Following the formal launch of the National Food Basket, Her Excellency Madam Fatima Maada Bio, has on Wednesday 13th May 2020, donated thousands of assorted food items to Sierra Leoneans in the Port Loko District through a team comprising members from the Julius Maada Bio Women’s Wing (JMBWW) and Associate led by the Hon. Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Mrs. Emma Kowa-Jalloh.
The items, which included rice, sugar, oil, salt, face mask and money were donated as Sunakati to persons with disabilities (PWDs), Paramount Chiefs, religious leaders, youth leaders, Bike riders, Ataya Bases, widows and orphanages, health centres, and Market women. The distribution took off at the Port Loko District Council Hall, where different stakeholders and beneficiaries from within the district had gathered in anticipation for what was to come.
Members of the JMBWW and Associate who had gone to facilitate the distribution were introduced by the Director General of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority, Moses Tiffa Baio. In his brief description of the process, he described it as a goodwill gesture of the JMBWW and Associate, while emphasizing that the source of fund was from kindhearted Sierra Leoneans both home and abroad led by the First Lady, Julius Maada Bio Women’s Wing and Associates.
In her welcome address, the Resident Minister North-West Region, Hon. Haja Isata Abdulai-Kamara thanked the JMBWW and Associate for choosing her region for such laudable gesture, adding that Port Loko had always been a peaceful district that is open to more development.
Addressing the gathering, the JMBWW team lead Hon. Emma Kowa-Jalloh expressed that the distribution process was a move that the JMBWW and associates were currently doing in all districts across the country. She praised the district for its strict adherence to COVID-19 safety measures put in place by the Government of Sierra Leone and further admonished community members present to support the government in the fight against COVID-19 and stay away from all forms of violence.
She continued: “The goal of the National Food Basket is to provide food items for community stakeholders and vulnerable people within the Port Loko District. We acknowledge that these are trying times for our beloved nation; in spite of this, Her Excellency Madam Fatima Maada Bio has not stopped caring for the people of this country. Therefore, we all must pray as one for a quick eradication of the Covid-19, for more development.”
Speaking on behalf of the people, the Paramount Chief Hon. P.C Bai Bureh thanked the JMBWW and Associate for such unprecedented generosity extended towards stakeholders and vulnerable community members especially at a time like this. He further thanked the President and the First Lady for the generous donations and exemplary leadership.
Members from the District Health Management Team (DHMT) also expressed similar gratitude and further cautioned all to observe the laid-down rules instituted to fight against the spread of Covid-19 in the district and by extension the country at large.
The team also made a brief stop at the Lungi Community Centre and Masiaka where similar donations were made to stakeholders, religious leaders and vulnerable members of the community.
