*By Tamba Borbor*
The ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) Party which has been in power since 2007 has ensured that Kono District gets its own fair share of development in the country.
As a District which has been without good roads in the hearts of the City, electricity and pipe-borne water for over 20 years, the residents of Koidu are experiencing a very different environment these days- all thanks to the APC-led Government.
The City is now provided with 12 hours of uninterrupted electricity supply for seven days a week, while the once dust and mud-riddled City now boasts of tarred roads in the municipality- much to the delight of the people.
Speaking to Komba Foday, a Youth Leader in Koidu about the impact of the development strides championed by the ruling Government, he expressed that “we have long suffered from dust and mud in the city. Even when you dress up well to go out in the past, the dust and mud would get you dirty even before going to the place you’re headed. Nowadays, it’s different because most of the streets in the City are tarred and we appreciated the APC Government led by President Ernest Bai Koroma.”
He went on to state that the provision of electricity to the Koidu Municipality has transformed the local economy as residents can now engage in small businesses which would have been impossible without electricity.
Koidu City boasts of two thermal plants- a 2 megawatts and 6 megawatts; the latter of which would soon be operational after the completion of the ongoing expansion of supply lines in the municipality and its environs to ensure 24-hours electricity supply.
On the issue of restoring pipe-borne water to the Koidu City, which has been without clean and safe drinking water for over 20 years, the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) with funds from the African Development Bank (ADB) has started feasibility studies on the Koidu Water and Sanitation Project which is expected to be completed in 2018.
With all these tangible developments ongoing in Kono District through the sustained advocacy and facilitation of indigenes like Madam Finda Diana Konomanyi (Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment) including other notable Konos in the current political dispensation, the people of Kono have vowed to repay the APC Government with their votes come 2018 elections.
“We are ready to ensure that the APC Government continues in power after the next elections so that our district would benefit from more development programmes,” David Morsay, the Public Relations Officer of the Kono Bike Riders Association stated; adding that the interest of Kono overweighs all other individual interest.
He noted that in the past years, the sound of generators was normal to the ears of the people of Koidu City but with the restoration of electricity in the city, residents have been rid of the noise pollution which ensures that pupils and students can study at night to enhance their academic performance.
In just 9 years of APC rule, the developmental transformation of Kono District is so glaring that the people of the district believe voting for the ‘Red Sun’ is the only way to continue the trend for the benefit of all including those yet unborn.
