By Augustine Sankoh – Strategic Communications Analyst MBSSE
The Executive Director of the Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) and the Chairperson of National Elections Watch (NEW) Mrs Marcella Samba Sesay has stated that the introduction of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) in 2018 has refocused and recalibrated the hearts and minds of Sierra Leoneans to the importance and value of Education.
She made this statement on Friday 2nd September 2022 during the unveiling of a new building at the Saint Joseph’s Secondary School named after a former principal of the school, Florence Dillsworth of blessed memory, an additional structure to help return the school to single shift.
“Thanks Your Excellency Julius Maada Bio for this inspiration. At a personal level and a student and practitioner of governance and politics all my life, the greatest achievement of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) launched in 2018 and coincided with this vision (returning the school to single shift), is the level of awareness on the value of education refocusing and recalibrating the hearts and minds of Sierra Leoneans to the importance and value of education that has been in sharp decline and on the road to nothingness which many political analysts call decadence,” she said.
Explaining the purpose of the gathering a senior ex-pupil of the school, Professor Miriam Conteh-Morgan, said in October 2020 they laid the foundation for the construction of this beautiful edifice, noting that notwithstanding the challenges of accessing funds, there were high hopes for the project to be completed.
She said the initiative for the construction of the building was to synchronise the two shifts system to one quality education shift system.
Proprietors of the school, His Grace the Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles, said they were grateful to His Excellency the President and the First Lady for making time out of their busy schedules to open the building, adding that it showed commitment to education.
He also commended the ex-pupils of various chapters for their commitment to ensuring that their collective dream was realised.
Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, said because of President Bio’s vision for quality education in the country there had been an addition of over 1 million pupils that had been enrolled in various schools under the Free Quality Education initiative.
First Lady Madam Fatima Bio, who is an alumnus of the school, described the occasion as one that needed to be celebrated, noting that President Bio’s focus on education was not political but intentional because he believed that that was the only way to sustainable development.
She further thanked the President for his numerous support to education policies, adding that that was why she brought her own support for girls through the “Hands Of Our Girls” project, which also covered the provision of sanitary pads for girls.
She ended by donating 300 chairs and tables to the school while encouraging them to do more and assured the girls of another distribution of sanitary pads by end of September 2022.
ACC URGES RAIC STAFF TO AVOID CORRUPTION
The Public Education and Outreach Unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) Northeast Office on 1st September, 2022, encouraged staff of the Right to Access Information Commission (RAIC) to hold fast to their mandate and spurn corruption. This urge was conveyed to the RAIC staff in a customized meeting which, among other strategies, is an ACC prevention approach employed to engage public officers on the insidious effects of corruption and the need for a collective effort to combat the threat.
Making the keynote address at the engagement, which was held at RAIC’s office on Mabanta Road in Makeni, Senior Public Education Officer, Abdul Karim Bangura, highlighted ACC’s staunch stance on fighting all forms of corruption.
He added that the ACC is always ready to partner with as many institutions as possible to promote transparency and accountability within the public sector. This effort, he stressed, is a strategy in the ACC’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy Action Plan (2019-2023).
The Senior Officer also stated that the ACC expects all public sector actors to properly utilize public resources and take responsibility for their actions, not least in the context of fighting against corruption. Thus, he implored the RAIC workers to ensure that their conduct at work invariably bears them out as credible public officers. ‘The way to get it right and abstain from corruption is to strive to uphold integrity at all times,’ Bangura averred.
In his contribution, ACC Resident Prosecutor, Timothy P. M. Sowa, drew the attention of the RAIC staff to the law against corruption. The Prosecutor revealed that milestone reforms have been promulgated to punish persons who have been found guilty of corruption. Referring to the 2019 Amended Anti-Corruption Act, the lawyer disclosed that besides a minimum fine of 50,000 New Leones and/or a minimum prison term of 5 years, the law provides, among other things, for prosecution in absentia and powers vested in the ACC Commissioner to rescind any contracts he considers not being in the interest of the citizens.
He further disclosed that the Amended Act criminalizes examination malpractice, and that on the 13th July, 2022 the High Court of Makeni convicted Foday Sulaiman Bangura on one count of engaging in Academic Malpractice, contrary to Section 128 (3) of the Act aforementioned. The convict was sentenced to pay a fine of 50,000 Leones or serve a five-year imprisonment term. The legal practitioner concluded that laws against corruption would be applied without fear or favor in pursuit of justice for the public. ‘I encourage all at RAIC to refrain from corruption always’,’ he concluded.
Furthermore, the RAIC staff were updated on the recent recovery of 180,904, 803 in the old Leones from the Freetown City Council.
ACC Public Education Officer, Aiah Sourie, explained that the cash which was captured in the 2019 Auditor General’s Report was paid to the Head of the Mayor’s Delivery Unit in contravention of the provisions of the Local Government Act of 2004.
Officer Sourie confirmed that the non-conviction-based asset recovery mechanism has proven an effective way of getting misappropriated public funds paid back without any major difficulty.
In his response, Abu Bakarr Kargbo, RAIC’s Commissioner in the region, thanked the ACC for the engagement, saying that he would want the two Commissions to work closely in the advancement of transparency and accountability in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The Commissioner added that some heads of public institutions in the region would always take umbrage at his executing the mandate of the RAIC. ‘ I hope that this behavior will change, whilst collaborating with the ACC,’ he said with hope.
The RAIC came into being by an Act of Parliament in October 2013, as a result of ten years of strong advocacy campaign by a coalition of Civil Society Organizations in and out of the country. And Government’s decision is consistent with Article 9 of the African Charter which provides for the right to seek, receive, and impact information and ideas through media sources. RAIC is therefore mandated to enforce the release of information held by public authorities.
The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session.