Turning Waste To Wealth In Sierra Leone

 

ACC Unveils Anti-Graft Policy for MDAs

Mr. Shollay Davies –Deputy Commissioner, ACC

The Deputy Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Shollay Davies has unveiled the Institutional Anti-Corruption Policy for selected ministries. The launching ceremony took place at the ACC Gloucester Street Office, Freetown on Wednesday 24th August, 2016. The selected ministries include: The Ministries of Health and Sanitation, Education, Science and Technology, Mines and Mineral Resources, Fisheries and Marine Resources and Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security.

Addressing participants, the Deputy Commissioner noted that there have been challenges in the policy environment of the public sector in the past. He recounted that the policy landscape in the country was nothing to write home about. Most of the existing policies, the Deputy Commissioner noted, were either “obsolete or not adhered to.” When such challenges persist in the public sector, the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery in MDAs pay the price, Mr. Davies argues.

Linking organizational culture, employee behavior and policy, the Deputy Commissioner, who is a veteran public servant and anti–graft strategist, submitted that policy development in the workplace generally, must be dynamic. As several factors influence behavioral change among employees, so the policies that regulate their behaviors must change, he added. ‘Policy’, he further postulated ‘must be subject to continuous review as emerging issues must have a place.’ That is why in this Institutional Anti-Corruption policy, review was made binding by dedicating an entire clause to it.

Emphasizing the need for the selected ministries to utilize the provisions in the Policy, the Deputy Commissioner cited Section 7 Sub-Section 2 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, which underscores the mandate of the ACC to design codes of conduct for public institutions.

In his statement, the Director of Systems and Processes Review Department of the ACC, Mr. Maurice  Williams, expressed delight on the cooperation his team enjoyed from the selected MDAs which worked with the ACC to develop the Policy. He noted that the ACC does not believe in individualism in so far as governance and policy issues are concerned; that is why the Commission partnered with officers in the selected Ministries to produce the document. He informed the audience that, the launch of the Institutional Anti-Corruption Policy is part of the Commission’s drive to promote the mainstreaming of anti-corruption measures into the civil service.

Responding on behalf of the Civil Service, Director of Human Resource Management Office (HRMO), the Revd. Emmanuel Pewa, stated that there had been a Civil Service Code but that alone is not sufficient to ensure adequate control of ethical manifestations of employees in the public sector. He praised the new policy championed by the ACC and pledged to closely collaborate with the Commission in the implementation of same.

The Chairman of the launching ceremony, Mr. Rashid Turay who is also the Deputy Director of Systems and Processes Review Department, urged the various ministries to take ownership of this document and use it. He admonished them against the traditional pattern of shelving important documents in the public sector – a practice that had incurred untold cost on employee performance and service delivery to the nation. All of the speakers thanked  and appreciated the European Union for funding the project.

UBA re-admitted into FX market

The Group Managing Director of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), Kennedy Uzoka has disclosed that the Bank has been re-admitted into the Forex (FX) Market few hours after its suspension by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In a release by the Central Bank of Africa, it confirmed that the UBA Plc “has remitted all outstanding NNCP/NNLG deposit in its possession to NNPC’s Treasury Single Account (TAS) at the CBN”.
The release further stated that “accordingly the UBA Plc has been re-admitted into the Foreign Exchange Market effective Thursday 25th August, 2016”.
Kennedy Uzoka Group Managing Director of UBA in a letter thanked the UBA Managing Director, Sierra Leone Ndubuisi Ejiofor “for your abiding confidence in our bank and for the commitment you continue to display. Please inform our customers of this development and thank them for their continued goodwill and patronage.”

Mohamed Konneh Marketing, Corporate Communications and Brand Management said the Bank is committed to give superior customer service and their vision is to dominate and be the leading financial service provider in Africa and beyond.

UBA Plc is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions offering banking services to more that seven million customers across 750 branches in 19 African countries.
UBA Sierra Leone Limited starts operations in 2008 and “within this eight years we have emerged as one of the best with six branches in the country, Lungi, Makeni, Freetown and the seventh to be established in Bo soon.” Konneh said
Adding that for 2015, their Profit Before Tax was Le24 billion “and we hope to double it this year”.

Flooding in Kabala displace 95 people

Ninety-Five (95) people at ‘One mile’ were left homeless and without properties after heavy rains destroyed houses and carted away properties worth millions of Leones on Sunday Night 22nd August 2016.

The rain came in two intervals resulting in the loss of properties, damage to people and displacing children, women and the aged. It was described as this year’s heaviest rainfall after it was started from around 1:00am to 4:30am. Over three houses were seriously affected along Yembeh Street, with two completely destroyed while others along the Makeni road towards the newly constructed culverts at One mile junction were also broken down with properties washed off.

James Bangay is a Catholic Relief Services staff from Moyamba working in Kabala. He said they are seven in number and that they were woken up by neighbours at about four in the morning, after it had rained for about two hours. He said when they opened the front door the force of the settled water outside rushed in and washed everything in the house including their documents, laptops and other valuable properties.

Ansumana  Sawaneh said he was born and raised on Yembeh street for the past Forty-Five (45) years but the rate at which their area was flooded was first of its kind, to an extent that half of their family house had fallen. He said there are 26 people in the two houses and that they had lost everything from personal belongings to books of school going children, dress and food stuff.

Ibrahim Mansaray and five of his colleagues are tillers who told Awoko Newspaper that they were far gone in their sleep especially with the sound of rain drops on their zinc when noise from their neighbouring rooms scared them. They said unfortunately by the time they woke up half of their belongings were gone after the water broke into their apartment through the front door which saw them fighting to recover the few properties they could lay their hands on.

Kanko Marrah is a mother of four school going children and resides along the main Makeni road in Kabala. associate the level of damaged cause as a result of the flooding to the newly constructed culverts along the Makeni road at one mile. She said even though she is not an engineer but noted that most of the drainages within Kabala town empty into the one mile bridge which the Sierra Leone Road Authority (SLRA) had converted into a culvert.

The woman said from time immemorial the bridge that was condemned by SLRA had served them well with no flood in that part of the township but pointed out that since the bridge was changed as a result of ongoing road work into a culvert which according to her youths did protest about, the gravity of running water into the swamp from Kabala town at high speed.

Sarrah Conteh a young student who assisted his brothers and sisters with lunch from his ‘Young Money Charging’ centre situated adjacent the outlet of the new culvert, said, her shop was a pool of water with all the mobile phones, laptop computers, DVD, his leister generator and other food items been destroyed by the water.  He said even though the shop has a metal steel door the water finds it way through and damages his customers’ properties and his as well.

Despite the fact that stakeholders in the district were not around when those women, youth, children and the aged were looking for solution into their situations but the level of rain in Kabala especially in August for many is a course for concern.

By Mohamed Kabba

Award Winning Actor Desmond Fenney Set For The Gambia Awards

The award winning Sierra Leonean ace actor and director, Desmond Finney has confirmed to this medium that he will be live at the red carpet in the Gambia for the Special Movie Awards scheduled for 30th September 2016.

The Movie star who has been featured in countless movies produced in the continent will be attending the august event in The Gambia on the  invitation of Affrinity Production,  the organizers of the event.

” I feel honoured to be invited to such a high class event and I look forward to meeting and chatting with other key players in the film industry. The movie industry is strategic in creating employment and stimulating socio-economic growth in sub Saharan Africa, “ he said.

He will be among other celebrities from across the sub-region who will join Finney at the awards that is  aimed at recognizing movie makers in the Gambia for strides in boosting the African movie industry.

Another Sierra Leonean actor and producer Collins Archie Pierce will be a special guest at the awards.

Pierce will be flying into the Gambia from London to be at the landmark event.

It is mooted that the blockbuster movie, Ibu in Sierra Leone which is produced by Pierce and which features Nigerian movie star John Okafor aka Ibu , Desmond Finney and Collins himself and directed by John Solo will be premiered in the Gambia on October 1, 2016,

The Special Movie Awards is the first-ever movie award ceremony that is being held to recognize and award outstanding personalities in the movie industry in The Gambia.

The event is meant to celebrate films made in The Gambia, promote qualitative film content, and encourage the art of film-making.

Afrinity Production, organiser of the event, is a Pan-African specialist interactive media outfit.

The successful completion of screening of the SMA 2016 film entries were submitted by 24 film production houses, and after a weeklong screening by an independent jury; based on the films submitted, the jury came up with three nominees in each of the 15 categories.

Fambul Tok And Catalyst For Peace Demands Investigation Into The Violence In Koinadugu And Moyamba Districts

In an open letter to His Excellency President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, dated 23rd August, 2016, Fambul Tok International, a Non-Governmental Organization in Sierra Leone has called for an independent and inclusive panel of investigation into the violence in Koinadugu and Moyamba districts.
“While, we acknowledge the efforts being made by the police and the government, we advise that an independent panel to investigate the incidents in Koinadugu and Moyamba districts be set up to include reputable civilians within the districts who will add some confidence to the process” the letter stated. Please turn to the inside pages for more on the letter to the president.

23rd August 2016
His Excellency
Dr Ernest Bai Koroma
President of The Republic of Sierra Leone
State Avenue
Tower Hill
Freetown

Dear Mr President,
Open Letter to The President
Call for independent and inclusive panel of investigation into the violence in Koinadugu and Moyamba districts On Tuesday 16 August 2016, the people of Kabala township in the Koinadugu district, northern Sierra Leone, witnessed violence after youths clashed with the police, leaving two young people dead. Sadly, on Friday 19 August 2016, again youths in the Lower Banta chiefdom of Moyamba district, south of the country, allegedly burnt down houses in a violent protest that left two of them dead.
To this end we at Fambul Tok, a non-governmental organization working on peace, reconciliation and community development, are very concerned. While, we acknowledge the efforts being made by the police and the government, we advise that an independent panel to investigate the incidents in Koinadugu and Moyamba districts be set up to include reputable civilians within the districts who will add some confidence to the process.
We respectfully therefore urge for a speedy look into the issue and call for appropriate actions to follow. While we hope the law enforcement agencies will employ professionalism in handling of such protests, going forward, we also want to encourage youths not to take the law into their own hands but to always look for and use appropriate redress channels to register their grievances.
Mr. President, Fambul Tok is working in six districts including Koinadugu and Moyamba districts. In the last eight years, we have encouraged local leadership and ownership of community reconciliation leading to sustainable development, organized women’s groups as peace mothers and engaged with stakeholders from village and section chiefs to paramount chiefs and other relevant district authorities.

Since March 2015, Fambul Tok and Catalyst for Peace (CFP) have facilitated series of district meetings that have led to the establishment of an Inclusive District Peace and Development
Committees (IDPDC) in Kailahun, Koinadugu and Moyamba that comprise all peace and development stakeholders in the districts: local government, District Officers, traditional leaders, civil society groups including those representing women, youths and the physically challenged, non-governmental organizations, Sierra Leone Police, Office of National Security, MDAs and community representatives.
The IDPDC did not replace any existing structure but rather serves to complement and enhance an inclusive approach to problem solving and to facilitate a district-wide People’s Planning Process in conjunction with civil society, councils and traditional leaders that reflects the
needs and aspiration of people within each and every village, Section and Chiefdom in the said districts.
Therefore, we are very concerned that after years of building peace, promoting reconciliation through sustained traditional dialogue, community mediation and achieving social cohesion in the district, there are still instances of violence and deaths. We feel very worried that those gains could be reversed if violence and unrest continue to happen. However, again we want to emphasize that we condemn violence of any form, but we are also very confident that in collaboration with credible district stakeholders appropriate measures should be taken to
establish and address the root-cause of the violence and we hope that remedies will be taken afterwards to avert any reoccurrence.
Respectfully,
….………………………………..
John Caulker
Executive Director

ACC EMPOWERS BENEFICIARIES OF THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET PROJECT IN MOYAMBA DISTRICT

In a bid to ensure that transparency and accountability are at the core of the implementation of the Social Safety Net (SSN) project funded by the World Bank and UNICEF, the  Public Education and Outreach Department of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday concluded sensitization of beneficiaries in Kowa and Timindale Chiefdoms in the Moyamba District. The town hall meetings which were held at the community centres of Njama Quee and Gondama attracted stakeholders and beneficiaries from the fourteen (14) communities benefiting from the SSN project.

Speaking at the engagements, the Deputy Director, Public Education and Outreach, Patrick Sandi, said the Commission remains very crucial in the SSN project and so far the project has recorded remarkable gains which makes him describe the SSN project as a huge success. Mr. Sandi also stated that, the beneficiaries have been able to utilize the funds for the intended purposes, bringing about a positive change in their life styles. He maintained that the meeting was to further empower beneficiaries on their rights and responsibilities and to also update them on the positive interventions made by the Commission for a successful project implementation. 

The Deputy Director implored community stakeholders to support the process as the project goal is to improve the livelihoods of extremely poor and vulnerable people. "This project is not exclusively for the old or aged as perceived by many, but for those who live in extreme poverty and are vulnerable, no matter the age bracket," he added.

Addressing his audience, Public Education Officer Magnus Bendu emphasized that reporting is key to fighting corruption. He stated that the focus of the grievance redress component of the project handled by the ACC  is not prosecution, but resolutions and administrative actions. However, he noted, when there are incidences of  suspected corruption they would be treated seriously by the Commission. He shared with his listeners the free hotline numbers for reporting to the ACC and assured them of their protection as provided in the Anti-Corruption Act 2008.  

Earlier, at Njama Quee, the chiefdom speaker Alfred G. Fanawo and the Town Chief Gondama, Sorba Tham heaped praises on the ACC for the good work in addressing corruption in Sierra Leone and also its strategic role in the SSN project. Speaker Fanawo and Chief Tham disclosed that the SSN project has contributed greatly to the facelifting of their chiefdoms; with beneficiaries replacing their thatch houses with corrugated iron sheets, parents bold enough to send their children to schools, take them to clinics/health centres for medical attention, because they could meet the costs, and tranquility in homes as food can be provided for members of the household to eat. 

The engagements were chaired by the Public Education Officer, Joseph M. Hazeley, who stressed that the Commission was poised at making sure that the social and economic needs of people in rural communities are met.

Similar sensitization campaigns will be held in the remaining three project implementation districts; Bombali, Kono, and Western Rural.

Ban Ki-Moon appoints Chernor Bah (Cee Bah) To Advisory Group on Youth, Peace & Security

By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has appointed Sierra Leonean born global activist and girl champion, Chernor Bah (Cee Bah), to a prestigious Advisory Group of experts for the Security Council mandated study on Youth, Peace and Security.

Mr. Ban made the announcement while addressing students at the University of Calgary on the occasion of the International Youth Day some 10 days ago.

“Today, I can announce that we are forming a new Advisory Group to study progress on that Resolution,” he said, referring to the groundbreaking Security Council Resolution 2250 which was adopted last December and for the first time recognizes the unique role youth play in promoting global peace and security.

“Nearly half of that Group’s members are young. Some of them survived conflict. One lost her father in war. Another was shot. Others were refugees,” the UN Scribe said of the Group.

Responding to the news, Chernor Bah, who currently leads an innovative post-Ebola project at the Population Council in New York, said: “It’s an honor to be named by the UN Secretary General to another influential board. This hopefully reflects the quality of the work I have been doing in the international arena and the faith of the SG and other key agencies in my leadership and abilities.”

Bah promised to do his best to repay this confidence not only for Mr. Ban, “but as a representative of my country (Sierra Leone) and the millions of young people- especially girls, whose issues I continue to champion in my work and in my advocacy,” he said.

Asked on what his appointment meant for Sierra Leone, Bah, who was also very instrumental in developing strategies to support girls affected by the Ebola, emphasized: “I think the appointment means that the unique issues of Sierra Leone will be represented at the highest level.”

He continued: “It’s the first time the Security Council is considering these critical issues and to have me bringing in my Sierra Leone and other global expertise is a huge bonus.”

Graeme Simpson of South Africa, Director of Interpeace USA was appointed Lead Author and the findings and recommendations of the Study will be presented to the Security Council in December 2016.

This is the second time the United Nations Scribe has appointed Chernor Bah to a high-level panel with the first being in 2012 when he was named on the Secretary General’s signature Global Education First Initiative’s High Level Steering group as the global youth representative. Chernor Bah has been an activist and lead champion of children’s rights since he was 15 years old, when he was the founding President of the Children’s Forum Network in Sierra Leone. He has gone on to champion youth, education and girls’ rights in conflict and post conflict settings and is the recipient of numerous global and national awards. He holds a Masters in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame

Did The SLPP Party Learn Anything from The Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) Flagbearership Convention?

Every day we learn to live and we live to learn, particularly from both present and past events, be they good or bad. But looking at things, it seems as if the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) deliberately refusing to learn from both present and past happenings in the world, especially in the country’s political activities. They seemingly refusing to learn good lessons from the world are every day events, especially political events, including Europe, America and African politics.

In view of that they also seem not to learn from their present and past mistakes for the success of their party in the country. Therefore, I am constrained to say that they seemingly failed to do that because of their personal prides and political egos of some of their members. They (SLPP) know why they are losing elections to APC, but they always turn blind eyes to that pretending not knowing anything about that at their own expense.

The SLPP know that they normally lose elections to APC because they do not believe in working very hard with honesty for the people in the country like what APC is currently doing. They spent complete 11 years in power but they did very little for the country and for its people, particularly in terms of the improvement of electricity (Kabbah tiger), good hospital facilities, good roads etc.

The fact is the SLPP depend on the promotion of tribalism, regionalism, fake politics and political violence, and also because of their ungrateful attitudes and behaviour towards their fellow Sierra Leoneans, especially those within their own political party. Whether they accept that or not it’s up to them, but it’s an open secret.

They seem to forget that the days of fake or deceitful politics or fake propaganda are over. There is no more room for fake politics or deceitful politics for Sierra Leoneans, especially for those living in the country. Now we live in an Information Age that you cannot easily tell lies or make fake propaganda on people and let you go free. They will go all out to find out.

 Because every town and village in the country now needs progress and development NOT party colour or tribalism promotion or fake propaganda. They need good roads, light, good health facilities, good market facilities, good drinking water and so on.

Whether SLPP like to hear that or not President Koroma APC government is doing extremely well in the country, particularly in terms of infrastructural development and also the improvement of electricity which are any country’s life blood. Sometimes it is good to praise others for their good work and we critique when necessary because no one knows it all.

Anyway as it is not yet time to talk politics or write politics. It is time to write, talk or discuss about development, the good work of our law makers, especially the effective monitoring of the shylock wicked business people, land grabbers and the frogmarching of the fake contractors that used to say our governments are in their pockets.

On how to keep our country safe from the enemies of peace, progress and development in and out of the country, as our people are tired of violence and war, we should give them peace.

 However, the just concluded Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) convention prompted me to ask the question if SLPP learned any good lessons from the election of flag bearer of that political party.

I decided to ask the question if SLPP cry-baby learned good lessons from their past regular unpatriotic habit of walking out of Parliament. What fruits did they normally yield from their walking out of Parliamentary proceedings?

When David Gbla of Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) worked out of their convention what was his benefit? Who became the victor between him (Gbla) and Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray? The questions are food for thought for SLPP.

Recently after the country’s Central Statistics finished doing hard good work by counting all Sierra Leoneans living in the country they threatened to boycott the pending presidential and parliamentary elections that to be held in 2018, for what they alleged to be unfair or uneven census statistical result.

They further argued that the ruling APC government manipulated the census in their favour, especially for making what they called APC strongholds, which are  the northern and western parts of the country more populated than the South –Eastern areas according to  the result of the census.

Generally speaking since SLPP lost elections in 2007 to APC, anything that is not in their favour is a sham.  Nothing is good in the country for them, particularly to some of the blind progress and development critics or detractors.

For simple logical argument sake, SLPP forgot that when the war started in the Southern part of the country it took some time there before it was extended to the Eastern region. During that time, those who ran to the north-west of the country for their safety had already gained settlement with good integration, including inter-married in those parts of the country before the war reached there (north-west).

In view of that most of the people from the South-Eastern parts of the country who unwontedly moved to the North-Western Areas of the country for the safety of their lives and families, after the war many of them did not return to their various towns and villages again.

Due to the fact that some of them cannot even identify or recognize their towns and villages again because of the heavy destruction that took place there. It is also because some of their villages are currently being covered with elephant grasses and trees. While others because of the ongoing mining in the North they have gained employments. Others it is because they have lost their settlement completely in the South-Eastern parts of the country as I said.

 In view of that logically compare the population growth in the north-western region, particularly Freetown, the capital city of the country before the war and after the war before we can talk about the South-Eastern population.

However, if SLPP really believe that if they boycott the pending 2018, presidential and parliamentary elections because of the census result in the country that will yield good dividend for them, do let them don’t learn any lesson from David Gbla ADP flag bearer convention walkout, so that the APC will have less campaign job to do in the country.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own

Zainab Sheriff Preaching On Motherhood;The Pain During And After Child Birth

Zainab Sheriff who is pregnant at the moment or might have delivered are baby is sharing some experiences about motherhood. The Outspoken Salone Celebrity posted this amazing and incredible  words on her Instagram Page. 

Below is what she posted

"Raw and unedited picture of a mother breastfeeding her 2weeks old baby after a C- section delivery. 

This is priceless. This is what some mothers go through. The pains. The stretch mark. The shapeless body. The flappy tummy. Some of us use corset and body magic to hide it. Some of us use push up bra to feel sexy but when we get into the bathroom, naked and see the real body , we remind ourselves that we produced a creature, a human being. Please women learn to love yourself. Love your body. Motherhood is a beautiful thing. I pray that those trying for a child will get pregnant. 

Men , learn to love your wives. What we go through isn't easy. We don't need you to misbehave, we don't want you to cheat on us. We don't want you to beat us. We don't want you to deny us our right. All we need is love , transparency, care and support. After all these suffering some men without conscience hit their wives. Some don't care if she has eaten . Some even abandon her to cater for the baby. Some spend more on their girlfriend forgetting they have a nursing wife at home. On judgement day , I wonder the excuse you will give God for maltreating your wife. 

Some men even have the guts to tell their wives that she is not a woman just because she delivered through CS . I believe a true woman is the one who had her child(ren) through surgery. She has to go through pains. Serious pains. She has to deny herself food for days at least 3days. She can't eat normal food for a month. She can't even bath herself well. Unlike the vagina birth. Men , no matter the method of delivery treat her like a queen. For a mother and child to come out alive is God's grace. Pregnancy and Labour is between life and death. Learn to respect mothers." 

#respectmothers

#saynotoviolence

#mothersarepriceless

Your Favorite Ghanaian Celebrities Are Nominated For The 2016 Glitz Style Awards

 Your favorite Ghanaian stars are Nominated for the Glitz Style Awards which is to be held on the 10th of September at Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra. 

Juliet Ibrahim, yvonne Nelson, Berla Mundi, Peace Hyde, Efya, Sarkodie, Joselyn Dumas just to name a few are all nominated for this much talked about Award.

The event is an opportunity for the fashion industry to celebrate and promote the extraordinary creative talents in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

Below are the Nominees

SLAF now on level II in Peacekeeping- CDS

As he concludes his maiden tour of various battalions around the Country, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has disclosed that he is working on an immediate and long term plan for the Military.

Lieutenant-General, John Milton confirmed to Awoko that from all battalions visited his men were in high spirits, despite some of the challenges they are faced with on the ground.

He added that the visit also gave him the opportunity to listen to the concerns of troops, with regards to capacity and logistics, which he assured, will be looked into within the shortest possible time.

The CDS encouraged his men to maintain discipline at all times, noting that the United Nations have upgraded Sierra Leone Peace Keeping to level II, which puts the country in the position to send two battalion on peace keeping, which is a plus to the country, in terms of maintaining peace in troubled Countries.

On the issue of the military contributing to agriculture and infrastructure development, Lieutenant-General Milton replied in the affirmative that, as part of his tour he stopped over at the military agriculture unit at Moyamba and was impressed from what he saw, and with regards to army engineering, the CDS confessed that more capacity as well as logistics is needed for the unit to function and serve well within the military and the public, which will save Government from huge costs to give out private contracts.

He disclosed that staff of the engineering unit played a pivotal role during the ebola outbreak, of establishing treatment centres in collaboration with the British troops, which came in to help.

Also Lieutenant-General John Milton furthered that plans are underway to construct living quarters for troops at Kambia, while Wilberforce is under construction and the first phase of Gondama is completed.

Questioned on the upgrade of both the air and naval wing of the military, the CDS was quick to respond that indeed, there’s much work to be done in both sectors, which is included in his strategic plan, which will be out soon.

He said negotiations are on with close allies in terms of more capacity training and equipment to beef up the army to match up with International standards, noting that a modern army should be fully functional with all three wings, infantry, navy and air force, fully equipped.

With regards to lawlessness and high rate of indiscipline in society, the military chief emphasised that with the design of the national youth service program, which is to be introduced soon, it will be good that citizens be also given the opportunity to serve in the military for a period of time as part of service to the nation, which will further shape them morally and instill self-discipline in their lives, to make society better.

By Ade Campbell