News

By Francis H. Murray

Ten men charged with murder have made a brief appearance before Magistrate Hannah Bonnie in Freetown.  

The accused: Alpha Yayah Kanu, Abdulai Barrie, Foday Sannoh, Gbessay Kamara, John Desmond Koroma, James Sesay, Mohamed Daboh, Amadu Wurie Barrie, Mohamed Karim and Abass Kamara, are facing preliminary investigations for the alleged murder of one Mohamed Kallon.

Prosecutors say all ten on Sunday 5 April at Jeff Town No. 2 River, conspired with other persons unknown, to murder Mohamed Kallon.

By Umaru Fofana

The authorities in Sierra Leone have ordered a COVID-19 retest on 85 people who were deported from Kuwait on Friday.

67 of them tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday 24 May, prompting concerns from Freetown and Kuwait City.

“We have collected two samples from each of all the 85 arrivals, and two laboratories will carry out the retest”, says Brigadier (Rtd) Kellie Conteh who is the head of the country’s Covid19 response and defence minister.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

An anonymous person has donated 3,000 pieces of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to the Sierra Leone Government as part of its campaign against the Coronavirus pandemic.

The donor is a client of Lawyer Rowland Wright, who presented the materials - full isolation gowns – to officials of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.

The presentation was done on Thursday at the Central Medical Stores in Freetown.

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.