MAKENI YOUTH FUNDS PROTESTS FORCE GOVERNMENT ACTION

Weeks of anger in Makeni are finally easing, after NaCSA confirmed most delayed youth empowerment grants have now been paid out.

It’s been a rocky road since President Julius Maada Bio symbolically handed over $450,000 in cheques to 1,500 young entrepreneurs back in June, under the World Bank-funded PSSNYE project. Each beneficiary was promised the Leones equivalent of $300, plus skills training.

But the celebration turned to frustration when up to 95 percent of Makeni’s beneficiaries said the money never showed up in their Rokel Commercial Bank accounts — even as Freetown, Bo, and Kenema got paid without issue.

By July 30th, over 700 furious youths stormed the Makeni City Council in protest. Beneficiaries described being humiliated at the bank, told they needed someone to “pull” their funds — and mocked by their own families for trusting the programme.

Now, NaCSA says the holdup was down to mismatched ID numbers and bank details. Of the 1,500 trained beneficiaries, 1,144 have been paid. The remaining 356 have been cleared, with disbursement promised no later than Thursday.

But questions remain over why Makeni was left behind while other districts were paid on time — a question NaCSA has yet to answer.