UN peace building mission ends visit to Makeni

The United Nations Peace building Commission has concluded a tour of the northern headquarter towns of Makeni and Magburaka to get first hand information on the status of the country’s peace building process.
The delegation, which was composed of ambassadors from the Netherlands, Croatia, Guinea, Ghana and Angola, was led by the permanent representative of the Netherlands to the UN Franck Mayor.
At the Makeni police headquarters at Mena, officers demonstrated a crowd control tactic after which the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Christopher John, outlined some of the constraints they were facing to effectively carry out their duties.
He said, “the police force is well prepared to man the security affairs of the country but needs to be equally equipped with modern equipment”.
The delegation was led on a conducted tour by the SLP and the UN Team in the northern region to Magburaka to asses the condition of the latter’s prison facilities and then to the magistrate court.
During the visit several issues were highlighted such as the acquisition of modern equipment to help build the capacity of the SLP, the inadequate facility of the Magburaka prisons such as access to clean water and electricity supply and the quality of the judicial system to help cement the peace.
The permanent representative of the Netherlands to the UN, Frank Mayor in an interview with Awoko, said he was very much impressed with the progress that had been made in the country after the war, adding that “there is still a lot to be done,” and that he was quite impressed with the exercise carried out by the police.
Ambassador Frank Mayor stated that the reason they were here in Sierra Leone was to see how best they could use their outfit to help the country to be stable and secure.
“We have had series of meetings with top government officials, members of the civil society and the UN family to know what the problems are in the country and to further discuss with bilateral and multilateral donors to see how best they can assist,” he averred.