By Nasratu Kargbo
Parliamentary Deputy Leader of Government Business II, Emerson Saa Lamina has called on the Minister of Youth Affairs Mohamed Orman Bangura to introduce a policy on Kush; a psychoactive substance that continues to harm young people across the country.
Lamina made this statement on the 8th August 2023 during debate on the approval of the fourth set of nominees, saying “This house wants to see a policy on kush and how we can contain kush”.
He explained that the substance greatly affects youths, stressing that he is looking forward to seeing Bangura present the policy to the cabinet, assuring him of parliament’s support to making that a reality.
Lamina urged the minister to align his work with President Julius Maada Bio’s youth employment promise which is to create one thousand jobs every year for the youth. Lamina stated that Bangura has a huge task to ensure that the five thousand jobs are created by the end of the President’s five years.
Citing ways through which the minister can actualize the President’s promise, Lamina explained that in Rwanda, former President Paul Kagame had taken all youths that were engaged in antisocial activities like drugs consumption, to an island where he built camps for them and empowered them with different skills such as carpentry, engineering and construction. He said the youths are later integrated into the society.
He called on Bangura to think of replicating the same in Sierra Leone, in order to discourage the youth from taking the harmful substance.
He commended the minister for the strides made in youth employment, stating that he has done what his predecessors could not do. He explained that Bangura created the Youth Employment Scheme, which according to him has given employment to at least 25% of youths.
In his contribution, Member of Parliament from Koinadugu District Konkofa Farah Mansaray was more concerned about the current state of food insecurity in Sierra Leone, saying that if the country is able to increase food production, it will increase the value of the country’s currency and generate more revenue for the country.
He suggested to Bangura that he invests in agricultural projects, which according to him will create jobs for the youths and complement the President’s effort. “We will be coming to your office to see how we can get the youths gainfully engaged in agriculture, in order to move out the zombies from the streets and get them engaged in agriculture,” the MP said.
Parliament approved Mohamed Orman Bangura as the Minister of Youth Affairs; Bangura has served in the same capacity in the President’s last five years.
The use of kush is alarming in Sierra Leone. Authorities and the United Nations have expressed concern especially because those who consume the substance are mostly youth who are secondary school dropouts , with 73% of them living in the urban or peri-urban areas, and many of them facing mental issues or dying.
According to the West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WAENDU) 2020 to 2022 report, marijuana-related mental health cases presented to the Kissy Psychiatric Hospital dropped, while Kush-induced cases increased exponentially by more than 2,000% in the same three-year period.
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