President Kabbah Celebrates 72nd Birthday Anniversary in Kabala
By Yusuf Alghali

Residents of Koinadugu District were manifestly thrilled by President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's arrival in Kabala over the weekend, Sunday 15th February, to celebrate his first birthday ever outside Freetown since he became President in 1996. Thousands of locals from every part of the district, including Parliamentarians, Paramount Chiefs, section chiefs, school children, cultural dancers, women's groups, members of the SLPP young generation, and groups of banner waving well-wishers braved the midday sun in their colourful array of ashoebe, singing as the President touched down at the Kabala Secondary School football field.

The streets of Kabala were lined by thousands of jubilating singers and dancers as the President and his entourage moved in a motorcade to the town centre where they stopped for a short meeting with members of the SLPP branch of Koinadugu District and later in the evening held separate meetings with the Koinadugu Parliamentary Group, including Mr. F. B. L. Mansaray, Deputy Minister of Finance, Presidential Spokesman Kanji Daramy, and the Ferensola (Kuranko) Movement who presented their newly-elected leader, Retired Major-General M. S. Tarawalli, to President Kabbah.

At 8 pm a dinner was hosted by the SLPP party at the Kabala Community Centre to celebrate the President's 72nd birthday anniversary which featured a live performance by the Sierra Leone Police Band.

The President who was also accompanied by Vice President Solomon Berewa and a number of Cabinet Ministers on Monday 16th February, undertook a guided tour of both the newly built and equipped Yagala Catholic Primary School located at Yagala, some three miles outside Kabala Town and the nearby defunct water treatment and supply plant which has been out of use since 1990.

Responding to appeals by Paramount Chief Yembeh Mansaray lll of Wara Wara Yagala Chiefdom, President Kabbah assured that he would expedite the dispatch of a professional team to visit Yagala shortly to assess the needs of the plant in order to get the needed facility up and running again.

Addressing a public gathering held in honour of the President at the Kabala Town field Monday, chairman of the occasion, Koinadugu-born Mr. F.B.L. Mansaray, deputy minister of Finance, noted that the President's decision to spend his birthday in Koinadugu was also borne out of his desire to see how peaceful the inhabitants of Koinadugu had become following the settling of the Sengbe Chiefdom dispute involving the young paramount chief Ali Marah and his uncle Alhaji Balansama Marah. President Kabbah had earlier sent a team of peace mediators to mediate between uncle and nephew, a situation which had since been amicably resolved.

Earlier, the President and entourage visited the Yagala Catholic Primary School, complemented with a mini museum, a communications room equipped with a satellite television receiver, computers and other communications gadgets, a staff room and recreational centre. The establishment of the institution was undertaken by Sierra Leonean-born Mr. Bayuku Conteh, who developed the Italian-sponsored project to benefit his and other nearby communities.

While committing his government's assistance to the project, President Kabbah described Mr. Bayuku Conteh's initiative as patriotic, stressing that "we should all be proud of this Sierra Leonean who implemented this project". He referred to those who always ask what their country had do for them and called on them to note the shining example of Bayuku, who is currently away soliciting more funds in Italy for the development of the community.

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