By Prince J. Musa in Kenema
The Kenema City Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with three radio stations in Kenema.
Addressing the managers of the three stations, the Chief Administrator of Kenema City Council Joseph Gando disclosed that since he assumed office seven months ago he has discovered big gaps between the Council and the media in Kenema and as administration he wants to bridge that vacuum fully aware that the “council wouldn’t succeed without the cooperation of the media’’.
He stated that the Council wants to use the media to disseminate some key information about its activities for the benefit of the public, especially in the areas of waste management and revenue mobilization. He said Council is keen about the cleanliness and promoting socio –economic development in areas such as health and economic development.
Gando said waste management needs more public sensitization and that they will use the radio to inform the populace about rules and regulations and penalties that will follow. He admitted the council has not been enforcing those laws and would now ensure more public education is rolled out through use of the media.
He spoke about the revenue mobilization efforts of the council and believed the people will see the need to pay their taxes when valuable information from the institution was transmitted to them using the media.
The chief administrator further told the radio station heads that the engagement will look at the root causes of the collapse of the relationship between the council and the media during the past administration.
‘’We are working to ensure digital stamps among other projects, come next year’’ he disclosed.
He said the council will also establish electronic information systems that will market council’s development projects and highlight challenges in areas that need help.
Mohamed S Mansaray of Kambui Radio confirmed to the council that the engagement was timely as the MOU that was signed with the previous administration was not successful. “We were faced difficulty in terms of payment after performing our own assignment’’, said Mansaray.
He stated that the council need to build confidence on tax payers how council uses their money through the media with tangible development pointers so that people will continue to pay their taxes.
James P Samai of state radio SLBC said council has a huge task to transform the mindset of the people, saying people have different perception about the council and it’s time to change the narrative. He assured of the media’s readiness to serve the people and work with the office.
He affirmed the support and the full cooperation of the management of the SLBC to work with the Kenema city council in achieving their developmental goals in terms of service delivery.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 12/03/21
