A cross-section of the 2022 Budapest-Bamako Rally delegation has donated a NISSAN XTRIAL T30 E vehicle to Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) with a view of helping to address the vehicle constraints of the Agency to effectively respond to reported incidents across the country.

The donation was preceded by a meeting held on Wednesday 9th November at the Agency’s Headquarters between the Budapest-Bamako Rally delegation and management of the NDMA where one of the rally drivers, who happens to be the leader of the delegation, Mihai Lupu expressed his profound appreciation to the NDMA for the excellent performance in managing emergencies generally in the country.

During the handing-over ceremony, Mr Lupu said: “I am currently an adviser to the Secretary of State within the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Budapest. The secretary also doubles as the Head of the Department of Emergency Situation in Romania. I am willing to support the Sierra Leone National Disaster Management Agency in areas of partnerships, collaboration, capacity building, and disaster risk financing.

“I am very pleased with what the NDMA has achieved within this short period since it was established. Not only that, I have read a lot about the work of the NDMA online in areas of disaster risk reduction, response and community engagement within Sierra Leone.

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“My hope is to help the NDMA develop its capacity into a modern disaster management body in the sub-region that would be equipped with the required expertise and logistics to efficiently manage disaster-related matters and respond where applicable. This donation demonstrates our commitment to further this relationship and together explore more opportunities for the NDMA”, heconcluded.

In response, NDMA’s Directors of Relief and Response, Sinneh Mansaray, Risk Reduction and Preparedness, Thomas Lebbie, and Communications, Mohamed L. Bah all expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the team for the kind gesture. The directors maintained that the donation will be a valuable addition to the general operations of the NDMA.

As a new Agency, all the operational directorates are challenged with the availability of vehicles to carry out their respective functions. This donation will definitely help to aid the various directorates in the execution of their mandates.

The Budapest-Bamako rally is billed as the “world’s largest amateur rally”. It has been running since 2005, though it no longer ends in Bamako, Mali, because of the volatile security situation there. This time, the route went through five European and five African countries, with participants travelling roughly 9,400 km in 19 days.

This is the second time the Budapest-Bamako Rally has ended in Sierra Leone; the first being 2020. A total of 600 participants of the rally finally made it to their destination last week in Lumley Beach, Freetown, Sierra Leone this year. They were greeted by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, the Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs Ministers, and the national dance troupe amongst other dignitaries.