News

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

Authorities in Sierra Leone have said mining revenue has dropped due to the impact of COVID-19.

The revenue drop has been attributed to the difficulties in exporting and the disruption in the supply chain.

Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, Alimamy Bangura, said in a press briefing on Monday:

By Mabinty M. Kamara

The long-awaited energy supply from the West Africa Power Pool Project (WAPP) is still on course despite the coronavirus pandemic, say officials in charge.

This is the project that aims to provide electricity to the four Mano River Union countries of Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Guinea. When completed, it will bring reliable and affordable electricity to the countries which have had a perennial problem with electricity, especially outside their capitals.

By Kemo Cham

The Africa region will need all the support it can get to tackle the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and come out of it successfully, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has said.

Bio told a meeting of African leaders and industry experts earlier this week that the continent had been making progress prior to the pandemic but that the disruption caused by it would “definitely have a great impact on our economies.”

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

The House of Parliament and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists have agreed on new terms for accreditation of journalists to cover proceedings in Parliament.

A cross section of SLAJ executives met with the Clerk of Parliament, Umar Paran Tarawally on the possible relaxation of its recently announced requirement for the accreditation of journalists.

By Mabinty M. Kamara

President Julius Maada Bio has appointed a new Executive Director for the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA). The new boss, Paul Sobba Massaquoi, who was announced on Wednesday, replaces the embattled Ken Philip Sondai.

Prior to Massaquoi’s appointment, Sondai’s Deputy, Festus Cosbie, had been acting as the head of the institution.

By Mabinty M. Kamara

The Sierra Leone Tourist Board has in a press release countered an assessment report which it referred to as “misleading” about the country.

The report done by a travel guide blog gives Sierra Leone a 50% score on the safety index, which means that it is neither safe nor too dangerous for visitation. The assessment of part of the publication’s 2020 ranking.

By Francis H. Murray

Justice Monfred Sesay of the High Court in Freetown has sentenced Osman Kamara, a fisherman to 15 years imprisonment after convicting him on a one-count charge of sexual penetration of an eight-year-old girl.  The judge said the prison term included the 20 months Kamara had already spent on remand during his trial.

The prosecution had alleged that the 23-year-old fisherman sexually penetrated the girl on the 19 April 2018 in Freetown.