By Hassan Osman Kargbo
The United States’ Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Bryan Hunt, accompanied by other senior foreign diplomats like the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney has visited the newly elected Mayor of Bo City Council.
The historic visit took place on Wednesday 1st November 2023 that cumulated to a two separate meetings with Diplomats held at the Provincial Secretary South’s conference room in Bo.
Making his statement, the United States’ Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Bryan Hunt, among other things pointed out that since he arrived in the country, he has come to the realization that Freetown is not Sierra Leone, hence the reason him and team were in Bo to interface with people and familiarize himself with the Bo people and authorities of the said city.
The USA Ambassador further disclosed that he and his team went to Bo to ascertain the council’s operations, challenges and see how the United States Embassy can intervene to salvage those challenges faced by the council.
The Diplomat assured the Mayor and other provincial stakeholders present that the United States Embassy will surely look into the concerns raised for serious considerations.
The British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney MBA also informed dignitaries that the British government is deeply connected with Sierra Leone and Bo City is not an exception, and as such, whatever happens to Bo or Sierra Leone in general will affects the British government as well.
Ambassador Chesney admitted that the requests of Mayor Kobba are noted and that her commission shall look into them and sees if those concerns falls within their purview for intervention and they will surely revert to the Mayor in due course.
She informed the Mayor that the meeting is not the last meeting between the two while reiterating her desire for much more collaboration with the Mayor and the people of Bo district.
‘Mr. Mayor, this shall not be the last meeting between us as we look forward to much more collaboration with you,’ the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone stated.
Welcoming the Foreign Diplomats in Bo, Mayor Kobba Musa stated that Bo City is a relatively peaceful distinction in the country, adding that the people of Bo pride peace over violence in the country.
He informed the foreign diplomats about the challenges that Bo city Council is faced with and called on them to help the council in salvaging those problems. He mentioned that key among the problems that the council is faced with are the unavailability of waste fleets and finance to clean the city of Bo.
‘Key to the problems we have is the unavailability of waste fleets and finance to clean the city,’ Mayor Kobba stated.
He added that the city is expanding in population on a daily basis which he noted implies that waste generation increases within the city, hence , the challengers makes it almost impossible to properly manage the generated waste from different quarters in the city.
Mayor Kobba appealed for scholarship opportunities for young people of Bo City as that will enhance the human capital development of the city and the country as a whole. He noted further that the more youths are capacitated, the more they can contribute to the growth and development of the city and the country as a whole.
‘The more our youths are capacitated, the more they can contribute to the growth and development of the city and the country,’ he stated.
