By: Audrey Raymonda John
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Her Excellency Haja Ishata Thomas, engaged the Sierra Leone Community in a Town Hall Meeting yesterday, October 18th, 2024. She admonished them to respect the laws of the host country and promote unity and a culture of peace.
The event was held at the Best Western Plus Hotel in the Mahboula Community, where many Sierra Leoneans were assembled to interact and share experiences of their respective activities in Kuwait.
Initiated by the Executive of the Sierra Leone Union in Kuwait (SLUK), the meeting was organized primarily to discuss pertinent issues bordering on the welfare of Sierra Leoneans residing and working in Kuwait.
In her statement, Ambassador Thomas expressed appreciation to the President and his executive for creating a platform for engagement, adding that town hall engagements are critical to His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s national peace and cohesion agenda.
Despite the numerous challenges, Her Excellency noted that the Sierra Leone Community in Kuwait had achieved calm due to the responsive measures instituted over the years to address those concerns, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Embassy and the present and past Union executives.
“Since I assumed duty, our two countries have further strengthened and deepened bilateral ties. The State of Kuwait has supported the Republic of Sierra Leone in several development initiatives, including constructing roads, schools, hospitals, and boreholes and providing scholarship opportunities and job opportunities for Sierra Leoneans. The Embassy is also engaging the relevant authorities in Kuwait for more investment and recruitment regulation opportunities through signing the two Labour Agreements (Visas 18 & 20),” Ambassador Thomas stated.
She called on the community to be ambassadors in their various places of work, treating one another right. This would be a positive sentiment for the country, thereby paving the way for more skilled recruitment in Sierra Leone.
In conclusion, she appealed to the community to support the union in its efforts to promote unity and peace and foster its social and economic objectives, which would address some of the critical welfare issues affecting them in Kuwait.
Addressing the community, Kenneth Vandi Fortune, President of the Sierra Leone Community in Kuwait, explained the planning of the town hall meeting, revealing that it was his vision to initiate an interactive platform for constructive engagements between the leadership of the Embassy and the community. He highlighted the numerous interventions of SLUK in swiftly responding to welfare concerns, including health-related issues, immigration, and domestic abuse, among others, since his election in March 2024, appealing for unity to achieve union objectives.
SLUK was established in 2013 to promote the country’s culture and foster peace, unity, progress, and camaraderie amongst Sierra Leonean nationals residing and working in Kuwait. Since its establishment, the union has been pivotal in addressing the community’s needs. The town hall provided the opportunity for the community to engage in community governance activities, setting a stage for their voices to be heard and, at the same time, hold their leaders accountable.
