By:Hafsatu Z Bangura
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Timothy Kabbah has held a fruitful bilateral engagement with Ambassadors and Commissioners of various countries.
The engagement hosted dignitaries of various countries who discussed issues of national development, support and commitment in nation building, however partners raises concerns over the just concluded 2023 elections to which His Excellency Dr Julius Maada Bio emerged victorious for a second term.
The meeting was held at the Ministries conference hall Tower hill in Freetown.
Speaking at the event the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Timothy Kabbah welcomed delegates of the Diplomatic community and expressed gratitude to the President for entrusting him to serve the people of the country as their foreign minister in his second term Administration.
He went on to say that the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government embarked on a human capital Development model outlined in the medium term development agenda 2023, which he said played a strong commitment on Eduaction for national development, increased investment in educating future generations, improving health care systems, addressing poverty and employment, empowering women and youths, protecting the environment, mitigating public safety and opening investments eco system.
He further stated that the government also made tremendous fight in tackling corruption and deepening democratic governance as well as promoting reforms in enhancing the rule of law as reflected in the international bench marks such as the MCC Score card.
He went on to say that another achievement of President Julius Bio is radical inclusion program launched in 2018, in which government allocated 22% of its budget to Education which so far has being the largest allocation of funds for Eduaction.
The foreign minister also spoke of the gender equality and empowerment bill which has been enacted to which he said empowering women is a strong advocacy that the president believed in and has worked in that direction, hence it’s evidence of women’s participation in the governance system.
According to the Minister, the practice of governance may not have been good for the opposition as he said the SLPP government respect ideas of political diversion, as he said what guides us are our shared values and common interests.
He spoke of his engagement in engaging the country in an intense shared cooperation, to which he said his primary role is building bridges and further deepening the already existing bilateral relationship with heads of states and the diplomatic community.
Timothy Kabbah also spoke of the committee being setup by the President as a way of investigations in the just concluded June 2023 elections by all state actors.
He concluded that President’s bio second term is focused on building on these gains achieved in his first five years and working towards nation building.
The High Commissioner to Nigeria Henry John Amafo congratulates the Minister and President Julius Maada Bio on his re-election; he said their invite is in the behest of the president call, extending a hand of friendship with the country.
He said by the words of the Minister, they as a diplomatic community have no doubts of their diplomatic commitment and as such will continue to discharge positive values, he affirmed of their support to the government particularly on the areas of Human Capital Development and education of the girl child and many more infrastructural developments made so far.
The Ambassador of China congratulates the President and hopes of working in solidarity with the government in further strengthen the already existing relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
Distinguished High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone Lisa Cheney welcomed the attributions, commitment of the government and political interaction of governance.
Outgoing Ambassador to the United States David Reimer also appreciated the Minister, he spoke on the conduct of the elections and the committee setup by the President in investigating the elections to which he said his country is concerned about, he also spoke of relating to his successor regarding the sharing the necessary information as he takes leave of his tenure.
The conference ended on a peaceful dialogue and committment of these diplomats in nation building and infrastructural developments.
