News

By Prince J Musa in Kenema

Police in Kenema are investigating one of their for rape allegation.

The suspect, Sergeant Francis Lansana, the head of the Family Support Unit in Blama Division in the Kenema district, is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl.

The Stepfather of the victim, who is also a Police officer in the district, told Politico that on Saturday (December 7) night the child went missing for two hours before they could find her in Lansana’s room.

By Anthony Levay in Bo

St Andrew's Senior Secondary School (UCC) in Bo has postponed the conduct of its first term examination for the Senior Secondary School section due to lack of stationeries, the school’s authorities said.

There are allegations that the board chairman of the school refused to approve a request for the acquisition of stationeries.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) has announced the commencement the Annual Survey of Economic Enterprises (AESE), the second component of the Economic Survey conducted by the statistical agency.

The exercise, which started last week and is expected to be concluded by the end of December, will cover more than 7000 business enterprises across the country, from small, to medium to multinational corporations.

By Prince J Musa in Kenema.

The Chairman of the Kenema District Council has urged Statistics Sierra Leone to conduct a credible census. Mohamed Sesay made the remarks during the launch of the 2018 Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey (SLIHS) report in Kenema.

His comment comes ahead of Stats SL’s proposed midterm census that will be conducted next year.

“The people of Kenema District are not happy with Statistics Sierra Leone because of how the 2015 national population census was conducted,” Sesay said.

Mabinty M. Kamara

The umbrella body of motorists in Sierra Leone has complained of exploitation of its members in the hands of staff of the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRSA) in the course of acquiring driving license.

The Sierra Leone Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union (SLMDGTWU) said it has received several reports from drivers complaining of extortion by SLRSA staff when they go to either apply for or renew their licenses.

The Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, captured the award as Minister of the Year at this year’s national awards ceremony organized by Diaspora Focus last weekend. Swaray was unanimously recognized for his hard work and dedication to the advancement of the programs of President Julius Maada Bio’s New Direction administration.

By Hajaratu Kalokoh

Statistician General Professor Osman Sankoh has lamented the seriously low rate of reading among children in Sierra Leone, which he says holds a bleak future for the country if action is not taken to bridge the gap.

Prof. Sankoh, the Chief Executive Officer of Statistics Sierra Leone (Stat SL), made the statement during the launch of the first ever National Book Fair in the country, where he said 84% of children in the country couldn’t read a short story, referencing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) of 2017.