By: Audrey Raymonda John

The parliment of Sierra Leone on Thursday 16th, November 2023, approved the Director General of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, SLRA, Ing. Alfred Jalil Momodu, Director and five other presidential nominees.

Presenting the Tenth  Report of the Committee on Appointments and  Public Service, the Leader of Government Business  Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma, who is also doubles as Majority Leader told colleague Members of Parliament and the Speaker of Parliament Hon. Abass Bundu that all the Presidential Nominees were interviewed on issues relating to their educational background, experience and track records, tax obligation, vision for the designate offices amongst other requirements.

Seconding the motion,  Deputy Leader  2 of Opposition, Hon. Aaron Aruna Koroma who described the appointment of Ing. Momodu as a testament to young people and drew his attention to the delay of construction of the road leading to the hometown of President Bio and outlined the economic value and cost-effectiveness of certain roads, and appealed to the SLRA to reconstruct them.

Hon. Keikura Vandy generally admonished nominees to work with Parliament .

The MP described Ing. Momodu as someone with unique characteristics. He said it was necessary to bring the financial institutions and SLRA together to ensure the financing of road projects.

Hon. Daniel Koroma Deputy Opposition Leader zoomed in on the nominee for SLRA and said that he was fit and went on to ask him to take note of the following which include: the horrible nature of the Road between Model Secondary School via Parliament to State Avenue, the reconstruction of  Magboruka/ Bumbuna Road, to fast-track the completion of the construction of a certain bridge in his district and maintenance of the feeder roads in the country.

While commending the nominees, Hon. Joseph Williams-Lamin emphasized the maintenance of roads and spoke about the financing of road works. He advised the Bank Governor and other nominees to do the needful.

The Whip of Opposition Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara recalled instances relating to young people’s participation in governance.  The MP asked SLRA to consider Samu/Kitchum Road, to boost the Feed Salone project.

The MP raised serious concern over the allocation of funds to Kamakwie/Kambia Road and also informed the House about the state of some roads in the country.  He advised all nominees to perform. 

Hon. PC.  Saquee IV Paul of Kono District thanked President Bio for appointing fine nominees and used the opportunity to draw the attention of Ing. Momodu to the Kono/Matotoka Highway and appealed for more development projects in their district.

Hon. Bintu Fatmata Bockarie drew the attention of Ing. Momodu to the dilapidated state of roads in her Bonthe district. She informed Parliament that her people were not happy with the conditions of their roads. 

Rounding up the debate, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Abdul Kargbo categorically stated that nominees are obliged to perform in the interest of the State. He emphasized the necessity of positive service delivery. He went on to emphasize the critical role of the Bank Governor relative to the welfare of the people. “It is my prayers that the Bank Governor we are about to approve succeeds,” he said and informed the House that “the Governor needs the support of the House”. He did a comparative analysis of sub-region currencies and blamed Sierra Leone for poor monetary policy, which he said was affecting businesses. The Opposition Leader told the House that budget allocations previously meant for road construction roads were not fulfilled. The MP denounced some compatriots to stop politicizing institutions and people. He used the opportunity to ask all the nominees to deliver based on the praises of the MPs.

In concluding the debate, the Acting Leader of Government Business, Hon. Bashiru Silikie asked the nominees to perform as according to him, if they failed it would affect their re-elections to governance.

The MP said the oversight role would support and promote the development of the activities of the executive and enhance performance.  He revealed that SLRA personnel are proactive, but funding was the problem. While debunking previous speakers the Leader recalled that, former President Koroma used to measure several road construction in his statements,  but most were not accomplished. 

He described the SLRA nominee as someone with a wealth of experience and asked him to work in team spirit, in light of his young dynamism.

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