By Joseph Lamin Kamara
Officials of the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation have been trying to quell a row over the legal status of the organisation which was launched last month under a storm of protest from the Ministry of Children's Affairs which accused the chairman of the foundation Julius Maada Bio of defying government directives.
In a letter written to the Foundation, the ministry called the organisation "unregistered" asking that the launch be deferred until it had followed "necessary procedures..to rectify this anomaly."
In an interview with Politico, Bio described the ministry's letter as "unfortunate and misguided at a time like this." He said "petty things like this" should not come up when the country "is having a crisis like Ebola."
Bio said that when he went to the Registrar General’s office for registration "nobody told me to go to the ministry." He said it would have been a simple task for him to go to the ministry, but "I did not know. They should have informed me at the Registrar General’s office." He said he was only trying to help the children of Sierra Leone because, "I value education."
The 2012 opposition presidential candidate said the ministry’s letter was already on the internet before it reached his office. "It's a political stunt," he said.
He said the letter requesting him to postpone the launch of his Foundation did not reach his office until the 27 August, "the same day the Foundation was launched." Bio alleged that the minister’s move was an attempt to frustrate his efforts, adding that he had acquired certificates of registration, "and that was the most important thing at that moment" at a time when unity was required against Ebola, and not to "frustrate people’s efforts" in that direction.
Reacting to Bio's accusation that the ministry's letter requesting him to postpone the launch of the organisation was published on the internet before it reached his office, the minister, Moijueh Kaikai, said "that’s not my business." He said he did not honour Mr Bio’s invitation to speak at the launch because his ministry was disrespected.
Kaikai said "registering the Foundation with the ministry is more important than with the Registrar General’s office." He went on to say that he had expected Bio to meet and discuss issues with him before the launch, adding that he was only trying to help the Foundation achieve "credibility as all others have done before."
Kaikai said that if the Foundation encountered any problems during the course of its interactions with children and women anywhere, they would be subject to the laws governing those issues and that his ministry was the custodian of those laws.
The children’s affairs minister said if Bio had come to the ministry for registration it would "take him less than an hour to do everything."
Up to press time there was no indication that Bio had complied with the ministry's directive.
(C) Politico 18/09/14
