Resident Magistrate in Bombali District, His Worship Magistrate Mustapha Braima-Jah, has sentenced 5 accused persons who were before the court for Riotous Conduct contrary to Section 12 (i) of the Public Order Act No. 46 of 1965 and Disorderly Behaviour contrary to Section 12 (c) of the Public Order Act No. 46 of 1965 as repealed and replaced by Section 12(a) of Act No. 15 of 1973.
According to the Particulars of Offence, Ali Tarawallie of No. 51 Masuba Road, Amadu Williams of New England, Umaru Fornah of No. 1 Kamara Street, Alpha Kargbo-Back of Benevolent School and Ibrahim Morlai Turay of No. 21 Lady’s Mile in Makeni City on Monday, 27th June 2022 within Makeni Township in Shebora Chiefdom in the Bombali Judicial District in the Northern Province rioted and behaved in a disorderly manner.
The accused persons pleaded guilty and asked for mercy.
In his remarks before delivering the sentence, His Worship Magistrate Braima-Jah said bike riding is not a bad trade but the action of the riders have degenerated into an ugly situation that should be properly addressed for the peace and security of the District.
“I therefore sentence as follows; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th convicts are sentenced to twelve months on Count 1 and twelve Months on Count 2,” said Magistrate Mustapha Braima-Jah, stressing that, “two years imprisonment for both counts and sentencing shall run consecutively. I so order.”
Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh Salutes Liberian Colleague
The Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on Tuesday 28th June, 2022 welcomed the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, Madam Jewel Howard-Taylor to the country on behalf of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, the Government and people of Sierra Leone.
Welcoming the Liberian Vice President, VP Juldeh Jalloh said it was a pleasure to have her in Sierra Leone although she is an invited guest of the First Lady, Madam Fatima Maada Bio, to attend the African Conference of Health and Sexual Rights in Freetown, it is also a solidarity visit that link the two countries together.
He used the opportunity to express his gratitude to the Liberian Vice President for hosting him in Monrovia which he described as the most rousing welcome he has ever received in all his overseas visits. He stressed the excellent relationship between the two countries and how the visit will help to cement it further.
The Liberian Vice President, Madam Jewel Taylor thanked the Vice President and Government for the exceptional welcome she and her delegation received since they touched down in Gendema.
She expressed her admiration for the good work the government is doing and the campaign of the First Lady to promote girls’ rights. The Liberian Vice President will be in Sierra Leone for four days and will engage various stakeholders in the country including women groups and Parliament.
RMFA gives 22 Motorbikes to Local Councils
By Yusufu Sesay
Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA) on Tuesday 28th June, 2022 officially handed over twenty-two (22) motorbikes to all the Local Councils in the country in a ceremony held at the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) compound at Government Wharf in Freetown.
The donation of the motorbikes is to aid the supervision, monitoring and evaluation activities of all RMFA’s feeder road maintenance programmes under the purview of the twenty-two (22) Local Councils.
The institution under the current Board, Management and Staff has intensified the actualization of its mandate of establishment in 2010 by an Act of Parliament for the maintenance of the overall national road network.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of RMFA, Mr. Bashirr Sheriff, said the RMFA’s mandate is very clear: to mobilize resources and make them available for the maintenance of the overall national road network to ensure value for money in all road maintenance programmes given to its implementing partners, the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) and twenty two local councils.
He said the objective of setting up RMFA is to create an independent administration that will ensure proper, efficient, economic and sustainable management of the road funds dedicated to the maintenance of national road networks.
The Deputy CEO said RMFA procured the motorbikes for supervising, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially in far-to-reach terrains. He furthered expressed optimism that the judicious use of the motorbikes would ensure strict adherence to the implementation plan and, by extension, improve the overall performance of the Local Councils.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Tamba John Lamina in his statement lauded the efforts of RMFA in fulfilling its mandate for the maintenance of national road networks.
According to the Minister, the scorecards highlighted by the Deputy CEO of the institution have clearly explained that the institution is performing its functions for His Excellency President Brig. (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio to succeed in actualizing his vision to connect one locality to another nationwide. The Local Government Minister said the President’s vision is to strengthen Local Councils with development partners in a bid to enhance national development.
Tamba J. Lamina underscored the importance of having good roads to enhance agricultural activities, access to market, education, medical care amongst others.
Speaker after speaker, including representatives from SLRA, civil society groups, ministries of Works and Finance lavished praises and appreciated the RMFA for effectively performing its mandate nationally.
Africa sexual health and rights underway in Freetown
The 10th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights, convened by the African Federation for Sexual Health and Rights and hosted by Purposeful Sierra Leone in partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone, on Monday 27th June, 2022 opened at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, with a Youth Pre-Conference, held under the theme “Accelerating the Elimination of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Africa.”
Speaking at the official opening of the event, UNFPA Representative to Sierra Leone, Ms. Nadia Rasheed said UNFPA is committed to work with stakeholders including governments, civil society; youth led organisations towards accelerating progress to end gender-based violence and in creating spaces for young people’s voices to be heard on all issues affecting them.
Ms. Rasheed said, in line with its transformative agenda of accelerating progress towards ending gender based violence, UNFPA was proud to be co-sponsoring the conference and to support the participation of more than 175 young people.
“This conference is an incredible opportunity to connect with other young people and with distinguished experts and decision makers from across the continent. It’s an opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills, to be exposed to different perspectives, and to fuel your advocacy on the issues that you are most passionate about,” she told the over 350 participants drawn from across 41 African countries.
Ms. Rasheed noted that Africa is home to 130 million girls and women who were married in childhood, 140 million girls and women who have undergone FGM, and 40 million girls who have experienced both of these harmful practices” but that despite efforts and commitments to end gender based violence, it remains a serious issue, hindering young people from reaching their full potential.
Officially opening the conference, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Youth Affairs, Hon. Mohamed Orman Bangura indicated that now is the time to invest in young people and promote dialogue and understanding across cultures and generations that would advance human rights for all people. “To ensure that development policies work for everyone, we must use human rights as our foundation. We must promote and protect the human rights of all young people, especially the most vulnerable ones,” Minister Bangura said.
He called on leaders to listen to the voices of young people and invest in them and ensure they become part of all decision-making processes. “It is time to carry the voices of young people forward to the United Nations Summit in September, where leaders will review progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” Minister Bangura said.
Also speaking at the event was Chernor Bah, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Purposeful Sierra Leone and Conference Host. “We are a feminist organization. It was exactly because of moment like this that Purposeful was put together. We believe in young people. We are particularly excited by the fact that almost half of the delegates would be young people who are leading the change, and who are the reason that we started Purposeful as an organization,” Bah said.
The conference brings together Civil Society, Governments, UN Agencies, human rights activists and development partners for a dialogue on a common approach to ending violence against women and girls in Africa.
