Exclusive Interview with Khadija Sesay : OGI heads for Nigeria and the UK

Published on November 30, 2010 by Cocorioko News · No Comments

The Director of the Open Government Initiative , Ms. Khadija Sesay , last night held an exclusive interview with COCORIOKO during which she disclosed the successes and the way forward for one of President Ernest Koroma’s pet projects. Madam Sesay delightfully said that the OGI has been a tremendous success , having completed its jampacked program of holding town meetings in all the 12 districts of Sierra Leone and the Western Urban and Rural areas, as well as the United States of America.

According to Khadija Sesay, the OGI wrapped up its town meetings in Sierra Leone for the first three-year review period last Saturday with a huge and successful meeting held at the Magburaka Town Hall , Magburaka in the Tonkolili District . She said that hundreds of villagers and townsfolk came to the hall to hear about how their government and its three branches–Executive, Legislative and Judiciary -operate in Sierra Leone. They were also given the opportunity to air out their concerns and to ask questions about things they did not understand.

Having completed their scheduled town meetings, the OGI will be holding a big Consultative meeting with stakeholders, civil society , representatives of political parties , the media and other groups and organizations in Freetown on Wednesday to prepare for the forthcoming Citizens’ Review and Report Card on the OGI and President Ernest Koroma’s Agenda For Change. Asked to propound on the meaning of the Citizens’ Report Card, Khadija Sesay explained that what the OGI also did, apart from its regular town meetinhgs, was to conduct meetings wherever the government was busy carrying out a development project. People were given the opportunity to evaluate the project in terms of its relevance and usefulness to them and how successfully it was implemented. The OGI had prepared questionnaires through which citizens will evaluate the successes or failures of the OGI and the President’s Agenda For Change, and they will produce what will be known as a Citizens’ Report Card The review will help the OGI identify its successes , challenges and future plans.

KHADIJA IN YELLOW OGI T-SHIRT HOLDING A DISCUSSION WITH SIERRA LEONEANS IN THE OFFICE OF THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY ON THE EVE OF THE OGI TOWN MEETING IN THE U.S. SHE IS SHAKING HANDS WITH THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE DAILY MAIL , FODAY MORRIS, WHILE COCORIOKO’S ASSISTANT CEO DR. WILFRED BANKOLE-GIBSON AND THE PAPER FEMALE WRITER ROSETTA ZIZER FACE THE CAMERA.

NANNETTE THOMAS , THE IRON LADY OF THE APC TEXAS , ENJOYS FUN WITH KHADIJA SESAY WHILE FODAY MORRIS AND ROSETTA ZIZER WATCH .

OGI VOLUNTEERS MADINA RAHMAN (STANDING )AND FATU FOFANA POSE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY LEADER MRS. HARRIET TURAY WHO CONDUCTED THE RECENT OGI IN NEW YORK

Khadija Sesay said that the OGI was forging ahead with town meetings with Sierra Leoneans living outside the country. She will be leaving for Nigeria after Wednesday’s Consultative Meeting to prepare for a massive town meeting with Sierra Leoneans in Lagos in January. Ms. Sesay disclosed that she will visit even refugee camps where Sierra Leoneans live to sensitize them about events in Sierra Leone because President Koroma wants to meet with all of them , address them and give them the opportunity to ask questions about issues of national concern . The Lagos OGI Meeting will be followed by another important one, this time in the United Kingdom.

Khadija said Sierra Leone’s OGI Program has impressed many African countries and she has been invited to some African capitals to conduct town meetings.

WE WILL BRING YOU MORE REPORTS ABOUT KHADIJA SESAY’S NIGERIAN TRIP.

TOP PHOTO : FROM LEFT : SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT EMMANUEL OSHO-COKER; KHADIJA SESAY; PERMANENT SECRETARY AT STATE HOUSE , A. KANU; AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY KABS KANU