The new Members of Parliament (MPs), sworn in to represent Sierra Leone at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Parliament in Abuja have held discussions on Feed Salone agenda with His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio at State House in Freetown.
The four MPs, Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay from the Moyamba district, Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina from Kono district, Hon. Mohamed Bangura from Karene district in the Karene district and Hon. Musa Shiaka Sama from Pujehun district are joining Hon. Mohamed Sidie Tunis, who is the current Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Head of Delegation and chairperson of the Agriculture Committee at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, presented her colleagues and thanked President Bio and the leadership of the Sierra Leone Parliament for nominating them to serve the country at that level.
She said Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina and Hon. Mohamed Bangura, as the new members of the ECOWAS parliament, had already taken their oaths of office in Ghana and they looked forward to attending the extraordinary meeting of the parliament in Abuja by the end of November.
As chairperson for agriculture committee at the ECOWAS parliament, she assured President Bio of plans to champion the Feed Salone initiative with the parliament.
President Julius Maada Bio congratulated them and appreciated them for representing the country, noting that “as a member state of ECOWAS, we have a universal representative. So, it is an opportunity to welcome and congratulate you and to wish you well”.
The President also acknowledged that the ECOWAS parliament was such an important institution in the sub-region and that he was personally happy, on behalf of the country, for the representation. He reiterated his government’s strong commitment to agriculture through the Feed Salone initiative and assured of his fullest support for the country’s representation at the ECOWAS parliament.
Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the President for his consideration to meet with them, stating that Sierra Leone had set the pace in the sub-region on a range of issues, including government’s commitment to human capital development and the passing into law of the GEWE Act, which many other ECOWAS parliamentarians had sought to learn from.
He assured the President of their unflinching commitment to putting the country and people’s interests first in their deliberations at the parliament.
