National news
APC mourns Hussein Bitter
The ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) on Friday January 4th 2008 paid a befitting tribute to one of its members, Hussein Bitter, at the party’s National Secretariat in Freetown following his death in a road accident along the Kono/Makeni highway on his way from Kono.
Giving a tribute to late Hussein during a laying out ceremony held in the Great Hall, at APC National Headquarter Old Railway Line, Freetown, His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma described the death of late Hussein as a sad moment in the history of the party.
Dr. Koroma said that the death of the late fallen hero was not only a loss to the Bitter family but to the APC and the people of Sierra Leone and added that Hussein was a committed member of the party who was always punctual in all party meetings.
Hussein, according to Dr. Koroma, was not an ordinary supporter but a member and who was fully dedicated to the cause of the APC “that’s why I will make sure that the party’s Secretary General Victor Bockarie Foh displays his picture on the wall of the Great Hall”.
President Koroma said that he would always remember the good works of Hussein as he would be also remembered by the APC party, while praying that God provided him a peaceful place in heaven.
For his part, Vice President Sahr Samuel Sam Sumana disclosed that it was a difficult moment for him to bid farewell to Hussein Bitter.
The Vice President recalled that Hussein went through a lot of intimidation, harassments and molestation all because of his support to the APC party and his loyalty to its leadership, but never relented in the propagation of the then Presidential candidate’s message to the electorate.
Mr. Sam Sumana said that Hussein’s support and loyalty to the APC would serve as an example to the Lebanese Community in Sierra Leone, to the APC party as well as Sierra Leoneans at home and in the Diaspora.
The Minister of State, Office of the Vice President, Leonard Balogun Koroma, described late Hussein as a real hero who worked diligently towards the success of the APC party but died at a time when he was needed most.
With a deep sense of loss of the fallen hero, Mr. Koroma said that Hussein Bitter was a great admirer of the APC leader and the then presidential candidate Hon Ernest Bai Koroma, therefore appealed to party stalwarts, friends and family members to mourn the late hero like people with faith in God.
On behalf of the family, one time member of the APC in the 70s, Alhaji Bitter, subscribed to the view that the death of Hussein was a sad event, saying he was the bread winner of his family in Lebanon, adding that Hussein was sent by God to replace his loyalty and support to the APC party.
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SLMB executive meets President Koroma
The Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood (SLMB) on Thursday 3rd January 2008 presented its new executive to His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma at State House in Freetown.
Speaking to the congregation, President Koroma recalled that he came in contact with SLMB during his days at the Government Secondary School at Magburaka.
He said that Sierra Leone needed additional Islamic education and expressed hope that the SLMB would be decentralized to reach the four corners of the country as he looked forward to working with the mission.
President Koroma commended the mission for upholding democratic values and the maintenance of true peace and unity. He however warned members of the congregation not to allow themselves to be disintegrated by disunity and detractors.
“The SLMB came up with a new executive when it is needed most to effect the change. The organization should start making strides to rise up to the challenge ahead of the country”, said President Koroma.
The newly elected SLBM President, the current Minister of Local Government and Internal Affairs Dauda Kamara, acknowledged that he had an idea of the significant role played by the mission, “that’s why I have accepted to take up the responsibility to head the mission”.
Mr. Kamara disclosed that SLMB presently commanded over three hundred learning institutions in Sierra Leone, including primary schools.
Outgone President, Sierra Leone Ambassador to China Dr. Abdul Karim Koroma, revealed that SLMB was the oldest islamic mission in Sierra Leone, and was established in 1959 in Tonkolili district to help develop the educational sector in the country.
Dr. Koroma commended the interest expressed by President Koroma in working closely with several Muslim organizations.
SLMB Chairman Board of Trustee, Sierra Leone High Commissioner to Ghana Osman Foday Yansanneh who chaired the just concluded convention that elected the new executive, informed President Koroma about the manner in which the election was held.
UPDATE ON PRESIDENTIAL ACTIVITIES
President Ernest Bai Koroma was over the weekend Special Guest at State Lodge, Hill Station, Freetown, at a ceremony organized by the First Lady Sia Koroma’s charity in support of orphans and generally disadvantaged children. This was the culmination of a series of engagements that the President undertook since New Year’s Day when he visited various hospitals in the city with several gifts and words of consolation to patients and staff.
On Saturday evening, the President presented gifts to children from various institutions for the disadvantaged.
Earlier in the week, President Koroma met with the executive and members of the Internet Society Sierra Leone Chapter (ISOC.SL) followed by a delegation of the Gambian community in Sierra Leone, led by their High Commissioner H.E. Anouman Saho.
Presenting their thoughts on 3rd January 2007 on ‘The Role of Information and Communication Technology in the Development of Sierra Leone’ to the President at State House, ISOC.SL members outlined the need to physically interconnect all local Internet Service Providers for collaborative purposes, and how it would “support your priority areas: corruption, energy, health, education, youth employment and the Diaspora’s involvement.”
In response, the President praised the group’s initiative and how his government appreciated the need for “information technology to be at the forefront of our development initiatives”. He said it was a big challenge which all should rise up to by educating Sierra Leoneans on the importance of computer literacy. The President said this was urgent, and thereby called on the group to form a task force that would ensure that their ideas were implemented. “You can always call and count on me for support. And I am more interested in results,” he maintained.
To the Gambian community who called on him on Thursday 4th January, President Koroma recalled the historic ties between the Gambia and Sierra Leone since colonial days. “There was a time when all educated Gambians got their training in our country,” the President recounted. He enjoined Gambians to feel at home in Sierra Leone and work together with Sierra Leoneans in developing the country.
The President paid special tribute to his Gambian counterpart, President Yayah Jammeh, for his exemplary leadership and for exempting all Sierra Leoneans from paying alien tax in the Gambia after attending President Koroma’s inauguration ceremony. The President revealed that he had had some fruitful discussions with President Jammeh and was looking forward to visiting the Gambia soon.
The President’s week had a tinge of sorrow as he had to attend the laying out ceremony of Lebanese-born deceased supporter of the APC, Hussein Bittar, who died in a gruesome road accident after attending a party activity with the Vice President in Kono, eastern Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the party headquarters where the ceremony was held, President Koroma said Mr. Bittar played a great role to the success of the party. One of Bittar’s initiatives was to display large portraits of the leader around the city and the country before and during the elections. For this, President Koroma declared, “As leader of the APC, I am asking the Secretary General to have Hussein’s portrait displayed in the great hall as one of the heroes of our party.” He assured the Bittar family of continued support and how the deceased’s works would be remembered.
This afternoon, the President met with a delegation from the Sierra Leone Labour Congress at State House. They came to congratulate the President on his election victory and to introduce their new executive, while at the same time highlighting labour issues, like conditions of service for workers, which the President assured them would soon be looked into and addressed.
Meanwhile, President Koroma would be having his first presidential retreat with his cabinet ministers this coming weekend in Bumbuna, northern Sierra Leone.
Submitted by
Sheka Tarawalie
(Press Secretary)
State House, Freetown
07 January 2008
© Copyright by Awareness Times
Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
