By Ragan M. Conteh

The Deputy Leader of government business, Hon Bashiru Silikie, says Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) is currently facing a lots of challenges that require action from authorities.

According to Hon Silikie the Road Safety Authority is faced with institutional problems, management issues as well as lack of implementation of activities, of the policies and laws passed by Parliament.

The Deputy Leader of government business made the submissions on Thursday 30th January 2025 when contributing to the approval of Presidential appointees in the Well of parliament.

Apart from the management challenges, Hon Silikie spoke on drivers overloading and reckless driving along the roads which he said is unbearable.

He maintained that a lots of Sierra Leoneans have perished through accident due to abandon vehicles along the routes.

The SLPP MP also alluded to the fact that there is so much divisive issues at the SLRSA which he said has contributed to loss of government revenues and as well as on accounting for the poor performance of the institution.

He said the newly appointed Chairman of the SLRSA Mr Thomas Mustapha Lahai is inheriting an institution that is challenged.

The MP urged Mr Lahai to prioritizing bring peace and calmness in the institutions as well as on bringing cohesiveness among the staff of the institutions.

The opposition Chief Whip, Hon Abdul Karim Kamara said SLRSA’s negligence has resulted to many deaths of people on the country’s many roads.

He spoke on the sudden death of Steady Bongo, which he believes, was due to stationary vehicles along the roads.

The Hon MP said the Chairman appointed by President Julius Maada Bio should work hard to address issues that affect the institution.

Hon Kamara said the Road safety has been identified as a key aspect of rural access and mobility development in Sierra Leone.

He was to establish a policy to reduce the burden of deaths and disabilities through road traffic crashes in the country.

And the Government of Sierra Leone is seeking to ensure that appropriate strategies are identified and applied to address road safety needs, based on analytical methods, he said.

He said to achieve this objective, a comprehensive road traffic crash database should be established to capture crash data and to provide a better understanding of the road safety needs so that appropriate interventions can be applied.

Other MPs spoke on the inadequate funding, capacity gaps hindering the full implementation of road safety standards, limited equipment for data collection, and ongoing road hazards were identified by MPs as key obstacles.