{"id":56650,"date":"2026-04-20T14:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:25:00","slug":"njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community","title":{"rendered":"Njala University Strengthens Ties with Mokonde Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Njala University, Professor Patrick Sawyer, has underscored the strong developmental ties between the institution and the Mokonde Community during an inaugural meeting held on Saturday, 18th April 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The event took place at the Mokonde Community Town Baray, where Prof. Sawyer served as chairman. It brought together key stakeholders, including Paramount Chief Thomas B. Gappi IV and his wife Madam Umu Gbappi, Commissioner Ernest Bamba Ndomahina, chiefdom authorities, and hundreds of community members.<\/p>\n<p>In his welcome address, Prof. Sawyer described Mokonde as more than a neighbouring community to Njala University, referring to it as \u201ca family.\u201d He noted that for decades, students and staff have relied on Mokonde for accommodation and other forms of community support. He also highlighted that essential research materials, including soil samples, are sourced from the area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMokonde\u2019s prosperity directly impacts Njala, and when Njala grows, Mokonde must benefit as well,\u201d he stated, emphasising the shared future of both communities. He added that a peaceful and well-led Mokonde is essential for a safe and enabling environment for research, learning, and development.<\/p>\n<p>Prof. Sawyer further noted that the gathering symbolised both tradition and democracy, as the people of Mokonde had exercised their right to choose their leader through the ballot. He urged the newly recognised chief, John Mena Goba, to embrace leadership rooted in service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be a chief is to be like a parent\u2014listen before you speak, unite rather than divide, and serve rather than expect to be served,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n<p>In his concluding remarks, Prof. Sawyer stressed that the chieftaincy seat represents not only authority but also responsibility in land stewardship, peacebuilding, youth empowerment, and institutional collaboration. He assured the new chief and the people of Mokonde of Njala University\u2019s continued support, particularly in agriculture, health, sanitation, and education.<\/p>\n<p>The inaugural event marked a significant step in strengthening the long-standing relationship between Njala University and the Mokonde Community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Sierra-Leone<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Sierra-Leone. The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Njala University, Professor Patrick Sawyer, has underscored the strong developmental ties between the institution and the Mokonde Community during an inaugural meeting held on Saturday, 18th April 2026. The event took place at the Mokonde Community Town Baray, where Prof. Sawyer served as chairman. It brought together [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":56649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[292],"class_list":["post-56650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Njala University Strengthens Ties with Mokonde Community - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Njala University, Professor Patrick Sawyer, has underscored the strong developmenta ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Njala University Strengthens Ties with Mokonde Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Njala University, Professor Patrick Sawyer, has underscored the strong developmenta ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T14:14:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T14:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/04\/sm_1776682307.740897.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Njala University Strengthens Ties with Mokonde Community\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T14:14:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-20T14:25:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\"},\"wordCount\":339,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/04\/sm_1776682307.740897.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/njala-university-strengthens-ties-with-mokonde-community\",\"name\":\"Njala University Strengthens Ties with Mokonde Community - 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