1.
SV Women on parade
0.05

2.
GV Crowd watch
0.08

3.
SV Kamara-Taylor inspecting guard of honour
0.19

4.
SV Women seated
0.26

5.
SV Minister and VIPs seated
0.32

6.
SV Women march past
0.40

7.
SV Women officers watching
0.43

8.
SV Women parade past
0.51

9.
SV Mrs. Nancy Steele, Leader-General, addressing volunteers (3 shots)
1.05

10.
SV Audience applauds (2 shots)
1.15

11.
SV Mr. Kamara-Taylor addressing and women listen (2 shots)
1.30



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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Sierra Leone's first women's volunteer force was inaugurated in Freetown on Saturday (29 May) by the National Congress of Sierra Leone Women, the women's wing of the ruling All People's Congress Party.

The first batch of volunteers were led by their "Leader General", Mrs. Nancy Steele, the Secretary General of the National Congress of Sierra Leone Women. In her inaugural address, Mrs. Steele emphasised that the force did not aim to fight amongst Sierra Leoneans, but to defend the country against any attack from the outside.

Finance Minister Christian Kamara-Taylor, deputising for president Siaka Stevens, said he brought messages of congratulations and good wishes from the President. He also expressed hope that the force would grow and said that the women had taken the lead in answering the President's call to the nation to be vigilant at all times to preserve the territorial integrity of the state.