News

By Mustapha Kamara

Chairman and leader of the newly registered Democratic Alliance Party (DAP), has condemned the government’s plan for a 3-day lockdown saying “it will not make much impact in the fight against the Ebola Hemorrhagic fever in the country”.

Speaking to Politico yesterday, immediately after donating over 20 bags of rice to people in three communities in Freetown, Mohamed Kamaraimba said that though the initiative was in place, it would not be enough to stop the spread of the disease.

By Jenneh Braima

Minister of Finance and Economic Development has expressed worry over the economic loss Sierra Leone is currently experiencing as it grapples with Ebola.

Dr Kaifala Marah told journalists Tuesday that the impact of the outbreak on the country was huge as it “is losing money day by day”.

He said the mining, agriculture, tourism and transport sectors had made the economy thrive strongly in 2012 and 2013, which he said was in sharp contrast to what obtained now.

Medecins Sans Frontieres has rejected US$ 2.5 million pledge made by the Australian government to help fight Ebola, saying more personnel and equipment are what were urgently needed instead.

MSF Australia says the money offered yesterday would be better spent providing the same sort of logistical help as provided by military assistance in major disasters.

By Mustapha Kamara  

Member of Parliament for Constituency 95 has revealed that the Councillor of Ward 342 in Waterloo has been quarantined as a result of the deaths of about 13 people in his vicinity, some of whom, it has been confirmed, died of Ebola.

In an interview with Politico, Claude Kamanda, MP, said he instructed the Ebola emergency response unit to quarantine houses at Cole Street at Lumpa when he started receiving reports of cases of death from the area.

By Septimus Senessie in Kono

Minister of Local Government, Diana Konomanyi has reacted angrily to criticisms levelled against her by some descendants of her native Kono district living abroad.

They blame the problems of the district on the political rivalry between her Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana.

She gave her reaction while addressing Paramount Chiefs and other dignitaries from the 14 chiefdoms in Kono district during her donation of Le 35 million and some food items to the Kono District Ebola Task Force.

By Allieu Sahid Tunkara

The medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontiers leading the Ebola fight in West Africa, has frowned at the response of the international community towards the outbreak in Sierra Leone, describing it as "still small”.

MSF’S liaison officer, Sharon Ekanbaram, told a conference in Freetown that Ebola was a global problem that required a global response, adding that responses towards it so far did not match the situation on the ground.

By Joseph Lamin Kamara

A new report launched yesterday by the civil society group, Focus 1000 says 97% of the population of Sierra Leone now believe that Ebola exists in the country, urging planners to go beyond  awareness raising activities about the disease.

The report, titled "Study on Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to EVD Prevention and Medical Care in Sierra Leone", says "people have now moved from the state of denial to the state of fear and stigmatization."