Hon. Dauda Tombo says, let the wind of ‘Agenda for Change’ blow in Sierra Leone

Chairman Al Aziz Turay Chairman of the APC NA, Chairman Peter Koroma and the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada APC chapter, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

The formation of the APC chapter followed by election in Winnipeg Manitoba is another milestone for the APC party. It is indicative that APC is slowly spreading worldwide. And I must point out that, this would not have been achieved, if not for the hard work of His Excellency, the president and the leader of the APC, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma.

I will be remised, if I come and return back to the United States without pointing out some of his achievements.

Because of his hard work backed by his moral force, education is one of the priority areas for his “Agenda for Change”. In order to address the teacher situation, a massive teacher payroll cleaning exercise was undertaken to weed out ghost teachers. This exercise led to the increase of teacher salaries and prompt salary payment. And because of the importance of education to this president and the APC government, Professor Gbamanja Commission was setup to look into the entire educational system in Sierra Leone. The commission recommended that the 6-3-3-4 system be replaced with the 6-3-4-4. The reason for the recommendation was that, 3 years were not quite enough for students to complete the required syllabus to face the external examination needed for university entrance; thus resulted to poor students performance nation- wide.

We are witnessing rapid transformation in the electricity and water supply sectors and the construction of roads nationwide. Because of President Ernest Bai Koroma’s tireless efforts, Bumbuna is now Bumbuna. The Bumbuna electricity project that was kept in the pipeline by previous governments for more than a decade has now seeing daylight. We now have continuous supply of electricity to Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone that was once called the darkest capital city in the world.

H.E President Ernest Bai Koroma did not stop there; the Expansion of Agriculture is on the priority list of his “Agenda for Change”. Today, Agriculture is at its highest point ever in Sierra Leone. Tractors are available to encourage and help farmers for more food productions.

This president, will not stop or slow down; he introduced Free Health Care for lactating mothers and children under five years old and thus preventing premature death of the children of Sierra Leone.

The former SLBS has now been transformed into an Independent Media Entity “The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation.”

There is tremendous promotion of foreign Investments which led to the increase in the revenue base of the country; the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is no longer a toothless bulldog. The ACC is now empowered to charge and bring those who are guilty of corruption to court.

Because of his Excellency’s hard work backed with his “Agenda for Change’, there are constructions of roads going on all over the country; and there are other developmental programs going on in all corners of Sierra Leone today.

It is however, ironic, while Sierra Leoneans and International communities are exuberant over the great progress the president of the Republic of the Sierra Leone and the APC government is making both internally and externally; yet, some APC members are engaged in intra party uneasiness which will clearly asphyxiate the good work of this selfless leader.   And since each Branch or Chapter is a pivotal block within the APC family, I urge that we head in the same direction with the president and speak with one voice.

History tells us that political parties and other organizations experience numerous challenges in intra party governance and managing expectations. Realistically, the APC North America branch of the party is of no exception. But we should rise above the fray and provide competent leadership for the benefit of all.

My APC NA family let me make my position clear once again, that the issues facing APC North America branch cannot be glossed over. I therefore strongly suggest that all necessary measures be taken to resolve this impasse and let the chip falls to where it may.

Other political parties are busy criticizing the APC for no just reason, we should be thankful that we have a leader that is evidently pro growth and development and is serious about facilitating development in every part of the country. One of the most profound ways in which ethnic and regional tension could be minimized is for every part of the country to experience economic and social development, freedom of expression and association.

We should use our missiles against the opponent not amongst ourselves. We should take cognizant of the fact that if 50 people run for an office, there is only going to be one winner. The rest should join forces with the winner to work and promote the party’s agenda.

From now on, we must redirect our political missiles (progressive developments) backed by our moral force, to the real political opponents and let the Sierra Leonean voters decide. I have the conviction that life is like a grindstone, whether it grinds you down, or polishes you, depends on what you are made of. APC members should never allow the negative actions of others backed by their display of tribal cards to grind us down.

Personally, I was the first APC youth leader in 1967 in the once called Freetown East III Constituency. But just like every other politician, I have visited other parties. I have now returned home and I am prepared to work hard for the success of this party with no apology. I therefore charge all of us to use the remaining months to 2012 election wisely in our favor. And this brings me to my duty – The APC Fund Raising Ambassador.

You must agree with me that a political party without financial backing is bound to fail. Politics and money go hand in hand. Let me say in another term that, a political party that is economically weak is also politically weak. Given, however, that no election should be treated with levity, the need for early preparation and robust resource mobilization should not be overemphasized; we need logistics and various promotional items to run the campaigns.

I was in Freetown about two months ago. If you visit the party office, you will see people coming from all over the country to declare for the APC. The wind of “Agenda for Change” is blowing over the belly of the Peninsular Mountains so hard that the SLPP is confused. It did not stop there, it is blowing over the meadows and planes across the country, and it is blowing over the mineral fields in the East. It is blowing over the roads leading to the East and South of the country. It is blowing over the highways and bridges leading to neighboring

Guinea through the North; it is blowing over the districts headquarter towns of the East, North and South. Let the wind of “Agenda for Change” and the wind of “Attitudinal and behavioral Change” blow freely everywhere, including the schools, over the colleges and universities and over all walks of life in our beloved Sierra Leone.

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