By Mabinty M. Kamara
The General Assembly of the West Africa Road Safety Organization hosted by Sierra Leone to discuss measures at ensuring road safety in the West African Sub-region will end today 8th October 2021. The conference held at the Freetown International Conference Centre was organized by the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.
The 10th General Meeting held on the theme, “mainstreaming Road Safety in West Africa through regional integration”, was aimed at mapping a regional approach to addressing road safety challenges.
In his statement at the conference on Thursday 7th October 2021, Sierra Leone’s Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Michael Sovula said road safety was a national concern as it is essential for national development and growth. However, he said it continues to threaten human lives.
He noted that in 2019 for example, the Sierra Leone Police recorded 3,691 (three thousand six hundred and ninety-one) road crashes with fatalities, out of a total of 75,729 (seventy-five thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine) cases recorded. Therefore, he said the integration of West Africa to address road safety issues was timely and necessary.
The IGP noted that three factors; human, mechanical and infrastructure have always been the leading causes of road crashes and that 80 percent of these crashes were as a result of violation of traffic regulations.
Therefore, he said a multi-lateral and a multi-sectorial approach should not be seen as a business of the government. He admitted that road safety issues cannot be addressed without the active involvement of other stakeholders like the drivers’ union, whilst the pedestrians are not enlightened on road use.
In his statement, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Internal Affairs, David Panda-Noah assured of the Political will to ensure road safety in Sierra Leone and pledged government’s support towards WASO in ensuring road safety in West Africa.
However, the Minister noted that for regional integration to be successful, the language barrier must be bridged between the Francophone and Anglophone countries in the region.
In her statement, the WASO President, Diaji Sacko noted that member states of West Africa have recognized road safety as a major challenge in the region that needs to be addressed immediately. “We have observed that all functional organizations existing in Africa have manifested their strengths to be in charge of the socio- economic consequences of road accident,” she said.
One of the leading figures in WASO Engineer May Obiri- Yeboah , a Ghanaian national was recognized for her outstanding contribution to road safety in West Africa by being crowned Ambassador for road safety in the region.
Transition of power to a new President of WASO and a tour round Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone will climax the event that began in earnest on Monday 4th October, 2021.
Copyright © Politico Online 08/10/21
