APC Resigns From APPA

The main opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC) has withdrawn its membership from the All Political Parties Association (APPA).

The Party in a letter dated 9^th September, 2021 addressed to the leadership of APPA said ‘’unsubscribe ‘’ its membership from APPA ‘’effective immediately ‘’ .

 The statement noted that leadership of the party has ‘’discountenance’’ its membership because of worrying concerns which it said has to do with  ‘’ contravention of ARTICLE 4 and 5, the VISION and MISSION STATEMENT of the APPA Constitution’’ by the APPA leadership.

The statement said that “We are inspired to collectively uphold and sustained democratic norms and values as foundations for the prosperity of Sierra Leone; and that   ‘’To serve as a platform for dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration among leadership of political parties for the advancement of electoral democracy and economic prosperity in Sierra Leone.’’ The statement noted.

The statement concluded that  ‘’let this letter serve as a formal notice of the APC Party’s dissociation from APPA and let it also serve as a notice of withdrawal, resignation and discontinuance of all activities and functions of our members who are presently serving in the Association in any capacity’’. 

Orange SL Dashes out Le150 M. to Winners

By Feima Sesay

Sierra Leone most reliable and leading telecommunication network Orange SL, has on Wednesday, 8th September, 2021, in their third edition of ‘’Social Venture Prize’’ handed over a whooping sum of  (Le150,000,0000) one hundred and fifty  million Leones to two lucky winners .

The event which is done annually took place at Orange SL headquarters at Hill Station in Freetown.

The competition was held under the Orange Social Venture Prize, (OSVP), an initiative aimed at making and nurturing young entrepreneurs.

The idea also means that Young people who will fix attractive business initiatives will win prizes that enable them to either start or  continue with a business.

For this year,  Le100 million  went to Haja Isatu Bah of ‘’Woman 4 Woman’’ who contested with four other aspirants under the National Prize Competition;  a Le50 million Leones also went to Adama Kadijatu Thoronka of ‘’Eco Mobile clinic’’, she won under the category of  Women competition.

Earlier during the event, the winners demonstrated few presentations on how they arrived at such business initiatives.

Haja Isatu Bah who won the le100m national prize in her presentation said she was in Norway in 2015 where she was introduce to several products and adopted the business of manufacturing and selling pads when she moved over to the US in 2017.

She explained that she was highly interested in the business of sanitary because she believes that girls in Sierra Leone had little knowledge about menstrual hygiene, and the use of sanitary pads.

Haja touched on how the lack of knowledge has  affected the dignity of women.

” Lack of access and disposal is sanitary pads affected the dignity of women”, she emphasised.

She said that she capitalized on knowledge derived from research in her environmental studies to better the lives of women and girls in Sierra Leone, thereby using materials that are durable to produce pads.

She stated further that they do not only sell pads but also teach young girls on personal hygiene, noting that about 500, 000 girls in various secondary schools have been reached stressing that more girls will   be reached in the coming years.

For her, winning the prize meant a lot to her; when she was announced as of the lucky winners, she was thrilled for words and highly appreciative of the work of Orange SL. She hopes that with such prize, her business venture is sure to rise.

Adama Kadijatu Thoronka, a final year student at the Limkokwing University of Technology in Sierra Leone who represented Eco Mobile clinic in her presentation, she explained how she came to pitch her business initiatives.  She said she lost her niece in 2016 owing to lack of immediate access to medical facilities.

She said her pregnant sister who lived in a remote community in Koinadugu district struggled with pains of pregnancy before she passed away, adding that the incident occurred because there was no medical professional nearby.

She said the Eco Mobile clinic will be extended to other parts of the country. She called on  non-governmental organizations and the  government of Sierra Leone to help in such area; as they need US$ 40,000 to start their business properly.

Director of Orange Foundation, Jestina Betts in her statement, expressed joy for showcasing top qualifiers in this year Orange Social Venture Prize.

According to her, Orange Sierra Leone is a multi- service provider that places premium on cooperate social investment.

She said orange brand continues to impact directly the lives of people by giving back to society.

Madam Betts said the OSVP was part of Orange innovation strategy, and its cooperate social responsibility organized in partnership with innovation Sierra Leone.

According to her also, the OSVP  competition was open to male and female ranging from ; age 20 and above and  whose business ideas propose technology solutions with positive impact in such essential fields as education, health , agriculture and others.

She said since its inception in Sierra Leone in 2019, OSVP had become a household name and a reference partner in ICT development and start-ups.

Madam Betts also made reference to Aminata Kandeh, Chief Executive Officer Agro-fishing Farm as first inner of the project following its launch in 2019.

She added that she was seconded by Bagoh Turay of Saline Agric Markit who emerged as the second winner in 2020.

She continued that for the first time in history, there would be a reward for women’s award 2021.

The project, she said seeks to offer technological solution that will improved living conditions of women in terms of independence, creation and maintenance of job, data collection on gender, digital and financial inclusion for which three top qualifiers will battle for a grand prize of 50million.

The keynote address was made by the minister of Higher and Technical Education, Professor Alpha Tejan Wurie.

In his statement, he said all the participants were part of a major transformation in the country.

The minister commended all those who took part in the competition; describing them as winners. He encouraged those who will be supported to ensure that they support others.

The following were the once who participated during the National Prize competition.

Jessie Kamara CEO of  GOkKam emerges as second runner up, Lansana Jepherson Sheriff CEO of Light is Life, Umar Afiz Sesay CEO for Concern generation network and Baindu Massaquoi CEO, Leo Mobile Tech Lab.

Whiles for the female competition awardees were Aminata B. Sesay CEO Digital Baffa, Fatmata Binta Jalloh CEO forHarrass Watch.