By Sessay Bangura
President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone Wednesday addressed the opening of this year’s Government of Sierra Leone and European Union, EU, political dialogue, to outline areas of cooperation and set the agenda for discussions.
The 2023 Session, chaired by Chief Minister, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, and featuring Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, H.E. Manuel Müller, Ambassador of the European Union to Sierra Leone and heads of other EU missions in the region, will also review the state of relations and elicit commitments to instruments of development cooperation and shared values.
At the dialogue, GoSL is expected to share the country’s interest in budget support, agree on aid effectiveness principles that focus on results, partnership, transparency and mutual accountability. It will also discuss the President’s position on fundamental values like human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights.
President Julius Maada called on the EU for technical and financial support for his Big Five agenda and registered his strong commitment to those fundamental values, citing his government’s efforts at progressive legal and regulatory frameworks to liberalise the political space and improve economic development and social advancement.
“We have created the National Investment Board for ease of doing business and enacted progressive laws like the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment law that guarantees at least 30% quota for women as demonstrated in my cabinet and parliament. We repealed the Seditious Libel Law that criminalised free speech and expunged the death penalty.
“I thank the EU and partners for supporting our fight against corruption that has been commended internationally. We have the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Presidential Initiative for Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security, chaired by Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, to cushion its effects on agriculture and food security,” President Bio stated.
He called on the EU and partners to support regional efforts at dealing with political instability, unconstitutional change of governments and terrorism especially in the Sahel, adding that development would not be sustainable in countries that faced those threats.
The EU Ambassador, earlier paid tribute to the many years of EU/Sierra Leone cooperation and announced the presence of the EU mission and private sector representatives before outlining their expectations of government and specifically asking the President for advice on how they could improve relations.
“We are willing to continue our support to the Big Five agenda of the government on the most relevant challenges, the FEED SALONE and food security, green economy and clean energy, human capital development and governance. Good governance is key and may open doors for stringer engagements,” he said.
