“I am able and ready to take the company further from where I met it. This cannot be achieved without the corporation of the staff”. These were the exact words of the new Managing Director of Sierratel, Mr. Senesie Kallon, while assuming office.

It is obvious that the failure of the state- owned telecoms service provider, Sierratel, to effectively compete with private telecoms providers in the industry, in terms of service delivery and the disgruntlement of staffs led to the sacking of its outgone Managing Director, Mr. Edward Sesay.

With 36 years’ experience in engineering productiveness and a wealth of knowledge in telecoms engineering having previously served at Sierratel and Natcom, the new-fangled MD is unequivocally the most fitted and qualified person to transform the country’s state owned telecoms from its extant moribund states in terms of service delivery to a viable business.

Senesie Kallon who yesterday officially took over the mantle of leadership from his predecessor, Edward Sesay at the handing over ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Freetown said, his mandate is to fight and beat the competition in the telecoms industry.

Kallon who help transformed Natcom’ operations said, the challenge encompasses the enhancement of market growth, expansion of revenue, improved staff welfare and employment. In order to achieve his mandate, he is going to diversify services to leverage heavily on data to attract business, especially private sectors whose operations largely depend on data use.

Kallon said, the goal is to ensure the company has the requisite capacity to produce such needed service that will certainly attract business, which will definitely give the company a facelift in terms of its operations since voice data is gradually becoming insignificant with the advent of the new technology like Facebook, Whatsapp, etc.
He affirmed that, key management issues that need to be addressed immediately are insecurity and fraud that has the proclivity to hamper the company’s operations.

The new boss also prioritizes audit on the availability of skill base and structural capacity building with the ultimate aim of making sure that the company is no longer run by foreigners, as staff will be in the position to handle every new technology.
He also calls for strong legislation to combat destruction of the company’s critical information equipment, which he says, impact negatively on the company’s growth.

The chairman, National Privatization Commission, Napoleon Koroma said, the new boss is not a stranger to Sierratel as he had worked in the institution for years.
Hence, he has no doubt that with his experience from NATCOM, he will once again make the institution viable by creating employment, expanding development growth to attract private sector and ensure better service delivery.

The outgoing MD, Edward Sesay, while outlining his achievements over the years, admonished his successor to critically look at the enormous challenges facing the institution.