State House, Freetown, Thursday, 24 August 2023 – Four deputy ministers have taken the oath of office at a brief swearing-in ceremony before His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, where they thanked him for reposing a huge confidence in young people, especially women.
They included the Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Yema Mimi Soba-Stephens, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Mohamed Haji-Kella, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Moriba Koroma and Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Umaru Napoleon Koroma Esq.
On behalf of his colleagues, Mr Koroma thanked President Bio for carefully choosing the crop of young people to serve with him in line with his vision, adding that he was aware of the gains he and others made in the President’s first term and assured of their determination to do more.
He recalled that six years ago when he was contesting for the Secretary-General position of the Sierra Leone People’s Party, SLPP, he was the youngest among the contestants, but he was strongly supported by President Bio, proof that he had always loved to work with young people.
“I know that President Bio has a vision for this country. Any time I had the opportunity to talk to him, he would tell me about his vision for Sierra Leone. He has given us this responsibility to serve our people, so we should serve diligently and not disappoint him,” he said.
In his response, President Bio told the deputy ministers that they were under the microscope to deliver, urging them to use every minute that they had in their various ministries to leave a legacy.
“None of you are strangers to public life. So, we should make sure we deliver for our people. It is not business as usual when deputy ministers are left to follow. You are always free to come up with brilliant ideas that would contribute to this country’s development,” he told the deputy ministers.
He also reminded them that no one was going to fix the country but the citizens of Sierra Leone, noting that, “we should live up to our best because we have what it takes to restore Sierra Leone’s lost glory”.
He assured them that he would always listen to the good ideas they would come up with, adding that once they made sense, he would support them.
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