{"id":6782,"date":"2010-03-25T10:17:38","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T14:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=6782"},"modified":"2010-03-25T10:17:38","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T14:17:38","slug":"interview-with-first-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=6782","title":{"rendered":"Interview with First Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>It is not often that we hear from an African First Mother. For the first time Sierra Leone has an elected president whose mother is alive. So when BBC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reporter Umaru Fofana visited the northern town of Makeni, he visited Mrs. Alice Rosalyn Koroma, the mother of President Ernest Bai Koroma. He first asked her what it felt like being the mother of the president.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alice Rosalyn Koroma: Being the Mother of the President of the country is a big blessing, I am proud of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Umaru Fofana: Right obviously because your son is President, but does it come with responsibilities <\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yes, there are many responsibilities being a President\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mother because almost everybody wants to get help from you.\u00c2\u00a0 They think you have all the money, but in some cases, you just have to help<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now the help that you say people want from you being the Mother of the President, does that help include coming to you and asking you to talk to your son to favour them or something?<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, sometimes they ask me to talk to my son, but sometimes they need help from me, like people who are sick, people who go without food, people who go without jobs.\u00c2\u00a0 Where it is possible I give you food, if it is possible for me to give you money, I give you money.\u00c2\u00a0 If it is possible for me to seek a job for you, I do it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do you tell those who come to you to try to influence your son in their interests?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, sometimes, some people want to meet him, but they cannot.\u00c2\u00a0 So I have to call him, I book an appointment for them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And do they keep coming here streaming in, or do they come in trickles?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<Laughing> They come in a lot.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do these Ministers for example include those people that come to you to influence him?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

No, Ministers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come to me, they can meet him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And those times when you have talked to your son, for people, has he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mummy, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help them\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, in some cases he do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you advise your son on the way he governs the country?\u00c2\u00a0 Have there been instances where he has done things that you have not liked and told him, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no son, you have not done this?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, <pause> let me see, <pause>, no.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And are you satisfied with the way he is running the country?\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I am satisfied because I know how he met the country, and I know that there are developments coming, although the opposite side will not appreciate it, but most people appreciate what is happening.\u00c2\u00a0 I think he is very gentle, to a fault. Some things which he should have done, to makes his government easy, he has not done it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Such as,<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Such as allowing people, who have been in the office, especially in the State House, he leaved them there, to stay with him. Even in America, when the outgoing President is going out, he goes away with his entourage, and the incoming President comes in with his entourage.\u00c2\u00a0 So we need that changed, but he has not done it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So you would like your son to sack all those that had work at the State House before?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

No, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need to sack them, but they should be given other employment, or transferred other places and let him come with his people.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maybe at the end of his first time as President, what would you want him to be remembered as?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

As he has made a promise that at the end of three years Sierra Leone will be a changed place.\u00c2\u00a0 We should have light, water, good roads, and I think he is working towards that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If for some reason he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it, will you pull him by the ear and say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hey man, come here, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not done this\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<Chuckles> I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pull him by the ear, because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big enough and he is now the President.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still your son though.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my son, but sometimes I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dictate to him again as I used to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Listen<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not often that we hear from an African First Mother. For the first time Sierra Leone has an elected president whose mother is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":75801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[745,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-and-entertainment","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/75801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}