Commentary

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09 April 2024

Prior to the operations of the fifty new buses in early February this year, which are a component of the Sierra Leone Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project (IRUMP) funded by World Bank Grant, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation had issued a public notice as an ORDER informing the general public that effective midnight Monday 29th January 2024, the Public Transport Corridor would be a NO PARKING or NO ACCESS for push carts (omorlankay), okadas, kekehs, heavy goods vehicles and public transport vehicles (except for SLPTA licensed operators) during the hours of 6:00a.m. to 10:00p.m. The Transport Ministry’s public notice further stated that loading and off-loading would only be permissible during the hours of 10:00p.m. to 5:00a.m, noting that defaulters will be towed at their own cost.
According to the Transport Ministry’s public notice, there are two Public Transport Corridors which are the West Corridor and the East Corridor but our paramount concern here which we believe is of great public interest is the East Corridor which runs from Calaba Town through Bai Bureh Road, Kissy Road, Sani Abacha Street, Wilberforce Street, Rawdon Street and Siaka Stevens Street.
Notwithstanding the ORDER of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, we have observed with trepidation that the Ministry can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk as evident at Sani Abacha Street where it is business as usual. The so-called ORDER has crumbled at Sani Abacha Street because of the Transport Ministry’s inaction in dealing with defaulters. It is no longer a secret that Omorlankays, Okadas, Kekehs, heavy goods vehicles and public transport vehicles ply the busy street from 6:00a.m. beyond midnight with apparent impunity and the Transport Ministry is doing nothing about such exhibition of lawlessness despite its public notice which people thought was something serious.
The movements of the ‘Waka Fine’ buses in the East Corridor, especially at Sanin Abacha Street, has become extremely difficult because of the daily presence of heavy goods vehicles either loading or off-loading, private vehicles of shop owners and customers, as well as commercial vehicles. These are all clear indications that the Ministry of Transport and Aviation has woefully failed to protect the East Corridor from defaulters and this is having an adverse effect on the operations of the ‘Waka Fine’ buses that are meant to move people faster than other commercial vehicles. We believe the purpose of these buses has been compromised by the Transport Ministry, which is as toothless in enforcing its public notice as the public suggests.
We believe it is about time the Ministry of Transport came out of its cocoon and ensure the public notice is fully enforced otherwise the East Corridor wiould not be considered as a better route for the free movement of the ‘Waka Fine’ buses. The Ministry should therefore implement what they stated in its public notice or the general public would lose confidence in the Ministry for its inability to do what it has promised the people and this would have a telling effect on the ‘Waka Fine’ buses plying the East Corridor. Moreover, the abandonment of road work at Sani Abacha Street has not only exacerbated the situation but has also given more laxity to traders to encroach upon the streetto sell their goods thereby obstructing the free flow of the ‘Waka Fine’ buses. Since most of the iron railings have been removed for extension work, the abandoned ditches have become an eyesore and traders have taken advantage of the situation by encroaching upon the street thereby slowing vehicular traffic in addition to stationary vehicles waiting to either be loaded or off-loaded. We believe something desperate should be done by the Minister and his staff to prove to the public that they are more than capable of protecting the East Corridor for the smooth operations of the ‘Waka Fine” buses. The operations of these buses must be sustained and posterity would surely judge Mr. Minister should he fail in his duty to enforce what he has promised Sierra Leoneans.

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21 September 2023

The dedicated and resilient Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Ibrahim Sesay, has been conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Science degree (D.Sc) by Njala University at a ceremony on Friday 15th September, 2023 in Bo City. The Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree is awarded to individuals who have made groundbreaking and significant contributions to their field, humanity and society.

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18 October 2023

The Background
Social media and mainstream media have since last week been awash with a seeming conflict between two private entities that are friends of Sierra Leone, over the use of the rail track situated in the Port Loko/Tonkolili axis of the country. Arise IIP, a private investment entity that has been given a contract to develop the Sierra Leone Economic Investment Zone, and other areas, is poised to bring in passenger trains into the country for the first time since the closure of such transport services in the mid-1970s.
However, this component of their planned investment has some snags as the rail track which they intend to use for the passenger trains is subject to clearance by the previous owners of the track, Kingho. Kingho, another private company of Chinese origin, had developed the rail track running from Tonkolili to Pepel in the Port Loko district, and had been using it for transporting their iron ore to the seaport of Pepel for eventual exporting to China.
The Contentions
The contentious rail track was actually built by the Chinese company Kingho that had a contract with the Government of Sierra Leone for the construction of a rail track in specified areas in the north of the country. The terms of the contract was to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT), which means that the constructed rail track was to be handed over to the government after a certain period of time. Section 6 Part 4 of the contract between Kingho Mining Company and the Government of Sierra Leone gives the former the right to transport their product from Tonkolili to Pepel using the railway. Indeed, Kingho built and operated the rail track but had not handed over to it, when their contract with the Government of Sierra Leone was terminated.
As a country seeking genuine investors as engines of growth and development, government has been seeking investors. Arise IIP entered the fray and rolled out an elaborate plan of investment in the country that could run into billions of Leones. It sought cabinet approval to develop the Sierra Leone Economic Investment Zone and got it. However, with regards the use of the rail track and management of the port of Pepel, there were attendant forerunner contracts that it first needed to meet, before qualifying for its full use. These conditions precedent had to be fulfilled before Arise IIP could be given the right to use the rail track.
It is also important to understand that the contract between the Government of Sierra Leone and Arise IIP was not ratified by Parliament, the body that as per law approves and ratifies all contracts and negotiations that Government of Sierra Leone enters into. At the time of the contract negotiations and cabinet approval of Arise IIP, the country was at the throes of the elections and the life span of the previous Parliament was nearing its end. This means that technically, Arise IIP had just a loose contract with the Government of Sierra Leone.
Government’s Interest
The Government of President Julius Maada Bio has no special interest in any of the two entities but the interest of Sierra Leone. President Bio has said from the onset of his presidency in 2018, that he would seek the best interest of the country and that he would deal with genuine investors with credibility and pedigree. Both Arise IIP and Kingho Mining are friends of Sierra Leone and the President recognises that. The bottleneck around the use of the rail track would be handled in a way that the country’s interest is neither jeopardised nor mortgaged. Kingho Mining has a contract with the Government of Sierra Leone dating back to June 14, 2022 that covers the construction of a rail track for transporting their product from Tonkolili to Pepel. Though this contract was temporarily upended, yet the initial owners and the Government of President Bio are still in discussions. Arise IIP are still partners with the Government of Sierra Leone and have been given the SIZ, which can serve as the spring board for them to launch themselves for bigger projects in future. The use of the rail track which was initially built by Kingho Mining has gone way beyond the company itself. The technicalities and national interests do not make way for sidestepping Kingho Mining in the use of the track.

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13 September 2023

Leonoil Company Limited popularly known as LEONCO, the leading oil marketing company in the country on Thursday 7th September, 2023 opened another ultra-modern filling station at Rotifunk, Lungi, Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, Port Loko District.
This latest move by the Oil Marketing Company fulfills its strategic vision to bring liquid gold to the doorsteps of customers in communities nationwide to make its petroleum products accessible to all.

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21 September 2023

On 13th September, 2023, it pleased His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio to appoint Augustine Tehguma Moses Koroma as National Programme Coordinator - Free Quality School Education.The FQSE was and is still the flagship programme of the ‘New Direction’ administration of President Julius Maada Bio - a flagship programme that has enjoyed huge investments and national and international recognition and acclamations.
The scheme aims at improving the quality of the country's basic and senior secondary education and harnessing the country's human capital resource with a view to critically impacting national development.
But who is Augustine Teguhma Moses Koroma? Augustine Koroma was born on August 12, 1987 in Blama Town, Small Bo Chiefdom, Kenema District, Eastern Sierra Leone. He did his primary school education at the Dr. June Hols Roness Municipal School at Syke Street, Freetown, before proceeding to the Sierra Leone Grammar School.
After an impressive six-year sojourn at the Sierra Leone Grammar School, the new FQSE National Programme Coordinator gained admission at Njala University where he pursued and successfully completed a course in Banking and Finance. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours.
Augustine Koroma also holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Educational Administration and Management, an MBA in Project Management, and is currently an MSc Economics candidate at Njala University.
The new FQSE National Programme Coordinator can boast of a glittering professional career spanning over ten years that has increased his knowledge, broadened his horizon, deepened his insight and sharpened his experience.
He worked at different banking and micro-finance institutions for eight years and also had stints at the International Medical Corps and the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) where he served as Community Based Facilitator, Finance Officer and District Coordinator. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The new FQSE National Programme Coordinator has worked with and implemented projects for international and local development partners and funders like the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank,USAID, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), and the Pro Poor Growth for Peace Consolidation (GPC).
Augustine Koroma is no stranger to the classroom and lecture room, having taught at different secondary schools as evidenced by his current part-time lecturer status at the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU).
Mr. Koroma's appointment has been greeted with resounding praises and positive reactions from many young people across different spectra of society.
The young man is friendly, industrious, selfless, serviceable and delivery focused. Many believe he is going into his new job with a positive mentality and the requisite experience.
He Will Deliver Big Time!!!

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07 August 2023

In the wake of a successful electoral season, the dynamic Maritime Chief, Mr. Paul Sobba Massaquoi, wasted no time returning to action, leaving a significant impact on the annual general conference of the Regional Maritime University (RMU). Collaborating with esteemed figures from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation (MTA) and the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA), his presence reverberated.

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21 September 2023

National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) last Thursday 14th September, 2023 officially opened the inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee on the Informal Sector NASSIT Scheme.

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06 August 2023

Violence reportedly broke out inside the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) office in Kenema at the weekend during the welcoming ceremony of the newly approved Commissioner-General of National Revenue Authority (NRA), Ibrahim Brima Swarray, a native of the city, amidst pomp and pageantry.

According to unconfirmed reports, the SLPP Chairman, Moriba Koroma aka Agbao and his able lieutenants arrived at the party office when the place was overcrowded and consequently, they would not allow them to go into the hall because of limited accommodation. It was their refusal to entire the hall that culminated in the eruption of violence in the party office as the SLPP Chairman’s bodyguards allegedly attacked and pelted stones at the crowd and the roof of the party office. Many people reportedly sustained injuries as a result of the incident, including a popular Blogger, Fofana-Fofana.

By and large, the reported violence in the SLPP office in Kenema is unacceptable and totally incomprehensible as it is against the principles of the SLPP and any democratic society. That the SLPP has a District Chairman who would stoop so low to replicate the uncouth thuggery days of the All People’s Congress (APC) party in the late 60s, 70s and 80s is very disgraceful and embarrassing, especially for a party whose foundation was solidly built on elitism, morality, integrity and civilization in order to challenge the Creole dominance in politics in the then Colony.

If Agbao was a truly responsible party district chairman, he would have arrived at the party office in time to welcome their brother who had just been approved by Parliament as the new NRA Commissioner-General. But the fact that he arrived late at the party office with his thugs and there was absolute mayhem where everyone tried to get out of the party office at once gives a gloomy picture of the party’s character which is unacceptable. \But if at all the district chairman was not officially invited to the occasion but he probably decided to attend for the sake of the party, then the organizers would be held responsible for the ugly incident at the party office and also being very disrespectful to him..

We believe partisan responsibilities should not be entrusted to indecent, lawless people who do not respect the rights of others. We therefore hope the appropriate authorities will take stringent action against those who perpetrated the mayhem to ensure justice is done as such violence can send the wrong signal about the true character of this elitist party called SLPP.