Sierra Leone Telegraph: 2 November 2021:
Dr Kandeh Yumkella, Parliamentary leader of Sierra Leone’s opposition National Grand Coalition (NGC) Party and Member of Parliament representing Samu Chiefdom in the Kambia District, Sierra Leone, yesterday arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, (COP26).
The High-Level event hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy brings together governments, international organizations, civil society, private sector among others to unite the global community in tackling climate change.
COP26, the biggest climate related conference on earth is the product of negotiations held in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where nations agreed to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere” to prevent dangerous human activities on our climate. Today, the treaty has garnered over 190 signatories.
Aside from bilateral meetings with his numerous partners, Dr Yumkella has a packed schedule. He is slated to keynote a series of events during his stay and moderate a few sessions where he is expected to set the tone on issues of energy access, clean cooking, gender and women’s empowerment, climate and the role of governments to inspire action.
As co-chair of the Africa – Europe Foundation Strategy Group on Energy, Dr. Yumkella will lead discussions on reinforcing the Africa-Europe Energy Partnership and Reinforcing the Africa Europe Climate Alliance: Looking ahead from COP26 to COP27.
Moreover, at the University of Loughborough (MECS) event, he will help shape discussions on the “Opportunities to shift towards Low-Carbon Cooking” as well as at the Clean Cooking Alliance’s event on “Empowering Governments to lead Clean Cooking Transitions”.
In addition, Yumkella will also moderate the African Union (AU) event on “Opportunities and Challenges for the African Energy Transition: What will it take Africa to reach net-zero emissions” and the EU – African Business Roundtable, where he will speak about “Scaling Up International Partnerships for Africa’s transition on the Clean Development Drive”.
Sierra Leone’s 2023 President hopeful will also be speaking at the launch of the ‘Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment and Resilience’ at Strathclyde University, and at the ENERGIA/UNIDO event on ‘Enhancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment to accelerate a just, inclusive and climate resilient energy transition’, including events organized by the Rocky Mountain Institute where he is a board member.
Leaving Scotland, Yumkella will proceed to London where he will meet and greet members, supporters and well-wishers of the National Grand Coalition Party at a Town Hall forum which will be hosted and chaired by the publisher and editor of the Sierra Leone Telegraph, this coming Saturday, 6th October 2021.
He will then travel to Paris on the invitation of the Nigerian International Partnership Summit where he is the lead speaker on “Africa’s Economic Outlook: Moving Africa from the Margins to the Mainstream of the Global economy – Nigeria’s Pivotal Role”, before returning home.
Register here for the Yumkella London weekend meet and greet event
Sierra Leoneans are not interested in developing their country period. In any organisation, whether is a small scale buiness, a multi national organisation, a village or a country, for it to thrive its needs leadership that knows their resume and a qualified for the positions they occupied. Dr Yumukella, Mayor Akin Swayer have not only proven their knowledge and expertise in navigating the mine fields of how to develop a nation and provide the expertise knowledge on how it is done and have it delivered, but their track record on international affairs speaks for itself. Dr Yumukella for formally working for the United Nations, and Mayor Akin Sawyer for her experience and extensive reach both nationally and internationally. Instead of harnessing the knowledge and experience of this two individual , to use the Trump phrase “MAKE SIERRA LEONE GREAT AGAIN” and create the necessary conditions to attract more foreign direct investment to our country, we Sierra Leoneans have opted for a president that literally admitted in his recent lecture at Havard Law school, that some of his PHD appointed ministers are not equipped in leading some of the ministries that they are supposed to run and come up with the solutions that our country needs to develop.
And Bio himself is not an economists and not an expert in any field of study. He spent his entire life in the military. Just like Momoh we know military men are not trained to run a city Council let alone decide the fate of a country. Yet we continue to have people who are trained in the art of killing or be killed, as our leaders.Then the hypocrisy of it all, we are the first to point out things are not working the ways we think it should work. Unless and until we stop electing leaders that lack the expert knowledge and the political know and how to come up with doable solutions for our country, like education, infrastructure projects, roads, electricity, health, investment in food sufficiency, chances are our country will never develop. The EU and our international partners that have invested heavily on us, will always dictate the pace of development in our country. Because we depend on them for our country’s survival.
Until we stop taking monies from this international financial institutions, we will continue to have that master and servant relationship with them. And the only way we can overcome this problem, is if we are ready to put away our tribal and regional differences, and electe people we know that are competent and can diliver the goods, instead of going for the least available option, and elect people like Bio, that until his election was poor and hungry like a rat that take up residence in a church . For him and his colleagues going to politics is the only vehicle left in their disposal to make money on the back of Sierra Leoneans.
In Dr KKY, Sierra Leone has an asset which it strangely refuses to exploit to the full. One just has to look at the several invitations which the man is slated to honour, apart from the climate summit, to see that the man is in high demand all over the place because of his expertise in economic matters as well as environmental issues. This shows that Dr Yomkella proved himself on the world stage as head of UNIDO, a job which he resigned from in bid to help his country. Not only does this demonstrate patriotism but the fact that Dr Yomkella would be snatched up once again by the United Nations or countries if he were to make himself available.
Come 2023 most of us are going to allow APC and SLPP to fool us once again with cheap propaganda for us to vote for them while shielding their true colours which are thievery, incompetence and the inability to respect or understand the constitution. They put people in positions not because they are professionally minded but because they will do the bidding of the party that has employed them. If we don’t bring in Dr Yomkella and NGC in 2023 we are doomed.