President Ernest Bai Koroma has pledged to implement the recommendations of the Sierra Leone Conference on Development and Transformation (SLCDT) Report that was presented to him Monday by the SLCDT Secretariat at his Hill Station Lodge.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Koroma said his government “will soon set up whatever structure is recommended to ensure the work is done without delay and as a way of keeping the momentum.” He urged the media to undertake nation-wide education about the contents of the report so that the “people can bring the government to book”, adding that he would do what it takes to implement the recommendations without delay.
He praised the conference secretariat staff for their “hard work” in bringing to reality what “started as a dream.” He said that “we should be able to use the report as a guide towards the transformation of Sierra Leone to a middle income country in 25 years and a donor nation in 50 years.” The President commended the wide consultations organised across the country and was glad that it involved all Sierra Leoneans. “It is our responsibility as leaders to comply with the demands of the people,” he added.
The conference Coordinator, Herbet Mcleod said from the outset, the secretariat and all its support groups “believed in the vision articulated by the President regarding the future development of the county.” Mcleod said the document would be “widely circulated to schools, libraries and other institutions where everybody will have access to them.”
Earlier, the State House Chief of Staff, Dr. Kelfala Marah described the SLCDT team as “brilliant and excellent people who have produced a very encouraging blue print for the transformation of Sierra Leone to a middle income country.”
The SLCDT report, recommends among other things, the passing of the Freedom of Information Bill by Parliament, taking concrete steps to entrench the rule of law in Sierra Leone, the immediate rolling out of a pilot mass literacy program, and a moratorium on new mining leases.
The report was presented to the President after five months of research and nationwide-wide consultations and validation.
In January, the main opposition, Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party dismissed the process as a waste of resources and a political gimmick geared toward enhancing ahead of the November polls, President Koroma’s re-election bid for a second term.
Ordinary Sierra Leoneans who spoke to Politico welcomed the President’s initiative but expressed doubts over the implementation of the recommendations like others in the past.
