The people of Kambia have hailed the inaugural Civic Day Series, which was held at the district on Monday and Tuesday this week. The event brought together hundreds of people from all sectors of the communities.
Paramount Chief of Mambolo Chiefdom, Bai Shebora Lion, said as a district, they are proud that it is the first place for such an initiative.
“I am happy to be here today because of the theme of the program, which is ‘Salone Big Pas We All’. I believe Civic is important for nation building and development,” he said. “I am happy Kambia is the first place the ministry chose for such a wonderful initiative,”
Civic Day Series is an initiative by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
The first day brought together school pupils and young people together for a Quiz and Debate competition on critical topics like the importance of the census, the influence of technology on children and the role of civic education in the fight against corruption.
The second day brought together community stakeholders from all sectors in Kambia to participate in a four-hour long town hall, which featured the Attorney General, Minister of Local Government, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Statistician General and the Energy Sector lead, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella.
Minister Chernor Bah said the goal is to make sure the ministry takes government information all across the country.
“President Bio has said we should not just stay in Freetown to do our job. It is our job to make sure we create the platform for government information to be passed in every district. During the Civic Day Series we will bring government officials, so the people will have a conversation with them on their stewardship,” Minister Bah said.
The two-day event achieved all the goals the ministry set. Hundreds of people, including activists, children, young people, and people with disability, were all present for two days to ask critical questions and contribute with suggestions on how the government should work.
Civil Society activist Isata Kamara said, “This is what we want to see, bring government to the people. What am really happy about is when we were allowed to ask all the questions we want about critical national issues affecting us in Kambia.”
The event has already had a profound impact on the people of Kambia and the way they interact with the government. Stakeholders in the district urged the ministry to bring engagements like these much more frequently.
Moses Kolley, a bike rider said: ”This is the first time I have had the opportunity to interact with such high profile government officials. This is good, we need more of it.”
