Published on October 5, 2010 by Cocorioko News · No Comments
By Leeroy Wilfred Kabs-Kanu
President Ernest Koroma’s optimistic assessment of Sierra Leone’s socio-economic and political progress during his gigantic performance at the recent Open Government Initiative ( OGI ) Town Meeting in New York , received a well-deserved vindication from the Mo Ibrahim Index Report yesterday ,when Sierra Leone scored a higher percentage over most of her West African neighbours .
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an organisation “committed to supporting good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Index assesses the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by governments and non-state actors across 88 indicators,” according to a press statement from Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Media Centre.
Sierra Leone ranked 33rd out of 53 countries with a total percentage of 44.61 in the overall assessment of her progress in Safety and the Rule of Law, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and human development , ahead of neighbours Liberia (43.71), Niger (43.6), Mauritania ( 43.56), Togo (42.84), Nigeria ( 42.65), Guinea Bissau ( 42.9), Ivory Coast ( 37.75) and Guinea ( 36.15) . Other countries Sierra Leone ranked above are Ethiopia, Cameroon, Congo, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Sudan, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Democratic Congo , Chad and Somalia.
PRESIDENT KOROMA MEETS GEORGE SOROS IN NEW YORK : WATCH HIS CONFIDENCE AND SMILE
Though Sierra Leone is a country blessed with perhaps the most abundant mineral resources in West Africa, and also one of the best human resources in the continent, with the country once the Athens of West Africa, and because of these factors she should have done even better , yet our progress is still very impressive , considering the fact that we are recovering from the most brutal and destructive war ever fought on the continent. When President Koroma AGENDA FOR CHANGE is fully implemented , Sierra Leone will sit head and shoulders above most African countries.
PRESIDENT KOROMA HOLDING TALKS WITH DFID MINISTER ANDREW MITCHELL : OBSERVE HIS SELF-CONFIDENCE AND THAT SMILE
The Mo Ibrahim Report is another telling vindication of the fact that Sierra Leone is headed in the right direction under the leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma. The Report , like the other reviews from the United Nations and other International organizations that gauge governance , economic performance and living conditions , demonstrate clearly that efforts to discredit the President’s performance by the patently unfair anti-government journalists aligned with the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) are not bearing the desired fruits. The Mo Ibrahim Report is another bloody defeat for these biased elements , most of them journalists, who want to create the wrong impression to the world that Sierra Leone is not doing well under the rule of the All People’s Congress ( APC ) Government.
PRESIDENT KOROMA AND DFID MINISTER ANDREW MITCHELL: ONCE AGAIN, WATCH THE SMILE AND CONFIDENT BODY LANGUAGE OF PRESIDENT KOROMA
However , if there is one person who is fully confident that the government is performing remarkably well , it is none other than President Ernest Bai Koroma himself. No man is as positive and confident both in his public demeanor and statements than President Koroma.While some leaders walk around sullen and downcast as if they are carrying the world’s burden on their shoulders, Sierra Leone has a President who walks around with a fascinating smile on his face. Even the world leaders and stakeholders President Koroma interfaced with recently in New York noticed the President’s supreme self-confidence and pleasant demeanor always topped with his trademark flashy smiles .
During the jampacked OGI Town Meeting on Saturday September 25 at the Riverside Church in Harlem, New York, President Koroma spoke and answered questions with bold self-confidence and he even told his audience that because of his hard work and achievements, he is not a one-term President and that appreciative Sierra Leoneans will give him a second term.
I was with President Koroma when he held meetings with stakeholders like the British Department of International Development ( DFID ) Minister Andrew Mitchell, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair , Billionaire George Soros and other prospective investors .The President was composed, confident and assured in their discussions and even shared humour with them. The President knows that he is doing a great job and is unmoved by the propaganda of dissident elements.
Only Sierra Leoneans who do not want to hear good tidings about their country would not find something in the Mo Ibrahim Report that will make them glad and optimistic about the future of their motherland.
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