As He Grasshoppers From SLPP To APC
By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Aspiring candidate for the flag-bearer position of the ruling All People’s Congress (APC), Alhaji Osman Boie Kamara, popularly called “Usu Boie”, says his area of priority, if he wins the flag-bear race and goes on to be elected President of Sierra Leone in the March 7, 2018 presidential election, he would prioritize both formal and informal education.
Usu Boie had recently declared his intention of becoming the standard-bearer on the APC party ticket. He was in 2012 one of the aspirants for the flag-bearer race of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) but after he lost the race to Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, he switched allegiance to the APC.
Upon the re-election of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma in 2012, Usu Boie was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry, a position he was later removed from allegedly because of his health condition.
During the interview with our Correspondent in Freetown, he said non-formal education includes skills training in masonry, carpentry, tailoring, and mechanics, among others, which he believes are the backbone for the development of the private sector and the country as a whole.
Boie said he has worked in the civil service for many years and in politics for few years, adding that during these years, he has realized that there are not many people with the necessary skills at various levels, which is why he would ensure that we capacitate them with the required skills that are lost.
For any country to progress, Boie noted, people with the necessary skills should be available at all times.
According to him, the country needs trained and qualified nurses and doctors, engineers, teachers, agriculturists, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, among others, stating that if he wins the flag-bearer race of the APC party and elected president in the 2018 polls, he would strengthen the tertiary institutions so that they would introduce courses that are in line with the job market.
Usu Boie said the educational standards in the country have dwindled a lot, adding that even if we have all the factories and industries and we do not have the required skills to utilize them, we would not realize anything.
“I have not said I’m the fittest but I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the people of Sierra Leone, especially the youth, women and children. The children and youth of this country are our future leaders, what we have to offer them now would determine what they would become in the future,” he said.
Some of the women in Sierra Leone, he said, are single parents and widows with two or more children that they can barely cater for, noting that when he was Minister of Trade and Industry, he gave out a lot of micro credits to women in order to get them their livelihood, pay school fees for their children, and respond to other domestic needs.
