President Koroma’s New Envoy Meets with Sierra Leoneans in Saudi

By M.B. Jalloh, Press Attache', Saudi Arabia :

Sierra Leoneans massively filled the premises of the Embassy of Sierra
Leone on Friday, 18th April, 2014 upon invitation by the Embassy and
the Sierra Leone Nationals’ Union to meet, for the first time, with
H.E, President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s new envoy to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Alhaji Mohamed Sillah Kargbo.



The new envoy’s first meeting with his nationals attracted the beaming
faces of women and children, university students, the well-rounded
wisdom of expatriates living in the Kingdom, the colourful presence of
other nationals and many more.

In his opening remarks, Chairman of the meeting, the Head of
Chancery/Minister Counsellor, Umaru S. Dura, warmly welcomed the
audience for the huge turn-out even when the meeting was convened
within a short notice. Before he took the podium, the new envoy was
introduced by the Embassy’s Press Attaché.



When His Excellency Ambassador M.S. Kargbo eventually took the stage,
the audience was mesmerized, first by his humility and charisma, then
by his captivating oratory skills that spotlighted his early years as
a politician. Addressing his nationals, the new envoy thanked Allah
the Almighty for His extraordinary bounties for making it possible for
everyone to converge at the mission on that day safe and sound. He
then lavishly prayed for the massive audience. On his behalf and that
of his family he thanked each and every one for the efforts they
exerted to be present there.

Further, Ambassador M.S Kargbo conveyed the warm greetings and
appreciation of H.E, President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to the Sierra
Leone community in the Kingdom and stated that the President is aware
of the fact that there are good Sierra Leoneans resident in Saudi
Arabia. He intimated that the President is appealing to such Sierra
Leoneans to take their good back to Sierra Leone in order to
contribute in nation building.

Ambassador Kargbo made it abundantly clear to all and sundry that he
has been honoured with the ambassadorial appointment to this part of
the world in order to seek the interest of his country and to serve
the Sierra Leone nationals resident in this holy monarchy within the
laws of the country. And he hastened to declare that his mission here
is not to represent a particular political party; but, rather, it is
to serve Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans, irrespective of their
political, regional and tribal affiliations. In a nutshell, he said he
is an ambassador for all, without the least discrimination. He said
his office will be open to all, particularly those who have something
worthwhile to discuss; something that should be of substance and value
to help Sierra Leone move forward.

On a special note, H.E M.S Kargbo appealed to all the Sierra Leone
nationals here in the Kingdom to help him succeed in his mission by
counseling and directing him to wherever he can possibly and legally
get something of substance for Sierra Leone. For the interest of
Sierra Leone, he reiterated, he is ready to go the extra mile in order
to bring about development to Sierra Leone. He admonished his
nationals to always have Sierra Leone in the back of their minds as
priority number one. On the other hand, Ambassador Kargbo strongly
advised all his nationals to abide by the laws, rules and regulations
of the host country, which is Saudi Arabia. He said Sierra Leoneans
should continue to steadfastly maintain the good and impeccable image
they have portrayed about their country over the years. He prayed for
the continued welfare of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Monarch.
He then further informed the audience of the upcoming 53rd Sierra
Leone Independence anniversary and requested everyone to participate
to ensure that their national day is observed in a befitting fashion.

Earlier, the First Secretary of the mission, Salamu Koroma, laid the
road map of the independence celebrations and gave a brief insight of
the program and how it was to be executed.

Taking the podium, the President of the Sierra Leone Nationals’ Union
in the Kingdom, Uthman Kargbo, first and foremost thanked Allah the
Almighty for making it possible for the Sierra Leone community in
Riyadh to converge as one unit on the premises of the Embassy on that
blessed day. He thanked everyone for showing up at so short a notice;
a gesture he described as an indication of true patriotism. He also,
on behalf of himself and the Union welcomed the new Ambassador and
wished him and his family a happy stay in Saudi Arabia and a
successful tour of duty.

Kargbo pledged that the Union will cooperate with the Embassy on
national issues and will continue to be of service as it has
invariably been in the past two decades. He assured the new Ambassador
that his Union will cooperate with him to ensure his success. He also
promised the participation of the nationals in the upcoming 53rd
Sierra Leone Independence anniversary, emphasizing that it’s a
national issue which all Sierra Leoneans should support. The Union
leader also used the opportunity to introduce the past leaders of the
Union and what they have done for the community.

Ibrahim Yousuf Sillah, the first president of the Union, was the next
speaker. He thanked the Union’s President for his rightful recognition
of the past leaderships of the Union. He said it was so kind and
respectful of the president to have done so and assured him that
because of that thoughtful gesture of his, he, too, will definitely be
duly respected and recognized by his successors in the future. Sillah
then warmly welcomed the new envoy, Alhaji MS Kargbo, and said that,
as a long dwelling national in the Kingdom, he has almost certainly
seen all the former envoys come and go, but never before had he never
witnessed the sort of the warm and massive welcome that Ambassador
Kargbo received right upon his arrival at King Khaled International
Airport at a very odd night hour a couple of weeks ago.

He said over fifty Sierra Leone nationals were present at the airport
in a colourful array to welcome their new Ambassador. He attributed
that symbolic but significant national gesture to two factors. First,
because of his interactions with the Sierra Leone community in Saudi
Arabia during ‘hajj’ in his capacity as part of the Hajj Mission in
the past four years, adding that, Ambassador MS Kargbo has become a
cordial and familiar face to all. Second, through their interactions
with the then Hajj Mission leader, the Sierra Leone community has come
to form an idea about the sort of caliber Ambassador Kargbo is. Mr.
Sillah thanked the diplomatic staff headed by Umaru Dura for their
cooperation with the community and informed Ambassador M.S Kargbo that
he has in place a formidable team to work with.

Giving the vote of thanks, the second president of the Sierra Leone
Nationals’ Union Unisa Kanu, emphasized the significance of the
effective national role the Union has been playing since it was
established over twenty years ago. He said the Embassy has always been
the venue where nationals meet once every month to discuss issues of
their concern and interest, especially in the holy month of Ramadan
where they would meet on the four Fridays of the month to recite the
Holy Quran and pray for Sierra Leone. Kanu welcomed and thanked all
for turning up in such a high spirit purposely to meet the new
Ambassador. However, he cautioned that people should only come around
Ambassador Kargbo with genuine issues. He reiterated the Ambassador’s
appeal that everyone in their various capacities should be of help to
the Ambassador to enable him carry out his mission in an atmosphere of
peace that would lead to glowing successes.