June 10, 2021
By: Hassan A Sesay (Kabala)
As the time for registration and confirmation is getting closer in Falaba district, which marks the cuttings of the ten days exercise in the Northern part of the Sierra Leone, there is still large number of people who are yet to go through the confirmation and registration process.
Stakeholders and other traditional authorities are going haywire to get their people out of their corners to turn up for the all-important national exercise.
According to sources on ground, many people told us that they had a late turnout at the confirmation and registration centers simply because they were not informed of the commencement of the exercise and its relevance, no awareness raising, no sensitization and not even jingle on the media. So for that reason they deemed it not necessary to come out and do their confirmation and registrations respectively.
Another key factor why they did not shown up early for this NCRA 10 days activities it is as a result of removing their centers from their communities to somewhere else, which will also demand them to walk on foot about four or five miles just to have then do their confirmation and registration (according to them). They were peeved of losing their long standing GPS centers which has been in operations for almost one decade to other smaller towns which they perceived to be politically motivated. All of these have precipitated the low turnout at the initial stages.
But after the intervention of some key stakeholders within their localities there was a massive turnout for the exercise in the past three days.
Now that the bell is ringing and the clock is ticking there is an urgent need for the extension of the exercise so that nobody would be left out, as ascribed by the NCRA theme for this current activity this year “LEAVE NO-ONE OUT”. After solid findings the people are now crying for government and the authority concern to come to their aid by extending the registration time beyond the stipulated date.