By Ibrahim Hashim
Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Samura Kamara, has unveiled a comprehensive manifesto aimed at fostering national unity, addressing economic deficiencies, and promoting sustainable development across the country.
Kamara’s ten-point plan outlines his vision for a prosperous Sierra Leone founded upon empathic and service-oriented governance, technical competence, and the utilization of data, technology, and innovation.
His manifesto reads as follows:
“Under my presidency, founded upon the principles of empathic and service-oriented governance, technical competence, and recognizing the power of data, technology and innovation, the APC pledges to:
- Build One Nation- rebuilding national unity and cohesion.
We shall take immediate steps to restore national cohesion, peace, and unity in Sierra Leone. We shall foster the equitable distribution of opportunities and undertake constitutional and institutional changes to entrench decentralization and local governance, and ensure fair, transparent and protected access to resources.
2 Address economic deficiencies and the cost-of-living crisis at the structural level.
We shall restore macroeconomic stability and work towards transforming Sierra Leone from a consumption to a competitive production economy. This will include prioritising private sector development, particularly indig- enous businesses and in rural communities, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), as well as other trade blocs and agreements; and harnessing the potentials of digital transformation.
- Intensify efforts in job creation and the establishment of pathways for every adult, especially the youth and women, to earn a living wage.
Through sustainable cross sectoral interventions, we shall collaborate with local and international partners to create jobs while simultaneously reforming and capacitating the civil and public service to prioritize efficient and effective delivery of services.
- Accelerate investments in our people, with a specific focus on the capabilities of our children, women, and youth.
We shall enhance efficient and equitable social spending, elevating the quality of life and explicitly caring for the most vulnerable segments of our population, including women, youth and People with Disabilities (PWDs.
- Accelerate investments in physical and digital infrastructure development
We shall pursue responsible investments in energy, transportation, water supply, urban planning, affordable housing, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We shall also foster regulatory frameworks for mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector, international financial institutions, development agencies, and regional economic bodies.
- Deepen and strengthen decentralization and rural development.
We shall revive our decentralisation programme, and support the administrative and financial empowerment of all local councils on a foundation of accountability, respect and fairness, Urgent measures shall be taken to restore the confidence of our development partners in this critical pillar of our progress. We shall also restore respectibility of our chiefdom governance structures and facilitate their effective functioning.
- Enhance democratic good governance and the rule law.
We shall uphold democratic principles, protect human rights, intensify the fight against corruption, and build robust institutions. We shall give ‘Power to the People’ by creating platforms for them to make inputs into decision-making processes and to hold Government accountable for its actions or inactions.
- Protect our environment, and respond to climate change. We shall roll out improved natural resource management strategies, climate change-focused mitigation and adaptation measures, including the creation of green jobs.
- Strengthen economic diplomacy.
We shall foster strategic partnerships with other jurisdictions, align priorities, ensure value for money in ongoing and future investments, and pursue mutually beneficial partnerships with deep respect for their taxpayers while safeguarding our sovereignty and national integrity.
- Foster partnerships with the Diaspora for national development.
