Transport Minister Hosts MOWCA Secretary General

The Sierra Leone's Ministry of Transport and Aviation Conference Room, 7^th Floor Youyi Building in Freetown, Tuesday 24^th May, 2022. The Honorable Minister of  Sierra Leone Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon has played host to the Newly Elected Secretary General of the Maritime Organization for the West and Central Africa (MOWCA) Dr. Paul Adalikwu.

In his welcoming address, the Honorable Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon on behalf of the government and people of Sierra Leone thanked the Maritime Organization for the West and Central Africa (MOWCA) Secretary general for his visit, adding that the visit was not a surprise to him as Sierra Leone and Nigeria have had a long standing bilateral relations.

He said his Ministry has made frantic efforts in ensuring a dramatic change to the maritime transport sector in the country, emphasizing that the government through his Ministry has ensured an improvement in maritime safety, security and environmental protection at sea level.

“As a government and as a Ministry we are very much committed to WOMCA because we want to take maritime industry to a higher height , that why this month the US Coast Guards was here, last year they were here also and for the first time ever we were able to pass the International Ship  and Port Facility Security code ( ISPS) audit and this year again we are going to pass the ISPS audit with higher grades, because what we have done, is that we have actually moved from the old way of doing things to the modernized system ”Minister Kallon maintained.

In his statement, The Newly Elected Secretary General of the Maritime Organization for the West and Central Africa (MOWCA )  Dr. Paul Adalikwu expressed his gratitude to the Honorable Minister, the Government and People of Sierra Leone for the unflinching supports showed to Nigeria on his candidacy during the just concluded elections in Accra, Ghana, during the 16th Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of the Maritime Organization for the West and Central Africa (MOWCA) as Secretary General of the Institution for a term of 4 years.

He said that as part of his engagement on the maritime needs around member’s states, Sierra Leone was the seven countries to visit, adding that his engagement with the Sierra Leone’s Transport and Aviation Minister would help him to know the needs, requirements of how MOWCA has been engaged meaningfully so that people could see the benefit of the Organization to the country.

Highlighting some of his plans and agenda in running the organization among others he said for over 47 years there has been no Sierra Leonean working in the organization but under his watch as Secretary General Sierra Leoneans would serve in the capacity of auditor, accountant and researcher on secondment to the organization.

‘’this would be a pride to Sierra Leone, under my leadership there is a staff of Sierra Leonean nationality working at the Maritime Organization for the West and Central Africa (MOWCA) with this kind of background as a researcher, accountant or auditor” Dr. Paul Adalikwu noted.

He emphasized that no country in the West and Central Africa sit on the IOM council even in the category C level, adding that this would change under his leadership.

" That is going to change under my leadership, we are going to revamp that desk MOWCA has in IMO, with the view that, in the next two years before elections be held, we must have a representative especially from West Africa sitting on IMO category C level.

He further that he would engage with the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden to give scholarship to maritime staff in a form of capacity building to the MOWCA member states.

He assured the Honorable Minister of his organization unflinching support in providing an effective inter-governmental sub-regional platform for sectoral cooperation in the field of Maritime/Transit Transport in a maritime region where countries share common problems of demand and supply for shipping services and associated safety and environmental protection threats, adding that regional collaborations are vital to Africa’s growth

He concluded by emphasizing that he would continue to promote cost-effective maritime transport services, maritime safety and security, information flow, capacity building of maritime transport actors, sustainable financing of the maritime transport industry and facilitation of transit transport to landlocked member states.