The APC manifesto has said that with good water supply, Sierra Leoneans will be free from water borne diseases. Sierra Leone is a tropical country blessed with high levels of rainfall yet we are unable to provide safe drinking water to the vast majority of our people.
In spite of the abundance of this resource, we are faced with the following: lack of and unreliable supply of portable water to all urban and rural communities. Absence and deficient treatment plants and lack of safe drinking water for the vast majority of our people.
The challenge of a new APC government is therefore: to harness and manage the available water resources efficiently so that the majority of our people are provided with pipe borne and safe drinking water at all times.
Construct dams for irrigation and hydro-electric energy and cut down on water borne diseases by introducing water and sanitation programmes throughout the country.
In government, we shall achieve these by: putting in place water management programmes under which communities shall be provided with hand dug-wells, boreholes or piped system accordingly.
Prioritizing the rehabilitation and construction of water supply to vital establishments like hospitals, schools and other public institutions.
Ensuring that educational programmes cover the vital elements of water and sanitation. Reactivating the World Bank rehabilitation support project to ensure delivery of safe drinking water throughout the municipality.
The true mark of any democracy can be measured by its citizens’ commitment to the supremacy of the rule of law. This supremacy dictates that justice will be dispensed with fairness and citizens will have access to redress if there is any doubt as to the fair application of the law.
The inequitable applications of the law and the lack of fair access to the judicial system have been some of the reasons that have contributed to undermining the rule of law in Sierra Leone.
The ability of the judiciary to properly dispense with justice has been handicapped by: political interference and extremely unattractive salaries and poor conditions of service and corruption.
When in government, the APC will: establish clear procedures to ensure an independent, impartial and autonomous judiciary.
Separate the offices of the minister of justice and that of the attorney-general and ensure expeditious dispensation of justice.
Our government will achieve these by: ensuring a proper functioning of the judicial system by discouraging political interference in all spheres of governance including the Anti-Corruption Commission which shall be given the power to prosecute.
Setting up special rapid response courts that will adjudicate in land issues, small claims courts, to settle disputes which otherwise have created bottle-necks in the legal system.
Supporting the work of the Law Reform Commission, the justice sector development programme and other reformatory institutions to review laws that have no relevance in today’s Sierra Leone.
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