On assuming office
on September 17, 2007, I promised a progressive
turnaround for this country in three years. I
firmed up our aspirations for this turn around
in An Agenda for Change. We emphasized five
areas in this Agenda for Change; Agriculture,
Energy, Infrastructure, Health and Education. We
straight away put the agenda to action. Within
three months of my assumption of office, we
ensured a turnaround for electricity in Freetown
by restoring light to the capital.
We have not
stopped making this turn around in all the
sectors we prioritized. We completed Bumbuna, a
project started by the APC over three decades
ago, but which no other government but my APC
government could complete. We are sustaining
this turnaround in energy provision by doubling
the amount of electricity generated by the BKPS
in Bo and Kenema, and by the electrification of
all provincial and district headquarter towns.
We have also
ensured a turnaround in Agriculture. From under
2% we have increased allocation to the sector to
nearly 10% of our national budget, in line with
our commitments to the Maputo declaration. From
under 30 tractors we have increased the number
of tractors in this country to almost 300. We
have designed and launched the National
Agriculture Development Plan to guide our
interventions in the sector, in line with the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Plan. For these achievements we have been
declared champions of Agriculture in Africa by
CAADP.
We are sustaining
this turnaround in Agriculture by designing,
launching and implementing the Small Holder
Commercialization Program. For too long
Agriculture has been done in this country on a
subsistence basis; for too long farmers, who
constitute over 65% of the population of this
country have not been able to move themselves
out of the poverty of subsistence agriculture.
We are determined to stop this. The Small holder
Commercialization Program, worth hundreds of
millions of dollars will move agriculture away
from subsistence to commercialization
We have ensured a
turnaround in infrastructure by launching the
biggest road construction program in the
country’s history. We have completed new
highways between Masiaka and Bo, Bo and Kenema,
and Makeni and Matotoka.
Construction is
ongoing on the highways between Freetown and
Conakry, and Kenema and Pendembu, and on the
roads between Lumley and Tokeh and Port and
Lungi. We are constructing roads in all
provincial and district headquarter towns; work
has already started in Bo, Maguraka, Kenema and
Makeni. Contracts have been awarded for Port
Loko and Kambia, and contracts have also been
designed and tendered for Koidu, Kailahun,
Moyamba, Bonthe, Kabala and Pujehun. Road
construction is underway in Freetown, from the
widening of the Wilkinson Road to four lanes to
the construction of the Pademba Road- Blackhall
Road hillside road. We have designed a feeder
road policy and we are constructing thousands of
kilometers of feeder roads all over the country.
We are also making
a turnaround in the health sector. Healthcare
provision has been a challenge for many years in
this country. In a survey we conducted nearly
90% of persons stated user fees as the main
obstacle to their accessing health services. The
number of mothers and children dying in this
country is more than almost all other countries
in the world. This is unacceptable; we have to
put a stop to this. We devised the National
Health Sector Strategic Plan, setting out proper
goals and implementation plans for the wellbeing
of our people. We have initiated the Free
Healthcare Initiative for Pregnant Women, Breast
feeding mothers and children under five. Now the
turn around is well underway in the health
sector. There has been an increase of over 70%
in institutional delivery since the launch of
the free health care initiative; more women and
children are accessing health services than ever
before. Now, all over Africa, countries are
following our footsteps by committing themselves
to free health care for mothers and children.
This month our
country will be receiving the MDGs award for the
leadership we are showing in combating HIV/AIDs
Malaria and other diseases
The turnaround in
Education is also underway; we are overhauling
the 6-3-3-4 system. We have issued a white paper
on this and we are establishing an
implementation committee to overhaul the system.
We met a sector ridden with ghost teachers,
ghost schools and pupils; but we are weeding
them out, freeing resources for the sector. We
have recruited thousands of new teachers, and we
are building more schools all over the country.
Our efforts have started paying dividend, as the
recent public examination results show.
We have also
successfully begun a turnaround across other
sectors. Despite the global financial crisis we
have ensured a positive economic growth rate of
5.5% in 2008 and 4.0% in 2009, which is double
the average growth rate of Africa. We have
launched the National Private Sector Development
Program to guide our interventions in the
sector; we have reduced several barriers to
business, making this country the easiest place
to start a business in the sub region. We are
reviewing all mining agreements and we have
successful renegotiated several contracts. We
have passed a New Mining Act, creating a stable
investor friendly environment, attracting
hundreds of millions of dollars in investment
and creating thousands of jobs.
We have stepped up
the fight against corruption, enacting one of
the most robust anti-corruption legislation in
Africa, ensuring the highest annual conviction
for corruption offenses and the recovery of
hundreds of millions of leones for the
government. We are also building the capacity of
the armed forces to ensure peace nationally and
internationally. We have also increased
allocations to all local government councils,
irrespective of which party controls them. The
councils are now designing, implementing and
completing projects that are transforming local
communities all over the country
Fellow Sierra
Leoneans, my government shall sustain this
turnaround. Today I am renewing my pledge unto
you; we shall not tire, we shall not rest until
this country lives up to the true extent of her
potentials. Within three months of my taking
power we fulfilled our pledge to bring
electricity to our capital. Within two years of
my rule, we proved our ability to complete
projects by completing the 30 year old Bumbuna
hydro-electric project. Within three years we
launched the boldest health initiative ever in
the history of this country. In every year of
our rule, we proved our commitment to live up to
the pledges we made to the people of this
country. Today this country is a works yard; the
signs of the transformation are everywhere. In
hospitals, roads, schools, mineral resources,
farming, the transformation is taking place.
That is why today
I am also renewing my call to all Sierra
Leoneans to come onboard and join the positive
transformation of our country. We are
transforming the whole of Sierra Leone, and not
just a part of the nation. Let all who love the
whole of this beautiful country join us in this
work. This is not only about me, or my party, it
is about the whole of Sierra Leone. We owe it
to the people of this country to transform this
country. And by the Grace of the God, we will
sustain this transformation.
