AYV News, October 2, 2024
Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh has joined One Hundred and Fifty members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to discuss electoral reforms, peace and national cohesion in the country.
Right off the plane from the United Nations General Assembly, the Chief Minister joined the CSOs in their engagement, expected to increase collaboration, enhance understanding and heighten public discourse on the above topics.
Dr. Sengeh said: “I recognised the great effort of President Julius Maada Bio in establishing the Tripartite Committee and pushing forward some of the most fundamental reforms no previous president had dared to do over the past 20 years. Many of the 84 recommendations in the Tripartite Report are not new. The constitutional recommendations have been discussed for 20 years. Now is the time for the referendum that will strengthen our democratic institutions.
“Now is the time for all to participate in and not politicize the census. It is a shame the APC MP left before I could speak, but I hope he watches the talk later. I also spoke about Radical Inclusion and offered the seven steps to having a truly more inclusive and just society. I spoke about dialogue. Hard dialogue and offered two examples.
“Out of a room of 150+, only 5 people had been to the APC party office. I did that in the middle of the fiercest political stand-off in recent history to have a dialogue on the way forward. I went to Congress last week to meet with a staffer who had held our MCC Compact on hold. For one hour, we had a one on one which led him to lift the hold that allowed us to sign eventually. All he needed was to meet with me.
“Yes, we deserved it. Yes, we worked for the metrics. But it was that hard dialogue that got us over the line.
With both the APC and MCC, I learned that unless we are prepared to sit with each other, listen to each other, dialogue with each other, we can often get stuck and not get our desired outcomes. This is why I attended today’s event and why I am super excited to see their report, which will be submitted to the implementation committee of which I am chair”.
He said with Radical Inclusion, together Sierra Leone will deliver, adding; “I do encourage all citizens to take civic action with accountability and responsibility. We must keep all spaces (physical and digital) safe for everyone”.
