By Aaron Bundu Lahai-Head of Media & Public Relations
During the official opening of the newly constructed multi-purpose hall by the Chiefdom Administration of Tankoro chiefdom at Kaokoyima, Koidu city in Kono district, the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Council on Local Governance who doubles as the Vice President of Sierra Leone Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has called on Paramount Chiefs (PCs) across the country to support development programmes of President Bio’s Government.
Vice President Jalloh called on PCs and local councils to take advantage of the development opportunities provided by the New Direction Government to develop their chiefdoms and districts, noting that PCs should make sure government programmes are translated into action to produce concrete results.
Vice President Jalloh encouraged the Paramount Chiefs and local councils to engage the central government on the implementation of programmes. The Honourable Vice President explained about the 22% budget for education, increased budget from 6-11.4% in health, increased budget in the energy and road sectors as some of the social governance priorities of President Bio’s Administration. The Vice President further encouraged the Paramount Chiefs to ensure government programmes become successful and benefit the local population.
Dr. Jalloh informed the audience about the provision of counter-part funding for the Kono University. The Honourable Vice President lamented that the counter-part funding by the Government of Sierra Leone is meant to start the access programme, clear the land and other activities. He informed the community people about the appointment of Dr. Mondeh to lead the university project.
Vice President Jalloh informed the community people about his engagement with Kono Paramount Chiefs and their wives on finding solution to the low performance of pupils in the districts in public exams, and to strategize ways of increasing learning outcomes of pupils in public exams. Vice President Jalloh emphasized the need to increase learning outcomes and upgrade pupils’ performance now that the district is about to have a university.
The Honourable Vice President called on companies operating in Kono District to implement the local content policy which provides for the employment of community people in operation areas in the district. He nonetheless called on youths in Kono District to acquire technical skills that will make them competent to apply for technical jobs.
Vice President Jalloh thanked Paramount Chief Saquee for his development initiative to construct the multi-purpose hall, buttressing that PC Saquee is a development oriented person. Vice President Jalloh noted that part of the new local government policy is to put PCs at the doorstep of development on behalf of their subjects, adding that the policy gears towards empowering chiefdom councils to have access to Chiefdom Development Fund and embarked on development activities. Dr. Jalloh elaborated that the reason the central government initiated the idea of increasing fund to the chiefdom development committee is to put chiefdom councils at the forefront of development in the chiefdoms.
Koidu New Sembehun City Mayor Mathew Komba Sam described the occasion as a happy moment for the municipality. He maintained that the opening of the hall will solve the constraint the city was facing to host large gathering.
Paramount Chief Paul Garber Saquee (v) of Tankoro Chiefdom thanked the chiefdom administration for their supportive role towards the construction project. Giving an overview of the project, PC Saquee stated that the construction project started with eight-five million Leones. He commended partners and individuals for their financial support. PC Saquee noted that the multi-purpose hall is a demonstration of the enormous contribution Paramount Chiefs can make if given the resources. Mines Minister-Timothy Kabba, Tamba Lamina-Minister of Local Government, and Emerson Lamina also lauded the effort of the Tankoro Chiefdom Administration. The multi-purpose hall was officially opened on Saturday 4th September, 2021.
