August 30, 2018
Exactly a month after taking office as new Commissioner of National Commission for Sicial Action (NaCSA), Abu Bockarie Kokofele recently toured ongoing NaCSA projects and addressed field staff in Port Loko.
At the District Council Hall in Port Loko Monday, 27th August, Commissioner Kokofele addressed staff and stakeholders of the Sierra Leone Community Driven Development Project (SLCDDII) at the session forming the opening of a weeklong training on Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA), AKVO tools and Agricultural Value Chains (AVCs) workshop for project field staff.
Speaking on the importance of the training, Commissioner Kokofele said, the workshop provides learning opportunity for participants. This engagement, he noted, will lead to the conduct of Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA), from which the wish lists for beneficiary communities will be generated to feed into the Project Master Plan.
The AKVO tools, he went on, will generate real time data that could be used at various levels for management reports and decision making. On the feasibility studies, Commissioner Kokofele reiterated the importance of it, noting that it would determine the most appropriate agricultural value chains for each of the seven Rural Growth Poles chiefdoms.
The new NaCSA boss expressed delight over the reception accorded him and confirmed his commitment in continuing the good relationship that have existed between NaCSA and the district. “There are six (6) Quick Win Sub-Projects in Port Loko district:- two Community Health Posts (CHPs) in Mange Bureh Town and Kagbanthama, three (3) primary schools in Mange Bureh Town, Rogbithon, Gbinti Town and one Junior Secondary School in Gbinti Town,” he outlined.
These structures, he noted will meaningfully contribute to the New Direction of the SLPP Government of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, and according to him, this will resonate to: “the provision of free access to quality primary and secondary education, support to health, water, hygiene and sanitation; and provision of renewable energy through solar power or hydro and the provision of micro enterprise development.”
Commissioner Kokofele concluded by appealing to the consultants to make every effort in preparing participants for the field work, and requested the latter to rise to the occasion in grabbing as much knowledge to enable them prepare themselves for the field work ahead. He also pleaded with the Resident Minister and the other stakeholders, including the Chairman of the District Council and representative of the host chiefdom to use their good offices to allow the workshop on Saturday, as the closing ceremony of the event coincides with the national cleaning day.
Resident Minister North-Western Region, Haja Isata Abdulai Kamara, while delivering her keynote address, expressed delight over the training, which she noted was geared towards generating the wish lists of the beneficiary communities that will directly feed into the Master Plan. She commended NaCSA for the involvement of stakeholders in their implementations, affirming that one cannot walk around Port Loko and Kerene districts without seeing projects of NaCSA. These, she noted, include schools and Community Health Posts in the Debia and BKM Chiefdoms, to name a few. “These structures when completed, will meaningfully contribute to the new direction drive in enhancing quality education and health service delivery in the country,” she said. She wished the participants successful deliberations and thanked NaCSA for what she described as a wonderful engagement.
In a similar engagement and as part of his maiden field exercise, Commissioner Kokofele paid surprise visits to sites under construction by NaCSA through its Sierra Leone Community Driven Development Project (SLCDDII) in the Bureh chiefdom (formally BKM) in the Port Loko district.
At the Kambia Morie Community Primary school (formally known as the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood), the commissioner made a conducted tour of the six (6) classrooms building, the head teacher’s quarter and VIP latrines for the pupils. The status of work at this site is close to completion, save painting, fixing of glasses on the windows and mounting of water tank towers.
Commissioner Kokofele expressed delight over the status and quality of work. He called on the construction firm to expedite the work to ensure that the keys are handed over before the start of the new academic year. He raised few concerns, including the positioning of the water tower to house the tank that will be supplying water to the school. This, he recommended, should be placed at a central location to serve both the school and the head teacher’s quarter.
At the Mange Community Health Post, where work is going at a slow pace, the commissioner urged the Programme Management team and Community Management Committee members to fast track the construction.
The commissioner was led by NaCSA Port Loko District Coordinator, Soriba Yansaneh, and accompanied by Senior Director of Programmes, Alpha Sankoh, the SLCDD II Programme Manager, Sheku Tejan Kamara, and the IEC Programme Manager, George Nyambe Williams.