By: Ilyasa Baa

Bai Bureh Heritage Foundation has at a ceremony in Port Loko singled out Native Consortium and Research Centre (NCRC) as the best Civil Society Organization (CSO) for 2022 for its irrevocable commitment towards peace and economic justice in Sierra Leone. 

The Executive Director, Edmund Abu Jr told this medium in an exclusive interview that the award received was not a surprise to him and his colleagues who over the years have tried to serve the people of Sierra Leone and not their personal desires.

He said in spite of the challenges faced in their advocacy work, the contribution of the Consortium remains indelible in the history of Sierra Leone. He mentioned the first of its kind  locus classicus matter  the Consortium together with 299 citizens took to court against mobile companies for breach of contract.

He said they have won 19 cases since the inception of the Consortium and have led five big protests including the May 8, 2000 protest against Foday Sebana Sankoh that brought peace to the country after eleven years bloody rebel war.

” In terms of economic justice for Sierra Leoneans, there is no CSO like us check the history”, he said, adding that last year NCRC won a case against Shandong CCECC – Africa Minerals over  surface rent in Makimkeba village, Buya Romende in Port Loko. 

Edmund Abu has been an advocate for social and economic justice for the past twenty – seven years having started his  trade unionism carrier in 1995. He had worked with Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and has represented the continent of Africa in the United States of America where he competed with five thousand CSOs and emerged victorious. 

Abubakarr Sankoh, a teacher in Port Loko said NCRC deserves the award as the best CSO because of its consumer protection and human right background. 

Sulaiman Sesay in Freetown described the award as a milestone achievement of the Consortium which he said has championed issues of national concern with consistency. He mentioned the matter against NATCOM and the GSM companies as the right thing for any sober minded CSO to do on behalf of the people. 

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