By Mabinty M. Kamara
President Julius Maada Bio on Monday inaugurated a newly constructed technical and vocational training center for wives of police personnel at the Kingtom Police Barracks.
The facility, which also has an administrative building, is the first of its kind ever and is designed to ensure wives of police personnel are self-reliant.
The project is the brainchild of Olga Maria Moigbe, wife of Richard Moigbeh who is the Inspector General of Police. She is the President of the Sierra Leone Police Wives Association. The center also had the backing and support of First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio who joined her husband to inaugurate the project.
The facility has an eight-classroom block, eight toilets and an administrative building for the work of the Association. It is also equipped with learning materials relevant to the different courses to be offered there.
During the inauguration ceremony, President Julius Maada Bio praised the efforts of the police women in embarking on the venture, noting that it was in line with his government’s vision of improving the human capital of the country.
“We stand for education as it relates to comprehensive human capital development. You cannot just limit yourself to pure academic work,” Bio said.
“You are now going to impact various skills into the women, therefore you are now going to empower them for financial security. The police have done a great job. We cannot pay you for such a great job,” he added.
Olga Maria Moigbe, President of the Association, said the new facility would give women the chance to learn skills that decrease their dependence on the salaries of their police husbands.
“The motivation for the construction of this building is to empower the less-privileged wives and female children of police officers. The building does not only solve the economic needs, but [also] the social needs of the association. The goal is to offer adult literacy and vocational training classes to empower them and eventually give them adequate skills to be financially independent,” she said.
According to Mrs Moigbe, the building was constructed with funds raised by the association and other citizens.
“I am proud to tell you, Your Excellency that this work we are celebrating today was done by Sierra Leoneans. This goes to show that as Sierra Leoneans, we can do things to improve our country,” she stressed.
Following the opening of the building, the center hopes to offer training in areas like cooking and tailoring. Adult literacy is also part of the curriculum.
First Lady Fatima Bio expressed joy at how much the facility would mean for women within the force.
“Today, the police wives will proudly say they have their own [facility] where they are dignified, and nobody will tell them where to go. You can learn as you want, you can actualize your dream. No country will prosper if you leave 51% of the population behind,” she said, referring to the population of women as contained in the 2015 Population and Housing Census.
The beneficiaries sang and danced. Sounding excited and wiping sweat and tears of joy, one of them who gave her name only as Fatu said: “this is a dream come true”. She said she would try to learn some skills and “become more useful to myself and my family”.
© 2019 Politico Online
