By Ralph Sesay
The leading mobile Operator in Sierra Leone, Africell, has yesterday announced the introduction of the Africell 4G LTE offers at their Wilberforce headquarters in Freetown.
John Conteh, Head of Print Relations, Africell and Manager AIRadio, introduced members of top management present at the offer, including Mr. Abdul Aziz Gabisi, Head of Human Resources, Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Joe Abass Bangura and representatives from Africell money and marketing departments respectively .
Launching the offers, Mr. Joe Abass Bangura, Head of Corporate Affairs, stated that Africell has always been at the cutting edge of technology in the telecommunications sector in Sierra Leone.
He disclosed to newsmen that Africell became the 1st player in the telecoms market to launch the 3G Mobile Phone Technology in the country. He noted that, in keeping in line with what he described as the proud tradition, on the 19th January, 2018, Africell also became the first company to introduce the 4th Generation Long Term Evolution (4GLTE) in the country.
‘’Since the launch in January, we have completed the rollout and optimization of the service in the Western Area and the rollout will continue progressively until the entire country is covered before the end of the year,” Joe Abass highlighted.
He disclosed to the news conference that he is pleased to announce the introduction of the following 4GLTE offers, which, according to him, will reinforce the market leadership with immediate effect: Subscribers can now buy their 4G Mifi’s which are loaded with 5Gb of data at a promotional cost of only Le 250,000; Subscribers with 4G enabled handsets who swap their existing sim cards for the 4G sim will get free 4G sim card loaded with free 1Gb data and subscribers who had already swapped their sim cards for the 4G sim cards before now, will not be left out –they will also automatically receive 1GB free data.
The Corporate Affairs Chief and Motivational speaker also reminded subscribers that the 4G LTE is the fourth biggest change in the evolution of Mobile Phone Technology in the world, since its advent.
Joe Abass Bangura reminded subscribers that in spite of the vastly enhanced speed, 4G LTE does not increase the cost of data services.
He used the occasion to remind pressmen of the introduction of a number of promotions, including the Africell Ramadan Show 2018 (The Money Wall) and the Sokoh bundle, which he entreated customers to participate in for exciting prizes.
The press conference was climaxed with clarifications from press men on coverage, optimization plan and longevity of the Mifi 4G battery, etc., which was adequately addressed by members of the Africell top management present at the launch.
Over Sackings At Former Chief Of Staff Office…
Information Minister Clears The Air
The Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Mohamed Swarray, has yesterday cleared the air on what some civil society activists have referred to as illegal sacking of one hundred and one former workers belonging to the Office of the former Chief of Staff.
Mr. Swaray noted that the said employees had political contracts and their wage bill amounted to 2 billion Leones annually and, according to him, their government, which has a prudent stance on the management of finances, could use the said amount to bring to the people of Sierra Leone the much needed social services.
He disclosed that the Executive Order of the President and the Notice of Termination of their respective employment is consistent with the Wages and Industrial Relations Act which requires employers to give a one month in lieu of notice to employees before terminating their service.
This, he went on, is contrary to what the civil society activists are claiming; that the human rights of the one hundred and one employees were being violated.
The Information Minister concluded by highlighting the fact that, as a government, they want to strengthen the mandate of the Public Service Commission by ensuring that they take the lead in the recruitment, promotions and transfer of all civil servants, noting that there were five civil servants at the former Office of the Chief of Staff who were transferred to other areas.
It could be recalled Professor David Francis, the Chief Minister in the Bio government, had sometimes back dissolved the Office of the former Chief of Staff, claiming that he had saved for the state a total sum of Le 2 billion which was the annual wage bill for the said politically contracted employees.