New Mayor and Councillors Meet President Kabbah

The newly elected Mayor, Mr. Winstanley Bankole-Johnson and councillors of the Freetown City Council have paid a courtesy call on President Kabbah to affirm their commitment to co-operate fully with the central government in running the affairs of the City Council and the entire municipality of Freetown.

Introducing the newly constituted Council members to President Kabbah, Mayor Winstanley Bankole-Johnson, said the constitution of the council speaks volumes of the enormity of the tasks and challenges confronting them and that they are poised to take on the challenge. Mayor Bankole-Johnson said that even though the challenges are great, they are not insurmountable and cannot be achieved without the support of the President.

The Mayor said that they are looking forward to the devolution process as scheduled by the Minister of Local Government, and once they start the operation of the council they will need the total support of the government, particularly in the area of logistics and finance.

Mayor Bankole-Johnson assured the President that the council is in no way in competition with government, but that they are set up and organized in a way to cascade the development aspirations of government in as much as they relate to the development of the municipality of Freetown.

In his remarks, President Kabbah said he was impressed with the statement the Mayor delivered during his inauguration ceremony, because he decided to move away from the normal political rhetoric to substantive issues that matter to the welfare of the citizens of Freetown. He praised the Mayor for articulating all the problems of our city and indicating the way forward, as well as stating his expectations of his colleagues. Political rhetoric, the President said, should be left appropriately for political platforms and added that too often in Sierra Leone, people try to cloud national issues with politicking.

President Kabbah also commended the Mayor and his party for selling their party very well during the local government elections. He said before the elections they and people from other parties indicated to the people what they wanted to do and the people decided to elect them. He therefore assured the Mayor and the councillors of the full support and cooperation of his government. Freetown, the President said, is our city and if we allow it to look like a jungle and unhealthy to live in, foreigners will not want to come there.

The President also observed that people always make the mistake of questioning foreign involvement in our economy. He explained that even the richest nations of the world, like the United States of America and others, depend on good foreign relations and foreign direct investment to move their countries forward. What about a poor country like Sierra Leone, coming out of ten years of war, with our treasury looted and bankrupted by ill-motivated people? He emphasized the need for foreign direct investment to kick-start our economy and said that one way to get foreign direct investment is to make our city congenial for people to live.

With this great responsibility ahead, President Kabbah reassured the Mayor and his councillors of his support at all times and told them not to hesitate to call on him at anytime they need help.

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