The Publicity Secretary of the All People’s Congress (APC) Party, Cornelius Deveaux, has, in a telephone interview, reacted to accusations that his party is sabotaging the Free and Quality Education flagship project through using the Voice of Teachers.
He noted that the APC is the only party in Parliament that has contributed, through their MPs, a total of one billion leones towards supporting the FAQE.
The APC mouthpiece disclosed that their party has always been supportive of the Government flagship project; as all ten local councils belonging to the party have been used across the board by the SLPP Government to drive its programs and activities, including supervising the FAQE and also the Saturday cleaning exercise.
He concluded by noting that they, as a party, have always emphasized that the issue of teachers stands out very paramount to the success of the FAQE and that should not be misconstrued or taken politically.
Coordinator of the Voice of Teachers, a splinter group representing teachers, Mr. Minkailu Kanu, has in a telephone interview with nightwatch also reacted to the accusations that they are being paid Le50,000,000 by the All People’s Congress Party to sabotage the government’s flagship Education Project.
Mr. Kanu noted that Voice of Teachers is a national group with membership across the whole country, and they mainly advocate for teachers’ welfare.
“The statement that we are paid politically to disrupt the free and quality education is quite unfortunate,” Kanu noted.
The Voice of Teachers was formed to advocate for the welfare of teachers amidst loss of confidence over the Sierra Leone Teachers Union. Recently, they called for a national strike actions across the country, specifically against the backdrop that Government is reneging on its early promise to meet a number of demands put forward by the group in November 2018. However, the strike action failed to heed the necessary impact.
Minkaliu Kanu further noted that their National Chairman, Mohamed Mansaray, alias Med Mans, a teacher at the Government Municipal Secondary School in Freetown, has the right to belong to any political party of his choice and this, according to him, has nothing to do with the fight currently being undertaken by the Voice of Teachers.
He disclosed that their fight is genuine and has nothing to do with politics as claimed by many people. The National Coordinator noted that they have been recognised by Government and that negotiations are ongoing between the group, mediated by the Office of National Security, and the Conference of Principals to bring them together with the SLTU. These are negotiations for the improved welfare conditions for teachers across the country.
Mr. Kanu concluded that the accusations against them are machinations of their detractors, who do not want them to succeed in their current fight to get government attention to address the plight of teachers.
Plans to Sabotage Free Education Exposed
