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One Family People Ends 3 Days Consultative Meeting with Partner Organizations & Stakeholders

By Foday Moriba Conteh

In a bid to accessing the deliverables of its five (5) partner organizations in the country, the One Family People (OFP) organization has on Friday 6th August 2021 concluded a three day consultative meeting with OFP’s Board, Staff, partner organizations, stakeholders & beneficiaries. The event took place at the Peace Museum Hall of the former Special Court for Sierra Leone at New England Ville in Freetown.

The five partner organizations are: Dorothy Springer Trust, Kono Cheshire Services, Disability Awareness Action Group, Welfare Society for the Disabled and Polio Person’s Development Association.

Addressing the gathering, the Programme Manager of One Family People, Samuel P.O.V Macaulay, said the organization has five strategic partner organizations within the country that implement their child empowerment programs.

He added that these organizations at the start of every year present and review their annual plans and before implementation they convene in order to improve on the areas of transparency and accountability.

The Programme Manager continued that as part of their efforts to access the deliverables of these organizations they thought it fit to hold the three day consultative meeting with OFP’s Board, Staff, partner organizations, stakeholders & beneficiaries, key stakeholders for them to see what they are doing and how they are doing it in order for the former to perform a monitoring role by looking into and assessing what they are doing as an organization.

Delivering a statement, the Director of One Family People, Edward Emmanuel said that the COVID-19 pandemic has been described as “the war of our generation” and millions of families are bravely waging war on COVID-19 by rising to the many challenges of social distancing, including upended school and work routines, financial insecurity, and inability to see loved ones, all compounded by the uncertainty of how long this will last.

He added that they acknowledge the efforts made by all levels of Government and stakeholders especially the Ministry of Social Welfare so far in working for a Society that is Fit 4 All.

Edward Emmanuel pointed out that as One Family People, they are appealing to all to have the spirit of acceptance in every step they take , build a house full of love and a community filled with Super Heroes to save “Humanity” from discrimination and hate of which he begged all partner organizations to do what they are supposed to do for the children, follow up always with them to make the world around them continue to contribute to their development.

The Director stated that as part of their contribution to making sure the global goals are met the “Leave No One Behind Campaign” was born in order to not only look at the unwavering  love for equality and unity but also inspiring youths to be productive citizens for Africa through music, drama and the creative arts.

“OFP understands that inequality and exclusion violate PWDs’ rights, constrain their choices and voices, and impact negatively on their ability to fully participate in and benefit from development processes. The key systemic barriers to empowerment of PWDs are commonly in the areas of formal laws, policies and institutions, social norms and individual capacity constraints,” he revealed.

In his presentation, the Chief Executive Officer of Dorothy Springer Trust, Dr. Abdulai Dumbuya, one of the partner organizations commended One Family People for the support they have been giving them over the years to implement programs geared towards the development of people living with disability across the country.

Underscoring their successes as an organization he said  they were able to provide Anti-epileptic drugs for 53 CYwDs and the rate of seizures reduced in some children adding that they also provided crutches for 2 CYwDs which enabled the users to become mobile, adding that they also provided funds for nutritious provision to 40 children at the Mahanaim Home Grafton on a monthly basis and that through this support to the home the health of the children improved greatly.

Dilating on the challenges, he said, the new ones include the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, however, noting that all health emergency protocols were taken into consideration, furthering that self-relocation of beneficiaries without contacting the office or having knowledge of their whereabouts that led to replacements through needs assessment was also a challenge.

The Program Manager of Disability Awareness Action Group, Bayah Sesay, also commended the One Family People organization for their support, adding that DAAG works directly with the One Family People for the implementation of the Liliane Foundation Funded programme on Child Empowerment Programme that has various components.

Bayah Sesay disclosed that the One Family People needs assessment activity is conducted by a DAAG CBR facilitator for 183 children with disability capturing all categories of disabilities to give them school support provided by the Lillian Foundation organization. He also stated that every year a needs assessment is conducted for the beneficiaries and that the program is geared towards giving chance to children with disabilities to be engaged in secular education and become useful in society.

A representative from the Kono Cheshire Services also talked about  their successes and challenges for their annual plan 2021 of which it was disclosed that they have provided bursary support to 102 children with disabilities which includes exercise books, ledgers, bags, uniforms, shoes etc.

She added that 17 children with disabilities were treated for epilepsy and such has increasingly reduced seizures (the six new recruited children with disabilities were all diagnosed and given medical certificates as epilepsy patients).

She maintained that they also facilitated trainings for CHW, traditional healers and TBA’s in CBR principles, early identification, community treatment and referrals of children with disabilities in the newly identified chiefdom.

The two other partner organizations Welfare Society for the Disabled and Polio Person’s Development Association also did presentations on their activities which include their successes and challenges so far. The presentations were followed by preliminary feedbacks to partner organizations which was facilitated by the Programme Manager of One Family People, Samuel P.O.V Macaulay and Lionel Lebbie.

Until Women Become Economically Empowered… Poverty Will Remain Widespread

President Bio

By Amin Kef Sesay

President Bio at the Brookfields Hotel in Freetown on Thursday 3 December 2020 launched the country’s first Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy 2020.

Giving the keynote address, he said: “We are here this morning to set ourselves new challenges that will touch and transform the lives of 52% of our population. It will place them where they belong: at the centre of our nation’s development process with all due rights, access, opportunities, and resources…”

Women’s economic empowerment is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. In this light, let us look at some of the challenges facing women in Sierra Leone that holds them back from becoming economically empowered that need attention by Government and its development partners.

Women’s economic empowerment includes women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions.

Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5, to achieve gender equality, and Goal 8, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all; also Goal 1 on ending poverty, Goal 2 on food security, Goal 3 on ensuring health and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities.

When more women work, economies grow. Women’s economic empowerment boosts productivity, increases economic diversification and income equality in addition to other positive development outcomes.

Critically, increasing women’s and girls’ educational attainment contributes to women’s economic empowerment and more inclusive economic growth.

Education, upskilling and re-skilling over the life course – especially to keep pace with rapid technological and digital transformations affecting jobs—are critical for women’s and girl’s health and wellbeing, as well as their income-generation opportunities and participation in the formal labour market. Increased educational attainment accounts for about 50 per cent of the economic growth in OECD countries over the past 50 years.

Women are more likely to be unemployed than men. Women are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment. Women are more than twice likely than men to be contributing family workers.

Women are less likely to be entrepreneurs and face more disadvantages starting businesses. Globally, women are paid less than men. Unpaid care work is essential to the functioning of the economy, but often goes uncounted and unrecognized. Women bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work. Women spend more time on unpaid care and domestic work than men.

Women have less access to social protection. Gender inequalities in employment and job quality result in gender gaps in access to social protection acquired through employment, such as pensions, unemployment benefits or maternity protection. Women are less likely than men to have access to financial institutions or have a bank account. Violence and harassment in the world of work affects women regardless of age, location, income or social status.

The digital divide remains a gendered one: most of the people that are offline are in rural areas, poorer, less educated and tend to be women and girls.

With land being the most important economic asset, women farmers have significantly less access to, control over, and ownership of land and other productive assets compared to their male counterparts.

Women and girls suffer most from the dearth of safely managed water and sanitation. Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80 per cent of households without access to water on premises.

Women and girls carry the burden of energy poverty and experience the adverse effects of lack of safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy. They suffer from indoor air pollution from using combustible fuels.

Women often bear the brunt of coping with climate-related shocks and stresses or the health effects of indoor and urban pollution, which add to their care burden. As land, forest and water resources are increasingly compromised, privatized or “grabbed” for commercial investment, local communities and indigenous peoples, particularly women, whose livelihoods depend on them, are marginalized and displaced.

To Deliberate on Re-Opening of Places of Worship…   NaCOVERC & Inter Religious Council Hold Third Engagement

By Edward Vamboi

Officials of the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Center (NaCOVERC) held its third engagement with the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) on the 4th August 2021 at the Bank Complex, Kingtom in Freetown.

In his statement the Chairperson of NaCOVERC, Sheku Bangura, intimated the IRCSL of the significant drop in case numbers, positivity rate, incidence rate and hospitalization, but was quick to point out that, as a nation, we are dealing with a propagated outbreak.

He hailed the good collaboration with the IRCSL and as well commended the patience and understanding of inter-faith community stating how such is an aggregate of our nation.

In his contribution, Rev Jessie Fornah, Secretary General of the Inter Religious Council of Sierra Leone commended the NaCOVERC team for the sacrificial work in making sure the country reaches to where it is now in terms of reduction in COVID-19 cases. He then came forward with certain suggestions which include that NACOVERC should allow religious leaders to willingly make a choice for vaccination and not to be required to do anything that will go against their beliefs.

“Nobody should be forced to take the vaccine because our beliefs are different,” he reiterated adding how they will continue to support the efforts of NACOVERC.

He also suggested that places of worship should be opened and for both parties to revisit the recommendations/ Protocols used the last time.

Other Speakers made similar statements for churches to reopen, including Bishop J Archibald Cole, and advised that the places of Worship be opened after the two weeks.

Speaking on behalf of the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship Sierra Leone (PFSL), Bishop Akintayo Sam-Jolly and other members, Apostle Dr. Abednego Kamara, said he is firmly reiterating that Churches must be opened highlighting how  statement made by the NaCOVERC Spokesman, Solomon Jamiru, recently on the SLBC Morning Coffee Program that some places of worship will have vaccination centers set up to scale up the uptake of the vaccine is unacceptable and appealed for that to be looked into.

In his summary statement, NaCOVERC Boss made the following statements: Places of Worship will be re-opened, that the old guidelines will be revisited and implemented, NaCOVERC guidelines should be followed to the letter namely, washing of hands, use of Face Masks, taking of temperature ,social distancing, half of the congregation should attend a service and 90 minutes per service

It was also discussed that those that are representing the IRCSL are not attending meetings with the exception of one Muslim representative. The others were asked to be replaced even though one is reported sick and other quite busy or so.

Also agreed upon was that religious leaders should encourage their members to take the vaccine even though nobody will be forced.

NaCOVERC expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to the IRCSL for not just lending policy and operational contributions to the Response, but for prayers and counsel.

Both stakeholders recognize the critical importance of places of worship in the fight against COVID-19 and remain submitted unto God for wisdom and strength.

The meeting ended amicably.

In Response to National Secretary General’s Application…    APC to Receive High Court Ruling on Monday

By Foday Moriba Conteh

The court matter between some Executive members of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party and Alfred Peter Conteh, as plaintiff or complainant, came up again on the 4th August 2021 before Justice Adrian Fisher at High Court No 1 in Freetown.

After the proceedings, the summation of Justice Adrian Fisher tends to indicate that the application by the All Peoples Congress for an extension of time to hold its Convention put forward by the Party’s National Secretary General, Ambassador Alhaji Osman Foday Yansanneh, will be granted albeit with some very strict guiding rules for compliance.

The application of the All Peoples Congress was supported by affidavit also forwarded by the Party’s National Secretary General, Ambassador Alhaji Osman Foday Yansanneh, who is also the second defendant on the substantive matter to which an interlocutory injunction was previously granted to Alfred Peter Conteh, the plaintiff  or complainant who seeks a declaration on the status of the Executive of the Party and in other matters of its democratic practices, constitutionality and membership issues.

The said affidavit was forwarded on the 27th July 2021.

It must be noted that the application for an extension of time relates to the ruling by Judge Adrian Fisher issued in June, stating a period within which the Party should undertake lower level elections and then proceed to adopt a draft Constitution at a National Delegates Conference called specifically for that event.

The learned Judge expressed a firm position that if he grants the application he will not allow any contravention of its terms nor countenance non-compliance maintaining that he will fall down heavily on the parties to the matter on both sides who are responsible for any breach.

Justice Fisher further admonished full compliance and a strict adherence to his rulings stating how he would look to see that the matter is presided on with candour.

In his statements, the learned Judge made several legal statements that bear on the legitimacy of the litigants, to wit the National Secretary General and the present Executive of the All Peoples Congress Party.

He stated categorically that Ambassador Yansanneh stands before him on this matter as the substantive National Secretary General and has full legal authority to act in that capacity.

The confirmation of the legal status of the National Secretary General and by extension, the entire Executive was triggered during cross examination of the National Secretary General by Lawyer Jengi for the Plaintiff or Complainant and the clarification was made by the judge as he guided the National Secretary General to respond to a question as to whether he occupies the position of National Secretary General of the APC in the affirmative.

It was made clear that certain newspaper publications against the National Secretary General of the APC and other negative comments from his opponents that tag him as an “expired” National Secretary General  are said to be no longer tenable and those involved should desist otherwise such would be deemed as defamatory language.

Justice Fisher also made it plain that the APC’s National Secretary General cannot be held responsible for the limiting of the membership of the Convention Committee which has been restricted to no more than 21 persons.

His paraphrased words were, “tell them this is a court order, you cannot please everybody, the list will be restricted to the persons before me and on a proportionality basis.”

The Judge confirmed that he will make directions on how the membership of the 19 man Committee would be constituted and no doubt still allow for extra two persons to bring the final list to 21.

Justice Fisher also raised his concerns over the publications of the Complainant or Plaintiff and his legal team on social media. He stated that he considers “social media distractive,” so on a point of principle, he has deleted himself from it.

Complaints raised by Ady Macauley, lawyer for the 3rd defendant brought it to the court’s attention that the language and tone of the writings of the plaintiff and his lawyer were against the spirit of confidentiality and professionalism to which he expects the Plaintiff’s lawyer to adhere to.

Lawyer Jengi was warned to desist and to further advice his client to do the same.

The matter was adjourned to Monday 9th August for ruling.

$2.1m STRIATA Deployment Funding to Benefit Health Ministry

By Esther Wright

In a positive development, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and two other countries’ health sectors will be benefiting from the deployment of STRIATA in their health systems.

In 2020, Macro-Eyes supported the Government of Sierra Leone’s COVID-19 response by partnering with the MoHS and the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), to build and pilot STRIATA-Infrastructure – an intelligent health systems index providing visibility into the health systems readiness as a whole – including health facility infrastructure, materials, supplies, and human resources.

The technology was deployed to support critical decisions by the Ministry on where to send limited COVID-19 resources given the greatest need. The success of STRIATA in Sierra Leone led to the deployment of the technology across the state of California in the United States.

This additional funding will support two years of STRIATA deployment in Sierra Leone. Strategic rollout and preliminary use cases are being guided by MoHS through the Intelligent Health Systems Technical Working Group facilitated by Macro-Eyes.

The expansion in Sierra Leone will focus on integrating the optimization module into STRIATA to generate precision and efficiency for the supply chain network and human resources for health.

STRIATA is precise at a national scale. “With STRIATA, it is easier to know what is happening in complex health systems despite the challenges of data completeness and quality. STRIATA is changing the way health systems data is analysed with rapid speed and precision- only something AI can help us do,” said Ashley Schmidt, Macro-Eyes Senior Program Manager.

Macro-Eyes will also deploy expert in-the-loop machine learning to capture ground truth context for enhancing STRIATA’s intelligence. Macro-Eyes is yet to announce the two additional countries where they will deploy STRIATA under this funding.

Guma Informs of Plan to Increase Water Tariff

By Theresa Kef Sesay

Guma Valley Water Company in January 2021 submitted an Application for an upward review of its water tariff to the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) according to Section 49 (1) of the Commission’s Act of 2011.

The argument for the upward review, which will affect all consumer classes including, residential, residential building sites, commercial, institution, Government, bowser, and ship bunker, among others, is to enable the company to fully cover its operational and maintenance costs, partially fund its capital projects and also subsidize the cost for community water services.

Even though Guma Valley is 100% Government owned, it does not receive subvention from the Consolidated Revenue Fund but relies on revenue generated from water rates to run its day to day operations.

The proposed revised tariff is currently with the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission and will be presented at a public hearing to be held at the Atlantic Hall National Stadium on August 5th 2021 for discussion and input from members of the public which will inform the Board of Commissioners on the decision they should take.

Guma tariff review process has been largely stalled since 2006; the company has been implementing a provisional tariff review approved in 2016 that was supposed to last for six (6) months but has now been in place for five years. In 2016, a litre of fuel was Le 3,750.00 and the US dollar was around Le 7,000.00.

According to Guma, its water tariff is one of the lowest in the West Africa sub-region: a 1000 litres of water in Ghana and Senegal cost about Le 18,000, in Liberia it is about Le 13,000, whereas in Freetown is it currently Le 2,500.

The last review on water rate was in 2016 and since then, no adjustments has been made, leaving the company with no alternative but apply for new tariff regime as current tariff cannot cover the operation and maintenance costs.

“Drawing from the lessons of the Company’s history, we are convinced that the only way the company can be financially viable with adequate capacity to deliver quality service to consumers is by charging tariff at levels that can cover our operation and maintenance costs; our current rates are not only far below the regional average but grossly inadequate to meet our operation and maintenance costs,” Guma stated in its Tariff application to the EWRC.

Guma Valley Water Company is planning to utilize the gains from the new tariff if approved to do sub-main extensions to hard-to reach-areas, continue with the leaks repairs to progressively reduce non-revenue water and make more water available for customers, install meters as a water conservation control, improve on customer service and customer engagement, engage communities to be paying for water by phasing out Public Taps and provide connections to households at affordable cost, invest in water bowsers to truck water to community tanks and continue to subsidize the community services operation.

 

Planning Minister Assures ECOWAS of Commitment to address Human Security Issues

By Amin Kef Sesay

The Social Affairs and Gender Commissioner of ECOWAS was informed on the  3rd August 2021 by Ministers and Senior Government Officials that President Julius Maada Bio and the New Direction Government are committed to addressing Human Security issues and are very much committed to solving them.

That assurance was given at a High-Level Advocacy Session with Ministers and Senior Government Officials on the implementation of ECOWAS International Humanitarian Law ( IHL), Trafficking In Person (TIP), Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Child Rights Texts in the context of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, in his opening remarks, as chair of the occasion and also responsible for ECOWAS Affairs, said the advocacy meeting was happening at the right time when Government seriously prioritizes issues of GBV, IHL, TIP and Child Rights.

He said as a Government, they have tried to identify some of the challenges connected with Human Security issues and that they are firmly committed to addressing them, citing President Julius Maada Bio’s declaration of a State of Emergency to prevent Child Sexual Abuse, enactment of strong laws backed by severe punishments for defaulters of GBV and Child Sexual Offences and the recent cabinet approval of the Women’s Empowerment Bill, and Government’s continued compliance with all ECOWAS legal instruments. He also informed the High-Level gathering that the Government has made a 100 percent payment of ECOWAS Community levy, totalling 4.2 million dollars.

Dr. Siga Fatima Jagne, the ECOWAS Commissioner of Social Affairs and Gender, in her statement, expressed excitement at the presence of the high level representation from Government, noting that it was a clear demonstration of their personal and country’s commitment and strong belief in the vision of ECOWAS.

She said that at the Advocacy Session with the Vice President she did not only agree with the need to ensure effective mainstreaming of protection and human security rationale into Sierra Leone COVID-19 Response and Recovery plan, as well as in the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2019-2023), but also committed to the establishment and coordination of an ECOWAS facilitated Sierra Leone Protection and Human Security Integrated Coordination Mechanism from her office.

Dr. Jagne applauded the efforts of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio and the progress that Government has made in addressing human security issues, adding that it was geared towards realizing the vision of strengthening the ECOWAS community as a whole. She also made nine recommendations that Government could consider to strengthen Human Security and the Protection Web in Sierra Leone.

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, in his brief statement, noted the importance of the occasion, adding that issues related to women, trafficking, international humanitarian law among others are at the center of the ECOWAS Parliament’s work. He said that he would continue to collaborate with the ECOWAS Commission to ensure conversations around Human Security are ongoing.

Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Manty Tarawalli together with Minister of Social Welfare, Baindu Dassama-Kamara both outlined the services and interventions their Ministries were undertaking in ensuring the ECOWAS text on Human Security are achieved. They both referred to the toll-free line set up to report sexual and gender based violence cases, the one-stop centre established to provide services on gender based violence, and the State reforms among other currently undertaken to address of issues of SGBV.

Deputy Speaker of Sierra Leone Parliament, Hon. Segepoh affirmed Parliament’s role in enacting progressive laws that have contributed to human security and protection. He said Parliament has shown considerable commitment in making sure the cardinal principles of IHL and other forms of Human Security are adhered to.

Responses and comments from other Senior Government Officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Prof. David Francis; Minister of Defence, Retired Brig. Kellie Conteh; Deputy Minister of Finance, Patricia Lavalie; Deputy Minister of Justice, Umaru Napoleon Koroma; Chief Immigration Officer, Andrew Jaiah Kai-Kai and the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Elizabeth Turay all commented on the role their respective Ministries and institutions play in addressing Human Security issues.

The Ministers and Government officials underscored the critical importance of budget support to implement their programs on Human Security issues, coordination and capacity building of relevant stakeholders in the protection of all vulnerable persons, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Memunatu Pratt Avers that Air Senegal will Boost the Tourism Sector

By Foday Moriba Conteh

Air Senegal was welcomed to the shores of the country by the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and other line MDAs on its inaugural flight operation at the Freetown International Airport.

Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swarray, in his opening address acknowledged the challenges of air transportation whilst assuring that Air Senegal will significantly remedy the situation, for which he says they are grateful.

The Minister furthered that the new development was made possible due to the great relationship between President Bio, Vice President Juldeh Jalloh and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall.

Ibrahim Khan the Chief Executive Officer of Air Senegal, expressed delight at the warm welcome bestowed by the authorities in Sierra Leone at the airport. He said the flight operations would connect the two countries, deepen bi-lateral ties and open trade and tourism. He commended the two Presidents for building a strong relationship between the two nations, mentioning that the main change the airline would bring to the airspace is connecting Sierra Leone route to other West African Countries and the rest of the world with a very low fare for people to have fair access to travel.

Dr. Memunatu Pratt, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, mentioned that it is a great boost to the tourism sector as Air Senegal offers exotic and attractive prices in linking Sierra Leone to over twenty global destinations.

She said the coming of Air Senegal to Sierra Leone is very timely and the hospitality industry is delighted and looking forward to working with them in developing tour packages and having an arrangement for prospective visitors to Sierra Leone to use Air Senegal.

The Minister noted that the sustainability of their operations is highly dependent on tourism, hence the need to grow the regional tourism. She then presented the tourism ‘traveltainment’ magazine to the CEO of Air Senegal.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Hinga Sandy thanked the leaders of the two countries and the CEO of Air Senegal for the operation of Air Senegal in Sierra Leone, adding that the coming of the airline to Sierra Leone means a lot for businesses in the two countries.

The Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon in his address said the commencement of flight operation into Sierra Leone by Air Senegal is as a result of continuous bi-lateral engagements between the Government of Senegal and the Government of Sierra Leone for which he was grateful to the two Presidents and Vice President, Juldeh Jalloh for cementing and promoting stronger bi-lateral ties between the two sister countries.

He maintained that the introduction of Air Senegal into the Freetown International Airport route will facilitate air travel and increase connectivity options to other parts of the world with affordable fares to stimulate growth in traffic, revenues and associated parameters much to the potential benefit of the two countries.

The highpoint of the occasion was when the Ministry of Transport and Aviation granted a Foreign Operator’s Permit to Air Senegal to operate flight in Sierra Leone starting August 2nd 2021.

It was disclosed that Air Senegal is operating four days in a week, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with possible connections to the United States, Europe and Casablanca thereafter.

To Support Reporting on Business and Economic Issues… SLAJ Launches Professional Network

By Amin Kef Sesay

A new professional network was on the 4th August 2021 launched by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) with the Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU) as an implementing partner.

The rationale behind launching the professional network is to boost independent news production on business, financial and economic issues in Sierra Leone, by bringing journalists, business people and economists together to share ideas, build expertise and create opportunities for collaboration.

Facilitated by Invest Salone, the UK-Government funded private-sector development initiative, the Business and Economics Network was borne out of an interactive dialogue, held in March this year, between the media and the business community, where participants agreed there was a substantial unmet demand for better business and economics reporting in Sierra Leone.

In his statement, President of SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, said although that area of journalism is essential so that everybody can understand the implications those forces have on day to day lives, however, the March dialogue highlighted the challenges journalists face.

“The media in Sierra Leone has an important role to play in Sierra Leone’s economic progress, by encouraging dialogue through accurate and timely information on business and economic issues; but there’s a skills gap in the journalism profession and a trust gap between the media and business sectors. These impede good reporting. The SLAJ Business and Economics Network is intended to help provide solutions, by creating a space where journalists and business professionals can learn from each other, share information and explore common ground,” he furthered.

President of the Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU) and winner of the SLAJ award for best economic reporting in 2018, Amadu Lamrana Bah has this to say:

“Good journalism should bring business and economics to life, making stories about these subjects interesting and relevant to all not just specialists. We look forward to building the network so that it represents one of the most dynamic and exciting fields in journalism in Sierra Leone.”

It was categorically made clear that membership of the new SLAJ Business and Economics Network is free and open to practising and aspiring journalists, as well as other professions with a genuine interest in collaborating to contribute to a more inclusive economy through improved economic and business reporting in Sierra Leone.

According to the President of SLAJ membership benefits are designed to create opportunities for professional learning and recognition, career development and knowledge sharing, as well as networking and mentoring.

Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie, who is the Team Leader of Invest Salone said:

“Invest Salone works with the public and private sectors to identify, design, and implement reforms that will reduce the costs and risks of doing business in Sierra Leone. An independent and vibrant Press widens the scope for the expression of opinions and ideas outside the Government which can help improve policymaking and accountable governance, and enable persuasive advocacy on business issues – all of which would contribute to creating a more enabling business environment and ultimately foster conditions for more inclusive growth, jobs and higher incomes for more Sierra Leoneans.”

According to what was stated SLAJ and SLRU welcome expressions of interest from journalists stating their names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers with a brief description of areas of interest and professional background.

NP-SL Ltd’s Caring for its Numerous Customers is Unparalleled 

By Amin Kef Sesay

The National Petroleum-Sierra Leone Limited (NP-SL Ltd) is well known as a very caring company that always treats its esteemed numerous customers well. Over the years, the company has extended its services to different parts of the country. Well-meaning entrepreneurs continue to partner with NP-SL Ltd to open Filling Stations in different locations in-country even in hard to reach areas. Its Filling Stations are strategically located in order for the vast majority to easily access them in order to conduct meaningful business transactions.

The caring nature of the company for its customers is vividly evident in the pieces of advice it continues to give out to its customers and even taxi, Kekeh and okada passengers wishing them safety whenever they are using the roads.

Against such a backdrop, it should not be any surprise that the company is the proud recipient of the accolade of 1st for Customer Care. This is no mean decoration but instead a true manifestation of the high level of appreciation that people continue to show for the qualitative products and services that the company markets to the general public.

Today, it is now non-existent for individuals to complain that when they are in the process of procuring petroleum products, pump attendants cheat them in terms of not getting their money’s worth. The simple reason is because the Shareholders and Management of the company were indeed very business savvy to procure modern calibrated pumping machines which were installed at their various selling points and are very capable of churning out the exact quantity of what is demanded and the price to be paid.

During a random countrywide survey conducted over a period of time targeting a large percentage of customers of the National Petroleum-Sierra Leone Limited (NP-SL Ltd), with the avowed objective of sounding their views on the operations of the company in the country, the responses were positive.

When quizzed on how they view the way the company treats its numerous customers across the country, most of the respondents warmly reacted by stating that the Shareholders and Management of  the company are doing extremely well in the direction of effective service delivery and giving utmost satisfaction to customers.

Mohamed Bai Sesay, a renowned Social Commentator, maintained that when it comes to customer care, NP-SL Ltd is second to none within the business landscape of this country.

“From what I so far learnt in order to conduct sales in a very transparent manner and to give customers their money’s worth, the Shareholders of the company decided to procure and install modern calibrated pumping machines at their various Filling Stations that are capable to pump the exact quantity of fuel, at the same time display the price and quantity,” he pointed out, adding that to even think that the pump attendants are cheating customers could only be a mere figment of one’s imagination, as anything like that is farfetched.

A Development Specialist of long standing intimated that for the country’s economy to grow sustainably it is but important to deepen local content further arguing that it is only when we make meaningful use of both our human and natural resources that development could transpire.

“Instead of depending on the importation of certain consumable items and foreign expatriates, it is but very significant and cost effective to make use of what we have at hand to produce goods and services,” Abdulai Braima, an Economist averred, also stating that for NP-SL Ltd to make it a laid down policy and put into practice to offer employment exclusively to Sierra Leoneans is indeed laudable and no mean feat.

He further underscored that by offering jobs to Sierra Leoneans is a way of empowering the citizenry to take care of daily responsibilities and live improved standards of living.

“I really doff my hat to the Shareholders of the company for actualizing such a high sense of patriotism,” he expressed admiration.

A vast majority of those interviewed revealed that they are using NP Gas for cooking purpose, maintaining that it is very efficient and environmentally friendly. The NP Gas that they referred to is a cooking device which is manufactured in different cylinder sizes and sold at affordable prices at the company’s Filling Stations.

With regards the use of NP Smart Card, it is one that is now in vogue. Some personalities who are using it said they find it very useful and a convenient way of purchasing petroleum products. They added that they always ensure their NP Smart Cards are credited to be used to purchase fuel, be it petrol or diesel. “Sometimes I don’t have to go through the hassle of going to the Bank on a busy Friday afternoon to withdraw cash just for the purpose of purchasing fuel that will last throughout the weekend. I do procure petrol by using my Smart Card and it is working perfectly well,” Musa Kalokoh, an Engineer told one of our reporters.

From all the positive responses, what really came out clearly  vividly was that NP-SL Ltd caring for its customers is synonymous to the loving care that a mother has for her children.

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