His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has received members of the National Farmers Federation of Sierra Leone, NaFFSL, who converged to extend their congratulations to the President and Vice President for winning the June 24 elections.
The farmers assured the President of supporting his second-term priority agenda of ensuring there is food self-sufficiency in the country.
The president of the National Farmers Federation of Sierra Leone, Yatta Samai, on behalf of her group, conveyed their congratulatory message to President Bio and Vice President Jalloh for their re-election. She thanked God for bringing them together as they extended their gratitude and congratulations to the government.
The NaFFSL president said, “His Excellency, we are here today with over 2,000 farmers from across the country to extend our congratulations to you and your vice president for winning the June 24 elections. The results of the elections are reflective of the voters, especially with the level of development you have championed in your first tenure in office.
“As farmers in Sierra Leone, we are here to assure you and your government of our fullest support for your manifesto commitment to ensuring there is more than enough food to feed ourselves in the country. Since you campaigned and promised the people of Sierra Leone that your second term will be focused on agriculture, be assured that we, the farmers, are hereby pledging our commitment to your vision towards ensuring the transformation of our country into a food self-sufficient nation,”
President Julius Maada Bio, while addressing the farmers, described the day as an important one for his government and the nation. He emphasized that elections are over and that it’s time for all well-meaning citizens to focus on building the nation by consolidating the gains already made by the country’s democracy.
“You are an integral partner to my second term in office because you have engaged in the agricultural sector for quite a long time with a lot of experience. My agenda priority is agriculture, which indicates that as a nation we are on the verge of moving towards achieving actual independence by feeding ourselves.
“My government is planning to hold a big consultative engagement with farmers across the country to identify those obstacles that affect food production. We are going to listen to your concerns and challenges and map out as a nation the way forward towards achieving food self-sufficiency. As a government, our aim is to ensure we feed this nation with the support of you, the farmers”.
President Bio futher stated that his government wanted agriculture to be intensive and profitable for farmers, and he called on them to properly make use of the farming equipment available in the country to transform their status from that of smallholder farming into large-scale farming. He called on all Sierra Leoneans and farmers, in particular, to join his government on his drive to feed the nation.
In another engagement, the President received members of the Traders across Sierra Leone, who paid a congratulatory courtesy call on President Julius Maada Bio and Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. The Traders congratulated them on their re-election and assured them of working with the government for the development of the nation.
Mohamed Lamin Lukullay, from the PZ Chapter and National Market Women Association, congratulated the President and his Vice upon their re-election, pointing out that, they were proud and happy for the government’s interventions which benefitted Traders in several areas such as the MUNAFA Fund, NaCSA Cash Transfer and Free Quality Education Programme.
The Vice President of the Traders Council of Sierra Leone, Vandy Lansana, said their constituency is one of the biggest, noting that their focus presently is on social protection. He said that because they believed in the leadership and vision of President Bio, they voted for his re-election to enable him to continue his transformation agenda for the country.
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