By: Mohamed Jalloh
The National Council for Civic education and Democracy (NaCCED) yesterday 2nd March 2023 hosted a seven-member delegation from The Gambian Parliamentary Caucus on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB).
This courtesy call is part of a 2-day exchange program visit to Sierra Leone, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, and the Freedom of Religion or Belief Leadership Network (FoRBLN) in the UK, done in partnership with the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) based in Accra, Ghana.
The project aims to ensure that Parliamentarians in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, are able to promote and protect freedom of religion and belief, as well as serve as model for West Africa.
The delegation’s visit to NaCCED is to enable them interact with members of the institution, share ideas and experiences on its civic engagements and outreach programmes, especially its working relationship with Members of Parliament of Sierra Leone and the ordinary citizens.
There counterparts from Sierra Leone had already visited Gambia and spend some days in a fact-finding mission to learn about what obtains in the Gambia as far freedom of religion and belief are concerned.
This means the visit of the Gambian parliamentary Caucus to Sierra Leone Freetown is a rejoinder visit for the Gambian parliamentarians to understudy the Sierra Leone scenario on freedom of religion and belief.
Kalilu Totangi, the Chairman of NaCCED dilated on the programmes and activities of the institution since it was established in 2019, ranging from the change of nomenclature from development to democracy in order to attach some aspect of democratic sensitivity to the mandate of the institution to the inclusion of civic education in the national school curriculum.
The Gambia delegation was excited to learn from the NaCCED chairman about the inter religious council of Sierra Leone and its composition which includes both Christian and Muslim religious leaders.
Chairman Totangi underscored the need for the Sierra Leone parliament to establish a similar caucus of freedom of religion and belief and further expounded on the need for political parties to give parliamentary symbols to marginalized and often stigmatized groups such as people living with disabilities and women.