By Steven Bockarie Mansaray in Kabala
Over 400 young people mostly men, who were asked to pay Le 50,000 each to be trained and certified as security guards ahead of their promised employment with a company, have threatened to protest “for being lied to”. The West African Cooperative Commercial Farming Agro/Cottage Industrial and Marketing Company (WAFACIMCO) had identified and processed young people from across the Koinadugu district, Kabala in particular. Mohamed Sabata Marah who, initially, was the district coordinator of the company, was accused of taking the said amount from the youth to be registered as farmers. Marah was later sacked on allegations of misappropriation of the monies he collected. After the month-long training, the youngsters were certified but not provided with any equipment or given the jobs they were promised by the company. Pa Totor Mansaray, a member of the Council of Elders in the Wara Wara Yagala chiefdom and who also witnessed the meeting between the chief and the head of the company Rev. Dr. Aiah Bayoh, said they were only told to cooperate with the company by providing the pieces of land. “But we were not convinced because the team failed to show us valid documents about the project and the details of the land agreements,” he said. Some of the trainees said that they had never set eyes on any foreign investor or machines carrying the logo of the company. One of them, Ansumana Sesay from Folosaba Dembelia chiefdom said they were now suffering in Kabala due to lack of lodging, food and other basic needs. “We left our families behind with nothing, hoping that this company will help improve our standard of living by providing us with jobs,” he said. Head of the company in Sierra Leone, Reverend Dr. Aiah Bayoh, told Politico that they actually planned to invest in different parts of the country and in particular Koinadugu district where they would open factories to produce and manufacture juice, tomato paste and sugar. He still maintained that the company was going to create employment for hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. © Politico 15/08/13
