Ministry of Information and Civic Education's Press Conference

19th December 2023

COP28 SPECIAL

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Information and Civic Education Minister Chernor Bah revealed that all those who helped the police to capture run-away fugitives have all received their rewards. Minister C-Bah further informed the public that, the 12 fugitives on the list are the major ones while stating that the others are also wanted by the police. He called on citizens to assist the police as the bounty has been increased by the police from Nle50,000 to Nle70,000.

Former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma's lawyers asked for a break on Thursday and the break ends today Tuesday 19th December, the former President is expected to return to CID tomorrow Wednesday 20th December 2023 to continue with the questioning at CID.

Organizers of the COP28 invited almost all the Ministries to attend this year's event in Dubai. As financially prudent as the Government of President Dr. Julius Maada Bio is, the government sent very lean but strategic institutions and agencies to attend the event at zero cost to the government. The Sierra Leone delegation was supported by development partners.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jiwoh Abdulai informed the public that, in several of his engagements, he met with professionals of Cambridge University. According to the Minister, one of the professors revealed that they will grant fully-funded scholarships for some courses to benefit 50 university students and 50 government officials.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka updated the public on his role in the COP28 delegation to Dubai. As a result of Sierra Leone's solid and robust plan for food security, he was chosen as a leading Co-Chair among Brazil, Norway, Rwanda, and Cambodia to launch the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems. This is a platform for countries with strong plans to produce food for now and in the future.

Deputy Minister of Health 2 Dr. Jalikatu Mustapha disclosed that to address challenges in the health sector, at the COP28 summit they were able to secure solar electrification for at least 1000 health facilities by 2025 and also got a strong commitment to solar electrify all the 1600 health facilities in the country. Dr. Jalikatu added that the Ministry aims to reduce the distance of health facilities across the country, therefore, the goal of the Ministry is to ensure the country has 2000 health facilities by 2030, meaning they will build more structures to ensure health centers are closer to the people.

Dr. Jalikatu informed the public that, they secured funding in COP28 to solar electrify 11 tertiary and secondary health facilities including Connaught Hospital.

The Minister of Technical and Higher Education Dr. Ramatulai Wurie updated the public on the Kono University of Science and Technology. The government has secured a loan of $ 32 million from the Eximbank for the total construction of the University. In a show of strong commitment, the government of Sierra Leone also contributed $ 2 million to kickstart the project.

Dr. Wurie informed us that a transition team has been set up for the smooth running of the University of Kono this academic year. Temporal locations for classrooms have been identified for classes until the construction of the University is fully completed.

The following are courses/programs the University of Kono will be offering BSc. Mining Engineering, BSc. Computer Science, BSc. Information Technology, Diploma in Information Technology, BSc. in Business Information Systems, Bsc. Livestock Management, BSc. Horticulture, BSc. Crop Production, Bsc. Land Resource Management and Diploma in Land Resource Management.

Admission to the University of Kono is now open. Online applications can be done at https://kust.edu.sl/

So far about 80 students have applied and 20% are women. The Ministry encourages more women to apply.

The Minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah thanked Sierra Leoneans immensely for following the Weekly Government Press Briefing. He encouraged citizens to follow the official social media platforms of the Ministry for cogent and factual information. He extended a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all Sierra Leoneans.