The cable has been landed received and commissioned by no less a person but President Ernest Bia Koroma. Since the landing of the cable many Sierra Leoneans both home and abroad are still asking why the landing of the cable is unable to improve the country’s ICT sector soonest.
Currently the country has 0.8%internet penetration, but with the fibre cable going live it is projected that internet penetrationwill increase to 20% in its first year.
At the well-attended ceremony at the landing site, along Lumley beach in Freetown,President Koroma said “the laying of the fibre optic cables within our country marks another milestone in the transformation of our beloved nation.”
Read more: SL: Revolution in communication… Fibre-optic goes live
He described the reports as ‘misleading’ and mere ‘fabrication of lies.’
Commissioner Aiah Mattia said the machine in Tonkolili had developed some problems and had to be taken to Freetown for repairs, adding that it was during this event that people thought that it had disappeared.
Read more: SL: "No Biometric Machine disappeared in Tonkolili”- Electoral Commissioner
The country’s National Electoral Commission decided on the use of the new system of registration.
Registrants will have a picture taken and provide their thumbprints. This information will be used to make sure that there are no duplicated voters and ensure the integrity of the country’s voter registry.
Personally receiving the cable, His Excellency President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma expressed thanks to the World Bank for providing the funds for the project. He referred to the occasion as a great moment for Sierra Leone, adding that it’s a further sign of the ongoing transformation in Sierra Leone. He said the fibre-optic cable’s arrival in Sierra Leone will take the country from its limited satellite system of communication in which it operates on presently to a high-speed modern cable communication.