Aspirants vying for the parliamentary hot seat for Port Loko Central, now dubbed Constituency 49 have been selling their priorities to their constituents in a dialogue organized by the Talking Drums Studios at the Maforki court barray.
The session was in collaboration with DFID and Iris Aid, and it attracted all the candidates with the exception of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Chairing the meeting was the Field Officer of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society in the district, Ibrahim S. Bangura, emphasized that the session offered an opportunity to all the candidates to give accounts of themselves and further explain their parties’ manifestos.
He further told the gathering that the event would give the constituents the opportunity to hear what priorities the aspirants had in store for them if they were elected to parliament.
Quite apart from the general public which had the opportunity to pose direct questions to the aspirants, certain stakeholders including the Regent Chief of Maforki, the Local Unit Commander, a representative of the District Youth League and that of the National Election Watch were also privileged to make statements.
Outlining their visions for the hottest seat in the district were UNPP’s candidate Joseph Bangura, Mohamed Kabba Koroma of the CPP, Madam Haja Ya-paite Sankoh of the PMDC and Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay of the APC.
In their respective dialogues, APC’s Kemoh Sesay took the opportunity to explain in details their manifesto and why he should be voted in as their parliamentarian come August 11, while CPP’s Mohamed Koroma simply asked to be contacted later for comments on their manifesto. Joseph Bangura of UNPP was perplexed when questioned about his educational background.
As for Madam Haja Ya-paite Sankoh, the only female aspirant, she emphasized that her focus would be on the promotion of educational standards with special reference to the girl child.