Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Honorable Emma Kowa-Jalloh has encouraged her people in Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom, Bo District to come out in their thousands to register with the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (EC-SL) officials in order for them to be eligible to vote in the upcoming 2023 presidential and general elections.

Speaking to thousands of residents in a barray at Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom, she went on to state that voters registration is a constitutional right which every citizen must exploit.

However, she raised concern over the fact that, climatic conditions in that part of the country are not favorable and could hamper the registration process. She maintained that the people of her constituency must therefore be determined and ensure that they cooperate fully in the registration process by defying climatic conditions that are not life-threatening so that they can secure their vote in the coming 2023 elections.
She informed them that the registration period is short and therefore the people in her constituency should make it a matter of responsibility and duty to come out to register during the period ECSL officials would be conducting the registration exercise.

She further called on the current Member of Parliament of the constituency to team up with the ward councilors and other authorities to educate the people on the importance of coming out to register as a cratiral to vote come 2023 general elections. She also advised that local and traditional authorities in this area must be conscientious about the way and manner they go about educating the people about the importance of registration.

She rounded up by calling on all Sierra Leoneans irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation to love Sierra Leone and not to stir up problems which would make the country look bad in the eyes of our neighbors and the international community. In her position as a former Member of Parliament, she advised those people that are making it a habit to foment trouble by staging violent protests, devoid of realistic reasons to stop because at the end of the day, all they succeed at doing is taking the country backwards and giving the government more headaches. She mentioned that the local and traditional authorities in her area must also inform her people about the state of affairs across the world and that Sierra Leone is not the only country suffering from economic crisis and other problems.

Dilating on her current efforts as Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, she stated that her ministry provides 80% of fish stock in the country, adding that fish is a very good protein that most people in the country can afford. She added that once every year, they lockdown fishing grounds in order to allow fish to increase their numbers before they are exploited for human consumption.

In his brief remarks, Hon. Charles Osman Abdulai of constituency 079 in Bo District thanked the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources for holding such a successful meeting. He urged the people of Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom to come out in their thousands to register, adding that if they do not register, they would not be eligible to vote in the 2023 elections. He called on youths to refrain from violence and from being used by ill-motivated politicians to unleash violence.

Present at the occasion were the Chairman Bike Riders Union, Ibrahim J. Rogers, the Principal Bumpe High School, and Paul V. Kailie among other prominent individuals. They all made similar statements.