As Eviction Notice Hangs Over Them… Boys Scouts celebrate 100 Years

The Sierra Leone Scout Association is one hundred years old this year since it was started in Sierra Leone by a Grammar school British teacher in 1909. The Association got the legal backing of government with the enactment of the Scouting Act by the Sierra Leone parliament in 1963. Speaking to press men at the National Headquarters at Tower Hill, the Public Relations Officer of SLSA Alhaji Saidu Kamara said the purpose of the scout movement is to contribute to the social and mental development of the individual. He however noted that the association has been stifled by leaders who have no vision for scouting in the country.
Mohamed Lamin a Scout leader said that the Sierra Leone Scout Association is among the 160 national scout Associations in the world. He revealed that they can now boast of over twelve thousand members in the Sierra Leone Scout Association. In spite of the number the Association is faced with numerous problems ranging from structural to leadership. Among a list of problems highlighted were: The continuous absence of the annual general meeting since it was last held in 2006, lack of coordination among leaders within the Association, lack of attractive programs and the most pressing problem now at hand is the notice given to the Association by the Ministry of Works to quit the land they have been occupying as their head quarters since 1963.
Even the building the Association is currently using as its Head Quarters is an out dated structure that is dilapidated and unequipped. It is not in any way fit to be the Head Quarters of a reputable Association like the SLSA.
Scouter Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, the Adult Resource Commissioner made certain recommendations as follows: that the Boys Scout Act be changed to The Sierra Leone Scouts Association Act because scouts now constitute women and adult; there is need for training of trainers, the holding of the much anticipated Annual General meeting to hold election of leaders and above all for government to provide a suitable location to relocate the Head Quarter.