By Janet A. Sesay
The Campaign For Women’s Vote In Democracy (CaFWVID) has urged beggars and the less privileged to exercise their franchise by going to the centres to register.
The organisation has worked relentlessly over the years to salvage the suffering of the deprived especially beggars and vulnerable women in the country.
On Friday 23 September 2022 at Mountain Cut and Cotton Tree respectively in Freetown, the organisation sensitised ordinary Sierra Leoneans including beggars about the importance of the voter registration process and encouraged them to go out and register so that they can be able to vote for a better Sierra Leone come 2023 general elections.
The organisation, after the sensitisation, donated rice and money to the beneficiaries aimed at them having the courage to go out and register. CaFWVID is an organisation committed to supporting and enhancing liberal democracy through integrated service delivery programmes.
Executive Director, CaFWVID, Madam Agnes Fatmata Jalloh, before donating the items said as an organisation they intend to make a difference by meeting vulnerable women in their meeting areas especially the beggars who are on the streets day in and out to beg or fend for their living.
She said the beggars are in the street to beg for what they are eating, she added that they are not in the street begging to corrupt government neither to embezzle government, or destroy the economy ‘but they are always in the street to fend for their living’.
She said these beggars are also citizens of the country and they have the right to participate in the electoral process but because of the economic situation in the country they are always left out and so as an organisation they take it as a responsibility for them to educate them about their civic right and responsibility.
Madam Jalloh said that the registration process is on-going and encouraged the vulnerable people to be part of the decision making process by going out and registering and also voting to make a difference as citizens.
The Executive Director further stated that they have sensitised people in various communities like people in market places and the communities. She added that they technically target to extend their sensitisation to all the sixteen (16) districts in the country. Operational emphasis she said is placed in Freetown especially the Western, Urban and Rural Areas, and also in Bombali, Kenema, Tonkolili, Kailahun, Kono and Koinadugu districts.
She said the organisation donated rice and money to the beggars so that they can have their survival and she also encouraged them to go out and register so that they can vote to make a better Sierra Leone.
Madam Jalloh said they are a nongovernmental organisation and they raise funds out of their registrations they do in the organisation.
She said the mission of the organisation is to inform and educate the ordinary Sierra Leonean about democracy, civic rights and responsibility, adding that their mission also is to inculcate into the people’s minds the spirit of patriotism and to sustain the reputation of our nation to uphold her constitution, to maintain her institutions and customs, and to sacrifice personal interest for the welfare of the nation by encouraging and enhancing women and young people to play an active and responsible role in the electioneering process through information and services that are reliable, applicable and sustainable.
Their vision she said is the hope of a better future ‘which we must all achieve by enhancing liberal democracy, utilising our resources and non-human resources and culture to develop a strong economy’, she added.
She said in order to achieve their goal the organisation strives to be the best civic education promoting and conflict resolution services delivery agency in Sierra Leone leading the way to national cohesion, unity and election violence mitigation.
Madam Jalloh said their objective is to raise high level of public awareness on democracy education and civic rights particularly in remote and slum communities with special interest in first time voters who have very limited practical knowledge or involvement in the electoral process. She added that the targeted beneficiaries are women and young people.
One of the beneficiaries, who is also the chairlady for the less privileged, Adamsay Conteh, thanked the organisation for the sensitisation and donation.
She said she will convince them to go and register; pleading with the government to help them as they are suffering because most of the beggars are of advanced age and are yet sleeping on the street.
Moses Bayoh, a blind beggar, said he was happy about the sensitisation and thanked the organisation for the donation. He added that he and his family will go and register as it is his right to vote for a better Sierra Leone.