COPPP organizes open community dialogue

Politics

Sierra Leone: Representatives from a Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPPP) over the weekend organized an open community dialogue session held at Culture Radio’s, NEGUS NAGAS conference hall along the Regent, Grafton highway.

The session which was aired on Culture Radio, ‘Wetin de Mona You’ programme brought together members of 13 out of the 17 registered political parties in the Country, including some residents around the Grafton community and its surroundings to have open discussions with questions on a range of governance issues members of the consortium are concerned with, which also are trending topics in the public.

Welcoming guests, interim Chair of COPPP, Femi Claudius Cole who is also leader of the Unity Party (UP) explained to the audience that members of 13 political parties came together to form a consortium as a result of several issues especially policies and Acts developed by government and to be passed into law by Parliament, which she says the consortium believes will later infringe on and affect citizens’ rights. She hastened to debunk rumours that the COPPP wants to be recognized reason being that most of the political parties that make up the consortium did not do well in the 2018 elections and are not represented in local council, parliament or part of the executive. Madam Cole added that members of the 13 political parties have different party ideologies, but all of them have one goal and that is to make Sierra Leone a better place on earth through constructive criticism without bias using a nationalistic lens, in order to put government on its toes with regards its manifesto promises made to the nation before the 2018 elections.

Several issues since the SLPP came into governance were highlighted and dilated on with four main issues which were at the centre of the open discussion, which include the Mid-Term Census, Cyber Crime bill, Mayors, Chairmen and Councilors should not contest local council elections on a party ticket, and the proposed Fish Harbor at Black Johnson. Alhaji Amadu Sheriff, Secretary-General of the NGC informed the gathering that for too long politicians have failed the people of Sierra Leone and with the good manifesto presented by the SLPP, it is expected that the government will be a listening institution that will bring hope to the people, instead of coming up with laws that will also affect them and posterity after leaving governance. He added that three official letters from COPPP have been sent to the Office of the President requesting for audience, but to date the Governance Advisor has given no official reply to meet with the President.

Speaker after speaker including Wadi Williams, Chairman of the NDP recognized the fact that economies around the world are finding it difficult to survive, but through commitment and patriotism, despite the COVID-19 those governments have been able to lift heads above waters and also lend a hand of support to developing countries, including Sierra Leone. “In Sierra Leone when citizens constructively put the different arms of governance to check for transparency and accountability to its people, you are considered as an enemy of progress despite one is speaking the truth about issues on bad agreements with foreign governments and companies, that only benefit a few instead of the majority”, Williams noted.

After almost two hours of frank discussions interacting with the audience, some were apprehensive while others were not with regards to the agreement of establishing a fish harbor at Black Johnson in the Western Area Peninsula, a place very ideal for eco-tourism to thrive, equally contributing to the country’s GDP. On this issue Susan Williams’s treasurer of COPPP displayed sample of the sand at black Johnson explaining that from discussions with a renowned geologist, there is possibility of platinum and ore deposits in the area and suggested that the Ministry of Fisheries not rush into an agreement but rather wait for the results and official report from the Ariel geology survey conducted by government through the National Minerals Agency. “$55 Million Dollars may sound huge, but let us don’t mortgage the future of posterity for a harbor that will in future cause huge environmental damage to both human and the fish reserve in the country”, Susan appealed.

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