Sierra Leone’s Deputy Agriculture Chief sells country’s progress in Australia

The period 26 August to 4 September 2013 was a busy one for the membership of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Australia Branch, especially as it marked the arrival of Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon Marie Jalloh who was in Perth, Western Australia to attend the annual consultative forum on agriculture in developing countries.

Organised by the Australian International Development Aid Agency AusAID, participants included Ministers, Directors and Professional Staff from Agencies, Departments and Ministries of Agriculture from different developing countries and they were able to share their experiences in the delivery of agricultural programs in their respective countries and also presented issues and challenges in raising agricultural productivity in their countries.

 The aim of the forum was to provide firsthand information to enable AusAID to formulate needs-driven intervention programs in the agricultural sector of countries they operate. Sharing best practice models was also a significant part of the forum.

In her impressive presentation on “Food and Agriculture in Africa” at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, Sierra Leone’s Deputy Agriculture minister, Hon Marie  Jalloh  gave an overview of agriculture in Africa, the challenges involved in raising productivity, food insufficiency, malnutrition and further highlighted efforts by governments and NGOs in addressing these issues,  using Sierra Leone as a case study.

During her visit, she was granted an exclusive interview to ABC TV Channel in Australia on agricultural development in Sierra Leone.

Also as part of her engagement in Australia, was a meeting with the Sierra Leone community and members of the APC Branch in Perth. Her meeting with the Sierra Leone Community was witnessed by a well-attended Australian style barbeque.

Hon Marie Jalloh used the event to inform Sierra Leoneans about current development programs in the country and articulated the tremendous efforts of the APC Government under the astute leadership of His Excellency, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma in transforming Sierra Leone and the lives of its citizenry.

With profound determination, Hon Jalloh expounded on the key pillars of the current National Development Plan for Sierra Leone, which is the Agenda for Prosperity. She spoke of how the Agenda for Prosperity is a true reflection of the needs and priorities of Sierra Leoneans. She therefore called on Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora to take active and significant steps that will contribute to the successful delivery of the programs and projects contained in the document.

Hon Marie Jalloh also called on Sierra Leoneans to be more united and urged everyone to make prudent contributions to the ongoing constitutional reform in the country.

In her meeting  with APC members  in Perth, facilitated by the Vice-Chairman of Western Australia Chapter, Mr Alhaji Kamara and the Chairman APC Australia, Mr Mustapha Bangura, Hon Marie  Jalloh acknowledged the morale support, logistical and financial contributions that the  Branch gave to the Party during the last two Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Sierra Leone.

She encouraged APC members to continue to uphold the values and ideology of their party, since “the APC is the only political party in Sierra Leone that embraces all Sierra Leoneans irrespective of education, ethnicity, region or location.”

In his remarks, Mr Alhaji Kamara thanked the deputy Minister of Agriculture for taking some time off her busy schedule to meet with APC members which, “clearly demonstrated the love the Minister has for the party.”

 Mr Kamara pointed out the unflinching commitment of his Branch to the Party at all times. “As a Branch, we are growing from strength to strength in Australia and we are working collaboratively and thinking ahead towards what we described as an “Election Hat-Trick”, come 2018,”, he ended.

Australia is one of the countries the Sierra Leone Embassy in china is accredited to.

Note: Text and pictures provided by Mustapha Bangura (APC Australia), final version written by Press/Information Office, Sierra Leone Embassy, China.

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