The Executive Director of Native Consortium, Edmond Abu Jr. has on the 1st February, 2023 engaged Journalists and the Civil Society activists at the Civil Society Regional Office in Kenema City.

The engagement is a bid to motivate local residents to speak up ahead of President Julius Maada Bio visit to Kenema on the issues around the increment of tariff by the mobile companies.

During the meeting, Edmond Abu Jr. spoke about citizens plea and demand for the reversal of the 150% data tariff increment, voice and text tariff to be renegotiated to the minimum as agreed.

He called for the floor tariff introduced by NATCOM on data and voice to be properly looked into and have a reversal which may allow fair competition.

He further called on the director of Communications of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone to provide evidence on all allegations made against him, and for President Bio to revive Sierratel from CDMA to GSM forvmassive domestic revenue generation, job creation, poverty reduction and shared prosperity amongst others.

He furthered that, similar meetings were held in different Regions and Districts in the country, adding that the Eastern Region will not be left behind as this meeting is vital ahead of the visit of President Bio to Kenema.

‘’The North-West held their own Conference last week Tuesday the same day that we have ours in Freetown led by Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay in Portloko which engaged activists from Kambia, Karene respectively and in the North another one was held in Makeni as well as in Bo for the Southern Region,’’ he said.

‘’We have this intelligent that the President is coming here, so we deemed it fit that firstly we need to put journalists up to speed and then we make our positions wide for the President’s visit,” Abu Jr. added.