BY KABS KANU :
The Director of the Open Government Initiative/ Open Government Partnership , Mrs. Khadija Sesay, last week held a meeting in New York with the organizer of the upcoming Sierra Leone Fashion Week, Ms. Tia Knox, ย at the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations.
MS. KHADIJA SESAY : OGI/OGP DIRECTOR
According to Ms. Khadija Sesay ย in an interview with COCORIOKOย , the Sierra Leone Fashion Week Industry invited the OGI to New York for the Initiative to add value to what the Industry would be doing ย with regards to Sierra Leone . โBecause of the credibility ย garnered over the years by the OGI, the Sierra Leone Fashion Week Industry ย wanted us to add value to the talents that Sierra Leoneans would be demonstrating during the Fashion Weekโ, ย she added.
Khadija Sesay said that the invitation of the Fashion Week organizers leveraged on the mandate of the OGI/OGP ย to provide a level ground for all Sierra Leoneans. Madam Sesay further stated ย that the beauty contest, ย being a private sector activity, ย also falls within the mandate given ย to the OGI ย to work with the private sector.
The Sierra Leone Fashion Week will be held in New York on April 20 to 24 , 2016.
AT THE SIERRA LEONE MISSION : FROM RIGHT : TIAH KNOX, HOC ALHUSINE SESAY AMBASSADOR KOROMA, OGI DIRECTOR KHADIJA SESAY , MR. SALIFU CONTEH AND MR. FODAY MANSARAY
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Permanent Representative for Political Affairs, Ambassador Amadu Koroma, the Head of Chancery/ Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Alhusine Sesay , Counselor Franklin Fawundu , Mr. Foday Mansaray of New Jersey and a World Bank representative, Mr. Salifu Conteh.
The Fashion organization and the OGI had the meeting ย to give Ms. Tiah Knox the opportunity to disclose the aims and objectives of her organization and her future plans.
In another development , Ms. Khadija Sesay , on Christmas Day, visited ย New Jersey where she met with a group of Sierra Leoneans whom she acquainted with the objectives ย and activities of the OGI/OGP.
During the New Jersey meeting, ย which was chaired by Mr.Foday Mansaray, Ms. Sesay said, among other things, that she is non-partisan and works with the media, civil society , womenโs groups and all strata of the society to bring the Government ย closer to the people.
She highly commended President Ernest Bai Koroma for giving the OGI/OGP ย freedom and leeway to conduct its operations, without any interference from the executive branch of the government . The OGI/OGP, she went on, ย allows citizens to criticize the government where necessary to help improve its functions .
The OGI/OGP Director said she will be traveling next to Virginia and ย that she will be holding meetings ย at the White House and the State Department with U.S ย officials in Washington DC.
