It is against such a backdrop that the company imports high grade petroleum products which it retails to its numerous customers at affordable prices. Besides, with these objectives at play NP-SL Ltd decided at one point in time in its operations to import highly sophisticated calibrated pumping machines which have the capacity of precisely pumping diesel, petrol, kerosene displaying quantity and price. The transparent nature of these machines keep instilling confidence in customers that they are really deriving value for what they purchase, keeping them glued to the company.

Another thing that makes the company so special within the business landscape of the country is the wisdom of its shareholders and Management to translate the initiative of expanding the company beyond the shores of this country into a tangible reality on the ground. Successfully, the company established branches in neighbouring Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and The Gambia with all the branches vibrantly operating to the utmost satisfaction of the Governments and the People of those countries. Such a remarkable feat has made many Sierra Leoneans proud and is seen as a source of inspiration to others who want to venture into such an investment. The Governments of those countries are realising huge tax payments from the company and at this material point in time when premium is placed on domestic mobilization of revenue to undertake various development programmes, such taxes paid by the company are immensely helping to promote national development plans.

To make their customers more comfortable the company went the extra mile to offer on sale the now much talked about NP Gas which is currently in vogue. A cooking device which is designed in different cylinder sizes, it has been proven beyond all reasonable doubts that it is fast, clean, environmental friendly and portable. NP Gas could be accessed at the company’s various Filling Stations and authorized dealers and going at affordable prices. The good thing about this device is that it uses gas and the latter is marketed by the company.

NP Smart Card is fast becoming trending although for now it is well- to -do customers who are frequently using it. This card, after topping it up is used to procure fuel at Filling Stations and when once a particular customer uses it the amount of money utilized is debited and when it is topped-up it is credited. The good thing about the NP Smart Card is that it prevents a customer from personally carrying physical cash in his or her possession to be used for transactions. Some people have been used to conducting business transactions using smart cards instead of using physical cash and at times some are not chanced because of busy schedules to access monies from banks. But with NP Smart Card a customer is saved from going through all those hassle.

Corporate Social Responsibility has become a norm in the business world as companies and other entities are expected to give back to society. NP-SL has been on top of situation with regards steadily rolling it out . From time to time the company gives institutional support to communities and other institutions with a view to complement Government’s development interventions. An outstanding one it did recently was capacitating the National Fire Force (NFF) with a water facility that it could use to source water to be used for extinguishing fire outbreaks in Greater Freetown.

It could be safely concluded that NP-SL is indeed here for real, a trusted development partner and doing exceptionally well to the admiration of many near and far.

How prepared is Africa for an outbreak of deadly coronavirus?

As scientists race to find a vaccine, the number of people killed has exceeded 250 [EPA]

By Samira Sawlani

Countries across Africa are ramping up measures to prevent an outbreak of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 250 in China and spread into several Asian countries, and as far afield as the United States, Europe and Australia.

As scientists race to find a vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared a public health emergency of international concern amid rising fears the virus could reach countries with weak healthcare systems.

In Africa, where past viral outbreaks have stretched already-strained healthcare systems in a number of countries, there have been no confirmed cases to date – but several countries have reported suspected cases of the rapidly spreading disease that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

Amid the mounting concerns, medical experts appear certain that the deadly virus will also infect people on the continent, pointing to the deepening trade and travel ties between China and Africa that has seen many countries on the continent become popular tourist, business and investment destinations for the Chinese.

“We can be very certain that coronavirus will be exported to Africa,” said Ngozi Erondu, associate fellow of the Global Health Programme at Chatham House.

“There is a large amount of travel between China and Africa; hubs such as Addis Ababa, Cairo and Nairobi are at particular risks due to the large amount of Chinese travellers that pass through these airports,”

Measures taken

Speaking at the African Union headquarters on Tuesday, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Preventions (Africa CDC), said the institution was working closely with their Chinese counterparts, adding that, “We in Africa are watching the situation and also preparing ourselves to deal with any outbreak or cases.”

China coronavirus death toll surges: All the latest updates

Three days later, WHO announced it would be scaling up preparedness in Africa, particularly in 13 top priority countries: Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Authorities in most of these countries have set up active screening at airports, it said, calling on government to “step up their readiness”.

“The quicker countries can detect cases, the faster they will be able to contain an outbreak and ensure the novel coronavirus does not overwhelm health systems,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria is among the countries that have issued a travel advisory telling citizens to delay travel to China unless “extremely essential”.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said lessons had been learned from the Ebola outbreak that swept through Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in 2014-2016, killing about 11,300 people in West Africa.

“Over the last three years, we have invested resources in improving infectious disease surveillance and response capacity. Our National Reference Laboratory has the capacity for molecular diagnosis of pathogens and we are receiving guidance from WHO on the primers and reagents that will be used to test suspected coronavirus cases.”

Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed new cases?

Elsewhere, Ugandan physician Sabrina Kitaka also cited the Ebola response as an example of how the country has successfully managed previous infectious and said authorities were taking all precautions at border entries to deal with the new coronavirus, officially known as “2019-nCoV”.

“This is a new virus with very scanty information on the virulence and transmission dynamics,” said Kyeng Mercy Tetuh, a Cameroonian public health expert and epidemiologis.

In the case of Cameroon, Tetuh said that while health authorities have stressed the country’s preparedness, this may not be the case in areas affected by insecurity such as the Anglophone regions.

“A challenge in containing Ebola in the DRC has been insecurity,” she said, referring to an ongoing outbreak of the deadly disease that has seen medical teams came under attack from armed militias in eastern DRC.

For its part, Mauritius announced that all passengers coming from Wuhan are being quarantined, while others from China would be monitored by healthcare workers.

Mozambique said it was suspending visas for visitors from China and blocking travel to the country, while in neighbouring South Africa Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said temperature screenings using non-invasive thermometers would be conducted at 12 point of entries and health officials would go aboard international aircraft to determine any sick travellers.

Ivory Coast, where the continent’s first suspected case was reported, has also installed thermal imaging cameras at airports.

Major challenges

Yet, Tanzanian clinician Joachim Mabula said airport screenings may not be sufficient.

“The screening process involves looking for symptoms; people can have a disease yet not show symptoms,” he said.

He added that many African countries do not have the required laboratory capacity to respond to an infectious disease like the new coronavirus, an issue also highlighted by Erondu.

“Unfortunately, many disease surveillance systems throughout African countries are weak and most of the continent lack diagnostic capability, for example laboratory capacity, so identifying cases and controlling the outbreak could be difficult, especially in resource-constrained countries,” Erondu said, even as she pointed out that the continent is home today to “stronger” and “more experienced” institutions such as Africa CDC, the NCDC and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.

In Mabula’s opinion, African countries should cancel flights to and from China – so far, African carriers that have taken such a step include RwandaAir, Kenya Airways, Royal Air Maroc, EgyptAir, Air Madagascar and Air Mauritius, while Air Tanzania has postponed its maiden flight to China.

An official at the DRC’s Ministry of Health, who chose to remain anonymous, supported such a move: “In the DRC, Ebola and measles have claimed thousands of lives; an outbreak of coronavirus is the last thing we need, thus cancelling flights is sensible.”

The official added that “screening and healthcare systems vary in strength from country to country, therefore if the virus reaches one African country from China, it may be difficult to stop it spreading to others.”

In the official’s opinion, another concern is the spreading of fake news: “This leads to mass panic. African Governments need to be transparent with all information.”

Suzana da Lomba, a teacher based in Angola’s capital, Luanda, said fake news was already having an impact.

“The hysteria and lack of information globally means friends are warning each other to not go to Chinese-owned shops and restaurants.”

CSO’s Hollow Castigation of Netpage Boomerangs

Minister of Internal Affairs Edward Soloku

By Amin Kef Sesay

This medium has been privy to an Open Letter dated 30 January 2020 written by an organisation called Civil Society Consortium on Human Rights and Good Governance –Sierra Leone and addressed to His Excellency the President Dr. Julius Maada Bio. The caption of the letter reads: “Call For Immediate Remedial Action Following a Fact Finding and Further Price Increase on our National Passport.”

In as much as the members of the said consortium decided to champion a noble cause bordering around our national passport going further to raise the point that the contract of printing our passport is wrongfully in the hands of Netpage/De La Rue and how Government is not generating meaningful revenue from that sector, yet it is very pathetic that seemingly the very members of the local CSO are seriously ignorant of the origin and content of the contract that was signed between the Government of Sierra Leone and Netpage/ De La Rue. Probably, to remedy such a deficiency it would be helpful to proffer an advice for the members of the local CSO to do their homework very well before this medium proceed to dissect the hollows in the Open Letter.

It is totally erroneous for the architects of the letter to refer to the contractor, Netpage/De La Rue that prints our Sierra Leonean passports as incumbent and worse of all that they were handpicked. It is on record that the contract was advertised for a bidding process and due diligence was followed until ultimately the contract was won by Netpage. According to investigation mounted by this Press, Netpage is only a third party in the tripartite ePassport contract agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and Thomas De La Rue by financing the contract while Thomas De La Rue handles the printing of the ePassport.

It is therefore very unfortunate for members of the CSO to create the impression that Netpage was handpicked. In fact it has been proven beyond all reasonable doubts that the business credibility of Netpage was what qualified its head, Jamal Shallop, to successfully emerge as the Local Content Provider in the ePassport contract agreement. Though it was disclosed that the contract is a Non-Disclosure Agreement ,however,it was ascertained by this medium that one hundred dollars ($100) is the price for a passport in the contract agreement but is sold for about Eighty or Eighty-Five Dollars ($80 or $85) which is equivalent to seven hundred and fifty thousand Leones (Le 750,000).

With members of the local CSO trying to paint the picture that Netpage is really exploiting the Government and People of Sierra Leone when we properly analyse the situation against the backdrop that the value of the Leone keeps depreciating to the dollar but the price of the passport remains the same then it could really be seen that it is a business that is highly volatile. At this juncture, we pause to ask the question whether certain personalities or entities will venture to go for it and play the current role that Netpage is playing?

What is so preposterous in the concerns raised in the aforementioned letter is when mention was made that our passport is not an ePassport as it is not electronically readable as the contract dictates. What is certain is that our passport has features that are electronically readable.

Logically, if the Sierra Leone  passport was readable from 2013 when the contract was signed that could have been picked up and a lot of fuss made over it. What has been established is that Thomas De La Rue has been doing business with successive Sierra Leone Governments for more than four decades by printing passports and our legal tender. It is a reputable and professional company and it could only beat one’s imagination that a company of such a reputable standard could be deceptive enough not to print ePassports.

Indeed it is prudent to review contract agreements from time to time to match up with evolving trends and the passport contract could not be an exception. If the Government thinks it is not realising much from the contract agreement it is up to members of parliament to look at it properly and come up with another best option by reviewing the contract and make modifications.

But for a recommendation to be made for the contract to be terminated is totally out of context. What is so certain is that Netpage has been steadfast in honouring its own part of the contract and has been doing so well over the years. Since it took over the contract there has not been a single instance of shortage of the country’s passport. It is indeed fool hardy on the part of members of the local CSO to recommend the printing of our passport in another different country, suggesting India as one. Maybe it is advisable for them to note that the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know.Cognisance must be taken of the fact that we are talking of a sensitive State document and not just a mere toilet paper.

With regards other issues that the authors seemingly were at pains to put on paper the best that could be said is that they are incoherent and therefore do not merit any comment. There are indeed more important issues to draw the President’s attention than this one.

 

 

Integrity Score Card to Trigger Major Cabinet Shakeup

Economist Prince Jacob Macauley

By Foday Moriba Conteh

The die is cast and time is up for many Cabinet Ministers. The Integrity Score Card as prepared by Economist Prince Jacob Macauley, this medium learnt, will serve as the time bomb that will trigger a major cabinet shakeup in President Bio’s Government which, according to him, is long overdue.

In a snap interview the Economist maintained that various Ministries, Departments and Agencies are under proper scrutiny and his Score Card will be used as a guide to make assessments which would finally lead to affirmative action to be instituted in due course which obviously will see more heads roll in the public sector.

“The former Minister of Water Resources is gone but the Score Card will still have to examine activities in that Ministry in order to arrive at the decision of whether those activities are good or bad for the nation,” Economist Jacob Macauley told our reporter..

He said that President Bio will have to decide on that but the question will arise as to how SALWACO and GUMA have been doing since President Bio came to office.

He noted that the Health Ministry under Dr Alpha Wurie has been facing teething challenges since President Bio took office with no respite. It is as if the Health Ministry is set to remain a baby forever not going for solid foods, adding that the operations of the Health Ministry will be examined by the Score Card, the relationship between the Minister and other senior members of that Ministry and the way the supply of drugs are going on, will all be laid bare.

He further said that the Education Ministries, both Basic and Tertiary, appear to be laden with endless problems. With the Chinese rice saga, Free Education Textbooks problems and Fourah Bay College now on strike, there is need for thorough assessments of both. He noted that the people of this country had high hopes that the Trade Ministry will be in a position to address the problem of the rise in prices of local commodities but there seems to be lethargy in that Ministry with prices spiraling as if we are going down a bottomless pit.

What is this nation buying or selling? What about the Local Content Policy of this nation, how effective is it? Will this nation continue to crawl without ever standing on its feet as far as international trade is concerned? The Integrity Score Card will be asking these questions and many more.

He disclosed that the Justice Ministry must deliver justice to the people but the snail pace at which justice is administered in this country is alarming and the Score Card will be exposing some of the reasons for the phenomenon.

He said what was expected after President Bio took office was for the Agriculture Ministry to deliver on the promise of First Gentleman to make this country food sufficient but why this has not been achieved is anybody’s guess but the Integrity Score Card will expose all that.

This week there will be more Ministries examined before the Integrity Score Card comes out next week.

 

 

Fatima Bio Calls on Sierra Leoneans to be United

Madam Fatima Bio, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone

By John Marrah

Madam Fatima Bio, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, has said that under the leadership of his Excellency the President, Rtd. Julius Maada Bio, the nation has accomplished a lot in less than two years and she is of the strongest opinion that the leadership of her husband would not fail Sierra Leoneans. This statement and many more were part of a passionate speech she made at a Town Hall Meeting in London recently.

“For the very first time, when we meet we don’t talk about politics, we talk about development. For the very first time when Sierra Leoneans gather in Sierra Leone we talk about the way forward and we don’t ask about our colours. When we go there I wear red, somebody else wears green and we forgot that I should be wearing Green and they should be wearing red. For the very first time we do that now in Sierra Leone. Our independence and Freedom is with us,” she stated.

Mrs Fatima Bio particularly lauded the efforts of the Government for the free quality education that was launched by President Bio, which she referred to as a first in Sierra Leone and affirmed that it would stand the test of time to become the biggest legacy of the President’s leadership.

“Our kids are going to school and the parents are not obliged to be worried about school fees and the Government is making sure that our teachers are paid on time. That is one burden that His Excellency has taken from us women of Sierra Leone” she noted.

She praised the Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, whom she said has been able to keep the economy stable and pay the salaries of workers over the past 18 months without any hitch.

“It is the very first time in the history of Sierra Leone that we have paid salaries on time consistently for this period of time. Today, workers get their salaries on time without us resorting to over drafts and accruing interests on loans,” she intimated.

The First Lady also used the occasion to explain the importance of her ‘Hands off our Girls’ Campaign, which she said is a campaign for all Sierra Leoneans.

“It’s for our children. It doesn’t matter whether you are APC, SLPP, NGC, or C4C, as long as that child is a Sierra Leonean, it is for her,” she emphasised.

She thanked President Bio for giving women the voice as she assured that they should use their voices now for a very positive mission and change, saying that the New Direction is a new Direction for every Sierra Leoneans.

Madam Bio reiterated that there is no country in the world that has developed when its people are not educated, when the people are not empowered, and when the people do not have the right security, adding that President Bio is championing the cause and they are rallying behind him.

She concluded on a very passionate note, declaring that “Sierra Leone is the Lion Mountain of Africa and together they can make Sierra Leone the most beautiful country on planet earth”.