By Prince J Musa in Kenema
Chief Minister, Professor David Francis, has told political appointees who hail from Kenema District that President Julius Maada Bio will not be blamed if Kenema is not developed because he has appointed a lot of people to national positions who are from the district.
Professor Francis was speaking to political stakeholders over the weekend, where he urged them to “step up” with development efforts in the district.
The meeting last week brought together political leaders from the district to discuss ways forward for its development.
The Chief Minister said in his address: “we will not blame President Bio if Kenema is not developed; he has done his own by giving a lot of appointments from Kenema district.”
He added: “For us to talk about a new Kenema, its desires a collective dedication and support from all of us. Our people will blame us in positions of trust if we fail to facilitate development for Kenema City and the district.”
Kenema district has challenges with road and other infrastructure, something which most people from the district blamed on the former administration of Ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma.
Kenema is a stronghold of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP). Since the party won the general elections in 2018 a lot of government appointees come from the district, occasioning renewed hope of massive development for its crumbling infrastructure.
The engagement with the stakeholders included discussions on the establishment of the university trust fund, the road network, the construction of a party secretariat and agriculture.
The university trust fund is directly linked to the Eastern Polytechnic, the eastern region’s highest tertiary institution. The district has been fighting for years for a university status.
The meeting also came at a time when lecturers of the college have been on strike for conditions of service for over a month now.
Last week the Assistant Secretary General of the Senior Staff Association at the college, Anthony Kamara, said in a meeting with civil society leaders that government had a backlog of 20 months’ salary for them.
Responding to the strike action, Francis said: “For the Polytechnic strike action it is a concern to look into it and by the week coming we will deliberate on the lecturers’ concerns. A lot has been done to address the strike.”
He added: “We will sit down on the negotiation table with lecturers and council head to talk on the Eastern polytechnic strike action. The ministry of finance has done some financial disbursement to the polytechnics.”
Whiles giving an update about the status of the college’s aim to be a university, the head of the University Trust Fund, Dr. Mohamed Kombo Kamanda, said the final phase of inspection and agreement will be done in the coming months.
“At all cost, a university will come to Kenema to improve higher learning,” Dr Kamanda said.
“A team from the ministry of higher education, NASSIT and the contractors, including the land owning families, will be together for final discussions. Land site for the hostels will also be visited to agree with the land owners,” he added.
The Board Chairman of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Jospeh Keifala, a native of Kenema himself, pledged Le 50 million in support of the university project.
But whiles all this was going on, a grassroots member of the SLPP in the district was skeptical and he told Politico that things need to change drastically.
Joseph Karimu Sannoh, a zonal executive member of SLPP said: “this is no time for too much talking, but time for action. People need to see it (development) physically.”
Sannoh added: “SLPP we are good at planning but the implementation is slow. As a party, it seems we are stronger in opposition than in governance. Let us move from diplomatic politics and do actual African politics for our people.”
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