Parliament to Ratify African Road Safety Charter
The Sierra Leone Road Safety through its supervisory ministry, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Authority has engaged Honourable Members of two different committees in Parliament, the Legislative and Transport Committees respectively to ratify the African Road Safety Charter.
In a meeting held at the Speaker’s Conference Room in Parliament Tower Hill Freetown, the Company Secretary Abu-Bakarr Sheriff Esq. through a power point presentation gave brief historical context and justification of the charter. He said the African Road Safety Charter was adopted at the 26th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly held in Addis Ababa on 31st January, 2016.
Giving the importance of the Charter, Mr. Sheriff explained that the Charter serves as a policy framework for road safety improvements in Africa and an advocacy tool and instrument for road safety on the continent aimed at facilitating the creation of an enabling environment to drastically reduce road traffic crashes on the continent.
Addressing SLRSA Officials present, the Chairman of the Legislative Committee Hon. Abdul Maray Conteh applauded the team for putting the document together and assured that Parliament will ratify the document as it was clearly disconnected from any political gimmick and self explainatory. He continued by stating that his greatest concern was the implementation of the charter after ratification. He furthered that The SLRSA will have to work in tandem with other state actors such as the private sector, NGO’s and other sister agencies to ensure the full implementation of the document.
The Deputy Opposition Leader of the All People’s Congress (APC) Hon. Daniel Koroma said the move by SLRSA to ratify the Charter is such a laudable venture and furthered advised the SLRSA to work with Emergency Hospital in the area of establishing post crash facilities in the country.
Several concerns were raised by the committees emphasising on road safety education and the populirization of the African Road Safety Charter as stated in article 22 of the charter.
Mr. Sheriff however, allayed the fears of the Members of Parliament. He furthered that, after the ratification and deposition of instruments by Fifteen (15) members states, the African Union would required for the Charter to enter into force. It would trigger the establishment and operationalization of African Road Safety Observatory (AFSO) fostering cooperation among member states to generate credible data on Road Safety in Africa which serves as political and technical forum to discuss Safety and Mobility issues, road safety policies and strategies to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries.
©_Public Relations and Outreach Unit, SLRSA