By Kemo Cham
The Kombra Network, the community engagement arm of the NGO FOCUS 1000, has turned to tribal leaders for support in the fight against the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
The Kombra Network, which comprises religious leaders, traditional healers, market women, civil society and the media, uses community engagement strategy to dialogue and promote community participation in socio-cultural and development issues. The group convened a forum with the Western Area Tribal Heads, through the United National Communities Development Association Sierra Leone (UNCDASL) last week where officials stressed the role of traditional leaders in the national response efforts of the pandemic.
The UNCDASL comprises 16 tribal heads. They were all brought together in the conference hall of the Catco Hotel in Freetown on Thursday, 25 June, 2020.
FOCUS 1000, a leading local NGO advocating for quality and affordable healthcare for particularly women and children under five. It strives to ensure that children and young people achieve their fullest potentials by facilitating maximum community participation, ownership and sustainability of programs geared towards the enhancement of their livelihoods and quality of life.
In his keynote address at the event, Chief Executive Officer of FOCUS 1000, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, said the fight against Covid-19 required the participation of everyone, noting that traditional authorities are crucial to ensure this given their influence on their subjects.
Jalloh said there was an urgent need for action to halt the spread of the virus in the country where the pandemic has not only destroyed lives, but was also destroying livelihoods, education and agriculture, among others.
“We know the chiefs are playing their role, but it will be more powerful when we come together as one body,” Mr Jalloh said, while pledging his organization’s commitment to work in partnership with the tribal leaders in this endeavor.
Jalloh specifically highlighted the need to encourage the use of face mask, a major recommendation by health experts as a way of stemming the spread of the virus. He also cited the need to promote hand washing, another key infection prevention control measure in the Covid-19 fight.
In his statement welcoming the participants, chairman of the United National Communities Development Council, Alhaji Issa Catco Kamara, who is also the President of the Themne Community Development Council, explained that the objective of the organization is to bring people together and foster peace and national development. Mr Koroma said the Covid-19 pandemic posed a threat to national development, which made their role in the national response effort important as an organization.
Chief Matthew Jibao Young, the Mende Tribal Head and Secretary General of the Council of Tribal Head Western Area, stressed the need to counter a prevailing syndrome of denial and politicking, which he said was hindering the fight against the pandemic.
Mr Young drew an example from the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic which he said was quickly defeated when the people accepted the reality around it and united against.
To attain this with Covid-19, Mr Young suggested that health messages be adopted in the various local languages, among other measures, noting that while it appears that everybody hears Krio, there is a problem of understanding it for many.
Dr. Ramadan Jalloh, National Chairman of the Kombra Network and Corrdinator of the Islamic Action Group (ISLAG), made a presentation from a Quranic perspective in the fight against the pandemic. His colleague, Rev. Daniel Sesay of the Christian Action Group (CHRISTAG), also gave a presentation from Biblical point of view about the pandemic and what’s expected of the faithful in efforts to end its transmission.
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