Reaching out to all Sierra Leoneans begins in Saudi Arabia

The Office of the Information Attaché, Sierra Leone Embassy in the Arabian city of Riyadh yesterday sent emails to over 100 Sierra Leoneans in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

The aim is to adequately inform them about the activities of the Embassy and other related issues; inform them about government activities back home among other important issues.

 

Portion of the email reads: “My fellow compatriots, since my assumption of office nearly a month ago, I have noticed through my visits to Medina, Jeddah, Mecca and other areas where we have a large concentration of Sierra Leoneans in the Kingdom, that most of you are not adequately informed about the activities of your Embassy and activities of your government back home. It is on this background, I have decided to be keeping you informed about all these activities which I think you are entitled to.”

 

The Information Attaché, Alhaji Jalloh also went on to inform them about giant strides of the APC government within its two years in office.  “Let me also hasten to say that, most of the negative perceptions about Sierra Leone in some parts of the Diaspora are completely contrary to what is prevailing on the ground in Sierra Leone.”

 

The Information Attaché told them of President Koroma’s Open Government Initiative (OGI) programme.

 

Giving a background of OGI, Jalloh said:  “It was borne out of His Excellency, Ernest Bai Koroma’s Bumbuna Presidential Retreat in January 2008 at Bumbuna, where he expressed a commitment to ensure that democracy, the rule of law, and free-flow of information through open channels of communication amongst the three organs of Government and between Government and the people.”

 

He further informed them about the breakthrough made by government in providing the city with electricity. The President, a man of his words, Jalloh added, made a commitment of providing electricity within his first 100 days in office and he fulfilled it.

 

“Now, he has gone beyond that by completing the much-delayed Bumbuna Hydroelectricity Project,” he added.

 

He also informed his compatriots about infrastructural projects, like the many road projects throughout the country.

 

He reminded them about President Koroma’s election manifesto in 2007, not only to run the country like a business enterprise, but to make it a center of international business in West Africa, adding that, an International survey recently declared Sierra Leone as one of “the safest and most conducive countries” to do business within the sub-region; an opportunity the Information Attaché encouraged them to make use of.

 

Meanwhile, the Ambassador, H.E. Wusu Byrne Munu, has started showcasing Sierra Leone to high profile Saudi businessmen, CEO’s of foreign companies etc. in order to attract more investors.

 

“I think the Ambassador’s role in making Sierra Leone an active participant in today’s global economy; moving Sierra Leone from being a recipient of foreign handouts to an effective player in a world that has integrated through technologies is quite in place,” remarked a Jeddah based Sierra Leonean.

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