January 13, 2022
By: Dadson A. Musa
At a one-week session organized by the Sierra Leone Labor Congress in the conference room of hotel 5:10 on Wednesday, 12th January 2022, new Minister of Western Region, Nabeela Tunis spoke about the functions of the new ministry.
She further expressed passion regarding her work. She told the gathering that the ministry is “38% technical and 20 % administrative.”
The minister reveals the composition of her the ministry informing that there is a regional coordinator and deputy. She disclosed that she works hard to minimize expenditure without compromising effectiveness.
Madam Tunis said that the job of the ministry is to provide political leadership for the two councils; Freetown City Council and Western Area Rural District Council. She dispelled rumours that the ministry was created for purely political reason so that the SLPP government can lord it over the two APC councils.
She maintained that to succeed she has decided to collaborate with these two councils through dialogue. The ministry, she went on, has as its core mission the provision of a viable socio-economic climate in the western region.
The minister explained that those negative perspectives about the ministry by some members of the public have been turned into positives.
The Minister said she started with volunteers initially until funds were finally allocated to them by central government.
“I talk with Mayor Aki Sawyer officially and unofficially and the same goes for chairman of WARDC, Kasho Rolland Cole”, she revealed.
“The other important function of the ministry is to facilitate and support Ministries Departments and Agencies as they are all found within her region. Another urgent need of the ministry is to ensure the sufficient provision of water and electricity to residents as they are central to living in the city”, she explained.
She noted that she is proud to have started with nothing in the ministry but is now getting somewhere and making impact.
In closing, she gave a background of herself; education, work, family and experience.