News

By Mabinty M. Kamara

Students from the Engineering Department at Fourah Bay College (FBC), University of Sierra Leone (USL), have built a homemade mechanical ventilator. The lifesaving machine, which has been named ‘Leone Vent’, was unveiled on Monday at the college’s campus on Mount Aureole.

The project also had technical inputs from the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), as well and the Medical Equipment Technician at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

By Newman Anthony Levey in Bo

Work at the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) offices in Bo was disrupted for about an hour on Monday after some teachers stormed the facility in protest over delay in payment of the salaries.

The protesters say they are part of 5, 000 new teachers approved by the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education in the last two years.

They say despite their approval and having been working throughout this period, they are yet to receive their first pay.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

Police in Pujehun District have arrested two people in connection to the killing of a school teacher last month. Police say the two men were apprehended on Monday, 8 June.

The teacher, Sondufu Bundu, was killed in May this year, following a dispute between two rival communities - Sawula and Longu villages.

Local Unit Commander (LUC), Paul Bannister, said that they were able to apprehend the two following weeks of intelligence gathering.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

Adolescents in four slum communities in the Western Area are currently training their peers on the use of an app that teaches them about Sexual Reproductive Health.

The training falls under the “Leh we tok but mami and daddy bizness” project, which is being implemented by Save the Children.

The communities targeted are Aberdeen, Murray Town, Cockle Bay and Connaught.

By Newman Anthony Levey in Bo

The government’s cash transfer scheme implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) is once again on the spotlight with allegations of corruption.

Some people in the southern Bo district have alleged that the actual beneficiaries of the scheme are not receiving the money as was planned.

By Prince J. Musa in Kenema

The campaign group, Leh We Learn, has partnered with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) to tackle the growing problem of teenage pregnancy in the eastern district of Kenema.

The organization engaged traditional authorities, local councils, tribal heads, civil society, security sector and the ministry of social welfare to map out strategies in preventing and protecting girls from teenage pregnancy and other sexual abuses. The engagement took place at Albertson Hotel in Kenema.

By Francis H. Murray

State prosecutors in the treason trial of former Defense Minister Alfred Paolo Conteh and two others at the high court in Freetown on Monday 8^th June, closed their case before Judge Justice Momoh Jah Stevens and a jury. One of the prosecutors, lawyer Adrian Fisher told the judge and jury that “following due process and in the interest of the expediency of the trial, we have closed our case.”