July 13, 2017 By Alfred Fornah Jr.
Photo: Records Management Professionals and the Minister posing for the Camera
A group of Records Management Professionals from different Government Ministries Departments and Agencies has on Tuesday, 11th July, 2017 paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Information and Communications at his Youyi Building office in Freetown.
The Purpose of their visit was to engage the Minister on the new Archives Bill. Mr. Albert More, Senior Government Archivist and Head of Sierra Leone Public Archives, expressed thanks and appreciation to the minister for his laudable effort in ensuring that the new National Records Archives Bill reached its current position.
“We have been fighting for this for over fifteen years now and the incumbent leadership at the Ministry of Information and Communications should be commended for stepping up effort on the issue with regards the amendment of the Public Archives Act’’ Mr. Moore explained.
He further appealed to the Minister to keep up the momentum until the bill becomes law
The Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Mohamed Bangura, in his statement, said the Bill has already been gazetted, and it just a matter of time to be tabled in parliament.
He promised that they will accordingly inform members of the visiting team at any time parliament called them to table it.
The Director, Society For Knowledge Management- Sierra Leone (SKM), Umaru Bangura noted that his organization is a civil society institution that is working towards improving the quality of access to information and Knowledge management.
He added that they have been organizing workshops on knowledge management, and also have been on radio several times to advocate about the amendment of the 1965 Public Archives Act. He however commended the minister for demonstrating the required leadership and the much needed interest in the bill.