Sierra Leone on the march, as President Ernest Bai Koroma puts nation's true potentials on the world's stage

The High-Level Donor and Investment Conference going on in London has put Sierra Leone stupendously on the international stage at a time when our wise and thoughtful President, Dr.Ernest Bai Koroma,  has realized  that no longer shall Sierra Leone hide  her glorious talents,  riches, attractions,  investment potentials and beauty under the bushel . And how thrilled and grateful are Sierra Leoneans  for this new dimension in their country ! ! !  Yesterday, Cocorioko , Sierra Leone's biggest and most widely-read newspaper , was almost brought down by the weight of the multitudes of readers who stormed our website to read the juicy news items on the conference. Everybody wanted to know how the conference was faring and our traffic remains very high. Not since the 2007 Elections when readers all over the world got the latest and the most accurate statistics from us have our website seethed with so many readers. At one time, there were 1,500 readers on the sight at one time ( according to our traffic tracker)  and if translated statistically minute by minute, it means that in a period of one hour over 60, 000 people  all over the world  visited our site.

 

Thanks to the Press Attache, Mr.Sorie Sudan Sesay,  and one of the many Cocorioko correspondents at the conference who kept sending us tips all day long, news on the conference was never in short supply.

 

Sierra Leone indeed is being brilliantly implanted on the world stage .Gone is the time when all that was read about Sierra Leone were negative and heart-wrenching stories. Gone are the days when all the world heard and associated Sierra Leone with were political instability, bloodshed ,corruption, starvation and bad governance. Only an unprogressive people not determined to move on can afford to stay in one place and harp on their inadequacies and shortcomings whole day. Sierra Leone is now ready to move on to higher heights and they demonstrated this fact two years ago when they came out in full colors to vote into office the Man of Progress and Productive Leadership, President Ernest Bai Koroma.

 

President Koroma promised the nation that if elected, he will launch the country to the impressive heights of desired , positive change and progress .And the President has wasted no time to deliver. In just two years, the international image of Sierra Leone has changed dramatically. The world knows that post-conflict Sierra Leone is burdened with lots of socio-economic and political challenges, but also the international community knows that Sierra Leone took a magnificient step in 2007 when she delivered a most remarkable regime change and voted in a government that is making all the difference. Within a short pace of time, Sierra Leone has been transformed from the darkest country in the world, without electricity , to one with not only one of the largest dams in Africa but a hydroelectricity project that is capable of illuminating the whole country .

 

Yesterday,  no less a man than the former British Prime Minister, a man being touted for the leadership of the European Union, Mr.Tony Blair , helped to highlight some of the President Koroma's and Sierra Leone's achievements. According to BUSINESSWEEK, Mr. Blair remarked that  "Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, has reduced corruption and made the country accessible to foreign investors. Koroma fired one of his ministers for corruption earlier this month and has promised to make the government more transparent. 'Progress (in Sierra Leone) is no longer measured by an absence of conflict,' Blair said. He said Sierra Leone is improving the reputation and efficiency of its mining industries and becoming known as a country that promotes religious tolerance between its Christian and Muslim populations. " 

 Mr .Blair's comendation was matched  by the United Kingdom Minister of International Development .Sorie Sudan Sesay reports that the minister  said "his government will continue to support Sierra Leone – a country he referred to as land of opportunities. " The story continues : "Gareth Thomas was speaking on behalf of his government at the Trade and Investment conference here at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London. 'The UK government will continue to be a strong arm of the government of Sierra Leone,' the minister said. He praised the government of President Koroma for embarking on successful economic reforms, adding that the Sierra Leone government has developed a very decent and impressive track record by meeting all of their World Bank economic targets. "

These commendation were a knock-out blow to opposition leader, John Benjamin, who at the last moment and the most inappropriate of times, sought to scuttle the big occasion by circulating an inane and foolish public release that accused government officials of misdoings built on rumors and salacious gossips. One wonders whether John Benjamin's expressed purpose is to block development to Sierra Leone because his party is no longer iN power. There is nothing wrong with an opposition leader asking questions but making such malicious allegations based only on rumours and gossips and at a time when the country is being sold positively to the world, demonstrates that Mr.Benjamin is an unprogressive politician , who only cares for his vaulting ambitions .  But by God's grace, those who mean well for our nation , like President Ernest Koroma, will continue to prevail over those who want to see us perpetually in the mire, like the uncelebrated and selfish John Benjamin. Sierra Leone has been well sold progressively and positively to the world. And we thank President Koroma for his efforts.

 

Investors coming to Sierra Leone have nothing to lose. We are a  very beautiful country with perhaps some of the most friendly and hospitable people in the continent. Not only that, we are blessed with abundant mineral and human resources and our country holds the potential for high-level investment, business and commerce. Investors will have plenty of prospects and opportunities.

As President Koroma busily sells our country's best face and potentials to the world, WE ALSO  HOPE TO SEE CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENT . It is the President's desire to see Sierra Leone recapture her glories of the 1960s as a country with one of the strongest economies and one of the best prospects for ocio-economic and political renaissance. We ,Sierra Leoneans, must rally behind President Koroma to help him achieve his goal for Sierra Leone.

 One thing that is certain is that if we throw our weight behind the President and provide him the needed support, Sierra Leone will not be the same country anymore.Sierra Leone will become a country that we are all proud of.

 

 

< Prev		Next >