News

By Zainab Joaque

First Lady, Sia Nyama Koroma, has told a two-day conference for religious and traditional leaders in Freetown that the country must put an end to child marriage and stop the major health consequences that come with teenage pregnancy.

“We must work hard to change attitudes in families and societies at large.We must support our boys and girls to be valuable members of our society or they become economic burdens”, she told the gathering at the Bintumani Hotel on Tuesday.

By Aminata Phidelia Allie

A high court in Freetown yesterday ruled against the operations of Afri-Radio, owned by AfriMedia Sierra Leone Limited whose license was suspended by the media regulatory body, the Independent Media Commission.

The ruling came a week after defense lawyer, L.M. Farmah had argued strongly as to why the Afri-Media case should be thrown out of court.

By Bampia James Bundu

The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma, has described access to energy as an integral instrument in the development of women in the Mano River Union in particular and Africa in general.

She made this statement at the closing ceremony of a three-day conference on ‘Energy and Gender’ with the theme: “women economic empowerment through energy access in the MRU sub-region” at Tokeh in the Freetown Peninsular.

Parliament yesterday summoned authorities at the King Harman Road hospital in Freetown to explain why it could not account for Le 173 million as contained in the 2010 auditor general’s report on ministries, departments and agencies.

Deputy chair of the public accounts committee, Eric Koedoyoma, MP, said they found out that payments balance amounting to Le 4.7 billion, meant for the national revenue authority, was not declared to the auditors.

By Crispina Cummings

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee yesterday summoned officials of the government Psychiatric Hospital at Kissy to answer to questions about the findings of the 2010/2011 Auditor General's report on the operations of the facility.

The report noted that the hospital for mentally ill patients spent Le130 million in one year to fuel seven vehicles but there were no fuel chits and no records to show how the resources were utilised.

Catholics around Sierra Leone last week converged to celebrate a national year of faith at the Immaculate Heart Cathedral in Bo, southern Sierra Leone.

The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Freetown, Rev. Father Joseph Tamba Kamanda told Politico that “the celebration bears witness to our common identity as Catholics” adding that it “is an expression of our hunger for spiritual well-being”.