News

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

President Julius Maada Bio has warned of a bumpy ride ahead as the country responds to the Covid-19 pandemic, urging Sierra Leoneans to be prepared for it.

“It is not going to be the same. It is going to be tough, as it is all around the world. We must brace up for some tough times ahead,” the President said at a press briefing at State House on Wednesday, the first presser after the end of a three-day nationwide lockdown as part of the Covid-19 response.

By KEMO Cham

The Independent Media Commission (IMC) of Sierra Leone has warned public officials and institutions to desist from stonewalling journalists thereby preventing them from accessing public information in the course of their work.

The warning is part of recommendations contained in a ruling on a case between the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) and Politico Newspaper. The Red Cross had filed the complaint over a September 2019 publication it claimed was damaging to its reputation.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

The Sierra Leone government is contemplating passing a law to crackdown on fake news, Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swarray, has said.

Mr Swaray told Politico that the process of developing the law was at an advanced stage.

“Fake news is definitely undermining the fight against COVID-19,” he said, adding: “Saving Sierra Leoneans’ lives is far better than watching some faceless people sitting somewhere and sharing information which they know is not correct.”

By Mabinty M. Kamara

Kekeh (Rickshaw) riders within the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, have said they might not obey the new transport fares that has been announced by the government, citing its implication on their livelihoods.

Last week, among a raft of new measures, the government reduced fuel prices and negotiated the reduction of transport fares for all forms of commercial transport. As per the new fares, Kekeh are supposed to collect Le1, 500 per destination, down from Le2000.

By Mabinty M. Kamara

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has cleared Fatmata Edna Kargbo, former State Chief Protocol and Ambassador at-large, of suspected corruption offenses.  

The ACC's decision came after a long investigation sparked by her testimony in a Nigerian church in 2019.

The investigation was initiated after a huge public outcry of abuse of office and mismanagement of state resources by her after her video testimony in the Synagogue of All Nation Church in Nigeria. The church is owned by popular preacher, Prophet TB Joshua.

By Francis H. Murray

Justice John Bosco Allieu of High Court No 6 has sentenced John Alawel Kamara to 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of ‘‘wounding with intent’’, contrary to section 18 of the offences against the Person Act, 1861.

Police had accused Kamara that on the 13^th April 2015 in Freetown, he wounded Nathaniel Thomas with an intent to cause him a grievous bodily harm.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

The head of the Communication pillar at the National Emergency Response Center (EOC), Harold Thomas, has told Politico that they were still carrying out more tests to know the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

On Wednesday, April 1, the country confirmed its second case of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. This has since grown to six.

Thomas said the tests were part of their broader efforts of tracing all the people the confirmed cases have encountered.