The National Executive of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has paid a courtesy visit to Orange Sierra Leone as part of its ongoing engagements with partner organisations and stakeholders.
The visit, which took place on Monday, October 27th, 2025, at the company’s Head Office at Hill Station, Freetown, aimed to strengthen collaboration and reaffirm the longstanding partnership between both institutions.
Welcoming the delegation, Madam Danetta Younge, Company Secretary of Orange Sierra Leone, expressed gratitude for the visit, describing SLAJ as one of the company’s key partners. She said the visit marks another step in deepening their mutual relationship.
“We have a good working relationship with SLAJ and the media as a whole,” Madam Younge said, adding that Orange Sierra Leone currently works with about ten media houses under ongoing partnerships.
She further disclosed that the company annually allocates funds in its Stakeholder Relations Budget to support SLAJ’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), emphasizing Orange’s commitment to media development.
Madam Younge congratulated the new SLAJ National Executive and encouraged them to build on the achievements of the previous administration led by Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, assuring them of the company’s continued support.
In his remarks, SLAJ President, Alhaji Manika Kamara, thanked Madam Younge and her team, including Public Relations Officer, Alfie Barrie, and Public Relations Support Officer, Akuna Paul Mohamed Koroma, for the warm reception.
He described Orange Sierra Leone as one of SLAJ’s most dependable corporate partners, recalling the company’s sponsorship of five journalists for doctoral studies several years ago — a gesture he said significantly enhanced the country’s media education landscape.
Kamara appealed to Orange Sierra Leone to extend similar support to journalists pursuing first degrees in Mass Communication, suggesting that the company could establish a Welfare Fund to assist financially challenged students.
He noted that such an initiative would contribute to building the capacity of journalists, maintaining professionalism, and complementing the newly introduced National Fund for Public Interest Media Reporting.
The SLAJ President also updated the Orange team on the ongoing rehabilitation of the Association’s National Secretariat, which is being transformed into a modern resource centre for journalists.
He appealed for improved and affordable internet connectivity for the Secretariat and media institutions nationwide, noting that high data costs remain a major operational challenge.
