145AWi

lki
nsonRoad,
Fr
eet
own

JOI
NTPRESSCONFERENCEONTHEARTI
FICALTURFANDTHECONSTRUCTI
ON
OFPERI
METERFENCEANDFLOODLI
GHTSPROJECTSATTHEKENEMACITY
TOWNFIELD

9thJul
y2020
KEYADDRESSBYDR.KENNETHBRI
MA,EXECUTI
VEDIRECTOR
NATI
ONALSPORTSAUTHORITYSI
ERRALEONE(NSA-SL)

Mr.Chairma
TheMay or–KenemaCi t
yCouncil
ParamountChi ef–NongowaChi ef
dom
TheChai r
man–KenemaDi st
ri
ctCounci
l
Presi
dent–Si err
aLeoneFoot bal
lAssoci
ati
on
AIGThomasLahai -
EasternRegionPoli
ceCommanderandBoar
d
MemberNSA–
Representat
ivesfrom themedi a
Di
sti
ngui
shLadi
esandgent
lemen

Iti
saspeci alpri
vi
legef ormetobeher etodaytogi veakey
noteaddress
atthisPr essConferenceont heArti
fi
cialTurfProjectandt
headditi
onal
projectst oconstructaPer i
meterFenceandFl oodlight
sattheKenema
CityFi el
d.Indeed,Iownaspeci aldebtofgr atit
udet oHisExcell
ency
thePr esidentDr.Jul i
usMaadaBi oonmyappoi ntmentastheExecuti
ve
DirectorofNat i
onal Sport
sAuthori
ty.

I
tisval
uableandextr
emelyappr
eciat
edforHisExcel
l
encyPresi
dentBio
i
nDecember2019,commencedt herol
loutandimplement
ati
onoft he
Aut
hori
tythrought
heappoint
mentoftheBoardMembers.

Also,i
nt hePresi
dent’
sStat
eOpeni ngaddr
essinParli
amentthi
sy ear,
i
nformed Par l
i
amentari
ans that “
the Nat
ionalSports Aut
hori
tyi s
mandat ed to devel
op Sportsin Sier
ra Leone and i
s now f ull
y
consti
tuted”
.

TheNati
onalSport
sAuthor
it
yisSierr
aLeone'sGov
ernmentLeadi
ng
Spor
tsAgencythatisr
esponsi
blef
orini
ti
ati
ngandexecut
ingspor
ts
poli
cies,pr
ograms,provi
desstrat
egicgui
danceandsuperv
ision,
support,
andinv est
si nspor
ts,monitor
ingofsportsacti
vi
ti
esinawayt hatwill
compl ementt he gener
alappr oach to Nati
onalDevelopment.The
Authorit
y and its Poli
cies are cri
ti
caltoolstowards sustainabl
e
tr
ansformationofsport
sgov er
nancemechanism i
nSier
raLeone.

Mr .Chai
r man,LadiesandGent l
emen,Si erraLeoneanslovesportsand
NSAwi llbringtobeart hosedef i
ningchar acter
ist
icsoflov
ef orsport
s,
andonet hatbringsourdi versepopulationt oget
her.Whetheritisfor
fri
endships,fi
tnessandexci tementofcompet i
ti
onsorforpureloveof
thegame,spor t
sisimpor t
antt oSier
raLeoneandnowt hatthepoli
ti
cal
willi
stheret ogenuinel
yensur eweachi evet hosedevel
opmentgoalsof
sports.

TheNat ionalSport
sAut hori
tyAct2017empower st heAuthori
tytowor k
directly witht he Sporti
ng Organi
zati
ons (Nati
onalorI nt
ernati
onal),
Mi ni
st ri
es,Depar t
ment s,Agencies (MDAs),and LocalGov er
nment ,
Insti
tut i
onsandAcademi esofSportsandt heBusi nessSectors.Int hi
s
direction,theAuthori
tyaimst oworktoeducate,nur tur
etalents,pr
ov i
de
alternativecareerchoice,i
nform,supportandcreat eali
gnmentt hrough
theSi erraLeoneSpor tsSectortodriveourshar edgoal sforNat ional
Dev elopment .

TheNat ionalSportsAuthor i
tyasanagencyofgov ernment,iscommit
ted
to operati
ngwi t
ht heGov ernmentofSi err
aLeoneNat ionalMedi
um
Term Dev el
opmentPl an 2019- 2023 aspi
rati
ons,through educat
ion,
i
nclusiv
epar tici
pation,di
sciplineleader
shi
p,teamwor kandcontri
buti
ng
to high pr ofessi
onalcooper at
e approach within the gover
nance
str
ucturesofspor tsentit
ies.

TheAuthori
tyisdeter
minedt
oachievethepowerofSportsasavehicl
e
for Nati
onalCohesion,Ski
ll
s Trai
ning;enhance t
he pract
ice and
admini
strat
ionofsport
s,i
naddi
ti
ontot hecr
eati
onofjobsfort
heyouth
ofSier
raLeone.

My Chai r
man, Ladies and Gentl
emen, with the roll
out and
i
mplementati
on on t
he mandat
e and v
isi
on ofthe Nat
ionalSport
s
Aut
hori
ty,t
heprobl
emsweusedt oexperi
enceinsport
sarepract
ical
l
y
over.TheBoardandManagementoftheNSA ar econfi
dentthatt
he
refor
msundertheNSAwillhavepr
ofoundlong-
ter
m benefi
tsandwill
greatl
yimpactt
hefol
l
owi
ngdy nami
cswithi
nthesporti
ngsectorint
he
country.

Tot
hisef
fect
:

 Theroll
outandi mplementati
onoftheNSAwi l
lprovi
deStrategi
c
Gui
dance, Super
visi
on,Contr
olandMonitor
ingofsportact
ivi
ti
esin
a way t hat willcomplement the generalapproach tot he
dev
elopmentpar adi
gm inthecount
ry.

 The NSA wil

lencour
age and i
nsti
l
la professi
onalcooper
ate
appr
oachwit
hint
hegover
nancestr
uctur
esofsportent
it
ies.

 NSA isexpectedt oexploi

tt hepowerofspor t
sasv ehi
clefor
nati
onalcohesion,ski
ll
st r
aining,cr
eat
ing enor
mous economic
potent
ial
s (job creat
ion, income generati
on, and st
abil
i
ty)
,
especi
all
yforyoungpeople.

 TheAuthori
tywil
lfaci
l
itat
eprogr
amsthatwi l
lrenderthepract
ice
and admini
str
ati
on ofsport
s as an at
tract
ive al
ter
nate car
eer
choi
ce.

InMayt hisyear,duetocont r
adict
orymediareport
s,ontheconst r
uct
ion
of the Ar ti
fi
cial Turf proj
ect,at the Kenema Ci t
y Field,upon
recommendat ions fr
om t he techni
calteam att he NationalSports
Authori
ty,theNSA deci dedt oconductaf iel
dmoni t
oringv i
sittothe
constr
uctionsitetogatherfactsonthegr
oundandt oknowi ftheproj
ect
i
si mpl
ement edt hewayitwasdescr i
bedi
nt heplan.

Themoni t
oringv i
sitwasconsideredpartofNSAstat
ut or
yresponsibili
ty
toprovideleadershipinthedev elopmentofsport
si nfr
astruct
ureand
faci
li
ti
esinSi err
aLeone,r ef
erencedSection12(1)(a)oft heNat ional
SportsAuthorit
yAct2017.Andt hemoni t
ori
ngvi
sitinMaywasf unded
bytheNationalSpor t
sAuthori
ty.
Asasequelt othisPressConf er
ence,whi chhasbeensponsor edbyt he
SierraLeoneFoot ballAssociati
on,inpar tnershi
pwiththeNSA,KDFA,
ERFA,t heKenemaCi tyCouncilandSWASALEastont heArti
ficialTurf
projectand t headditi
onalpr oj
ectst o const r
uctand r
ehabil
itatet he
Perimet erFenceandFl oodl
ightsbySLFAatt heKenemaCi t
yFi eld,the
PressConf er
encedemonst ratesthecommi tmentoftheSierraLeone
Foot ballAssociat
ion leadershi
pt o addr ess the r
ecommendat ions
contai nedinourfiel
dmoni tori
ngv i
sittot heKenemaCi tyFi
eldi nMay
thisy ear.

Ont hisnot e,Iwantt ouset hisoppor t

uni t
yt oappl
audt heleadershipof
SLFAandequal l
yencour ageallotherspor t
ingassociationsoperatingin
thecount ry,thatthedoor softheNat ionalSportsAut horit
yar eopent o
getsi mil
arsuppor t,sol ongiti sgear edt owardsthedev elopmentof
sportsint hecount ry.Iwoul dl i
ket oextendourappr eciati
ont oallthe
stakeholdersandt hepr essthatpar ti
cipatedinourengagementdur i
ng
ourmoni tori
ngv i
sitinMay .Not hi
ngcoul dmakemor esensei fweas
peopl efailtocomet ogethertoconsul tandengageoneanot herand
profferhonestr ecommendat i
onsont hewayf orwardt odev elopsports
i
nourbel ovedSierraLeone.
TheNat ionalSport
sAut hor
it
ymandat
ei ssimpl
e.It
spremi
sei st
o
prov
idetheenablingenvir
onmentandr
egul
ator
ysyst
em t
orespondt
o
theSier
raLeonesportneeds.

Ast heExecut i
veDi rectoroftheNat ionalSpor tsAut hor
it
y,whichhas
statutor
ypower st or egist
erallsportsorgani zati
onsi nthecountry,I
pledge the Aut hori
ty’st r
ansparency and account abil
i
tyt o ensure
fair
ness,incl
usivenessandi nnovati
ont oal linst
it
utionsandindivi
duals
wishingtoparti
cipateorsupportspor t
sdev elopmenti nthecount
ry.

Thatiswhyinmyl eader
shi
patt heNSAt her
eisonl
yonemessageI
have,
Incl
usi
vePar
ti
cipati
onforspor
tsdev
elopment
.

Iam grat
eful
toy
oual
l
.
Ithankyou
Si
gned

Kennet
hBr i
ma( PhD)
Execut
iveDir
ector
Nati
onalSport
sAut hor
it
y