Commonwealth Secretary-General The Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon Visits Sierra Leone
By Kanji Daramy

Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon is in Freetown, Sierra Leone on an official visit.

On Thursday 6 May 2004 the Head of the Commonwealth Secretariat paid a courtesy call on President Alhaji Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah at the Presidential Lodge at Hill Station where they discussed a wide range of issues about the Commonwealth.

Vice President Solomon Berewa with Government Ministers	President Kabbah in handshake with Rt. Hon.Don McKinnon

Mr McKinnon remarked that the leadership and stewardship of President Kabbah has made a difference in Sierra Leone and disclosed that his visit was to give him an opportunity to identify new projects for Sierra Leone as well as to evaluate ongoing ones.

President Kabbah thanked Mr McKinnon for visiting Sierra Leone and said he was glad about the readiness of the Commonwealth Secretariat to cooperate with and give assistance to the country. He spoke about the limited infrastructure in the country following a decade-long civil conflict that witnessed the destruction of much of the country's physical and economic infrastructure.

The cultivation and expansion of oil palm plantations throughout the country was stated a s a high priority by the President and called for the involvement of Malaysia through the Commonwealth's development co-operation activities so that Sierra Leone could benefit from Malaysia's experience in oil palm cultivation and development. President Kabbah informed the visiting Commonwealth personality that Malaysia had imported oil palm seedlings from Sierra Leone when it set out to embark on large-scale oil palm development many years ago and said that to reciprocate that kind of co-operation would be very desirable.

Rt. Hon.Don McKinnon with some members of his delegation	President Kabbah

President Kabbah told Mr McKinnon that he and the country remained very grateful to the Commonwealth Secretariat and the rest of the Commonwealth for the support and assistance that were rendered during "those dark and difficult days in the country's history". He also thanked Mr McKinnon for his organisation's assistance to the Anti Corruption Commission and the judiciary in Sierra Leone, particularly for making judges available to fast-track corruption cases in courts.

Mr McKinnon, who was full of praises for President Kabbah, said that he was impressed by the President's commitment and drive to reconstruct the country and move things forward. He said that he supported assistance from Malaysia and cited that country as a very good example of a successful nation, with a strong middle class structure.

Regarding projects funded by the Commonwealth he expressed satisfaction that they were going on well, and underscored that democracy and development issues go hand in hand. He said that these were areas that needed to be strengthened. Transparency in public accounts was another area that required attention, he said.

President Kabbah suggested that the Commonwealth Secretariat could consider the possibility of publishing and circulating among all member countries cases of best practices and other success stories that could be used as references by others as part of the learning and development process. The Commonwealth Secretary-General said the suggestion was good and that apart from their usual publications, some effort could be made to draw the attention of Commonwealth leaders to developments that might be of interest to their countries.

Mr McKinnon held a meeting with the Ministers of Development and Economic Planning, Trade and Industry, Youth and Sports, Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs later in the day. He also travelled to the Northern Province in the Kambia District to inspect projects funded by his organisation.

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