Sierra Eye: Information Minister Markets Sierra Leone Abroad

The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Professor Septimus Kaikai over the past weeks has been busy marketing Sierra Leone to the outside world at a Commonwealth meeting held in Bhawan, New Delhi in India. Prof. Kaikai told Journalists on Thursday 5th April 2007 at a press briefing about his visit to India on an International e-Partnership Summit. The summit according to him was to connect programmes that tackle the digital divide in member countries, through fostering cooperation and partnership between the ICGT ýhavesý and ýhave notýý. During the summit, the information minister reportedly marketed the countryýs image to the international community focusing on strides made and governmentýs implementation of programmes after the end of the war, furthermore the progress attained with the poverty reduction strategy. ýThe digital divide will help the country greatly as people will be trained in various areas that will foster development, he told journalistsý, and added, ýwe need some assistance which is why the commonwealth came onboardý As the advantage of strategic communication cannot be over emphasized, Professor Kaikai said that this new development would maintain and strengthen political commitment to potentially unpopular reforms. It creates room for public acceptance of cost recovery measures and diminishes opposition to foreign operators, and above all, establishes a mechanism for dialogue with various stakeholders and manages expectation, he noted. The new development process in the country calls for a holistic approach taking into consideration the economic, social, political, institutional cultural and environmental concerns of the people. The minister who vowed to continue improving the countryýs image abroad in such trips noted that it was essential to raise the human skills and develop necessary infrastructure for the implementation of communication activities and to ensure that the relevant stakeholders are using information efficiently in to improve communication in the country.