President Kabbah At International Women's Day Celebrations
By Marian Samu

Sierra Leone women joined other women all over the world on Tuesday, March 8th 2005 to celebrate International Women's Day, with the theme: "Empowering women for sustainable Development". The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, was in Kenema, Eastern Sierra Leone, to join the women in this year's celebrations.

Delivering her opening remarks the Chairperson of the occasion, Honourable Dr. Bernadette Lahai (Member of Parliament), implored the women to look at this day as a day of celebration, reflection and thanksgiving. She said that it was a day of celebration of the achievements women have made in making their voices heard, their presence felt and their potential and actual contribution to human capital and economic development recognized since the declaration of the day in 1975.

As a day of reflection, she said women should recall the actions and strategies taken in order to be recognized as women in their own right and to advocate for justice and equality. She asked them to also recall the frustrations, uncertainties and difficulties they had to encounter during this journey, the cries of failures, the joys of successes, but most importantly the hopes for a bright light at the end of the tunnel. She said it was also a day of thanksgiving for all their allies, the sympathetic men and gender-sensitive human rights institutions that stood and continue to stand steadfastly behind women, providing the needed intellectual, financial and moral support for the aims and aspirations and rights of women for self-determination, empowerment and liberation.

Hon Dr. Lahai among other things appealed for women to be given the opportunity to have access to and control of resources that empower women.

Welcoming guests to the occasion, the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, Mrs. Shirley Gbujama, told the gathering that they were in Kenema to celebrate the day with the women of Kenema District, the entire eastern region and the country as a whole, a strategy they had adopted to ensure and give opportunity to women all over the country to participate in such celebrations. Last year's Women's Day was celebrated in Makeni, Provincial headquarters of the northern region. Mrs. Gbujama praised President Kabbah for creating the department of Gender and Children's Affairs within the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, which she said reflects the concern President Kabbah has for the women of this country.

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Honourable Mrs. Elizabeth Lavalie (Member of Parliament), who spoke on the topic:"Women's Political Rights:Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians (New Map)", said inspite of the fact that women have the same rights as men, and inspite of the continued advocacy for equalilty in the representation of women in parliament, only eighteen out of a parliament of one hundred and six are women, a mere 16%. She said that the Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians, a women's political advocacy group, will continue to address these issues.

In his keynote address, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah underscored the participation of women in the development of the nation. He said that as early as the 1960s, prominent women of Sierra Leone had been advocating for the emancipation of women in Sierra Leone and the need for gender equality and equity. He cited the case of Honourable Paramount Chief Madam Ella Koblo-Gulama (then Member of Parliament) who at the time of the country's independence in 1961 stood out as a strong and vibrant advocate of women's issues.

President Kabbah took the opportunity to screen a video documentary on Sierra Leone's Indepencence, portions of which depicted Madam Ella Koblo-Gulama as she addressed a gathering in 1961. As far back as those early years of independence she highlighted the burning issues of access to resources and opportunities especially in political representation in parliament. access to health facilities, education and the need for the men and women of Sierra Leone "to work side by side". The President therefore urged the women to ensure that they put forward credible women of substance for public offices as appointments cannot be based on gender alone. He advised the women to continue to put pressure on decision-makers for the resolution of issues that concern them. President Kabbah also advised the women to organize themselves into cooperatives and work together for their empowerment.

Speaking on the issue of the perennial problem of electricity blackouts in Freetown which was highlighted earlier by one of the speakers, Mrs Rosaline Macarthy representing Women's Forum, President Kabbah informed the audience that the electricity problem in Freetown will soon be a thing of the past as a joint co-operation effort between the South African government and Sierra Leone has been concluded that will lead to the intervention of Eskom, a South African electricity utility company to start operations on the electricity generation and distribution system in Freetown. He disclosed that ten million dollars have already been provided by the South African government as assistance in this respect.

Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, Mrs. Memunatu Koroma, gave the Vote of Thanks.

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