News

By Kemo Cham

Over 200 Air France passengers heading for Paris have been left stranded in the Gambian capital, Banjul after the plane which was scheduled to transit in the Guinean capital Conakry was prevented from landing there.

Representatives of Air France in Freetown, where the flight took off from, said bad weather condition prevented it from landing in Conakry, after several attempts by the pilot lasting for about an hour.

The plane, which had originated from Paris, transited in Freetown where it took on board 165 passengers.

By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay

Civil society groups across Sierra Leone country have condemned the "shrinking" political space in the country. The condemnation from more than 20 CSOs came following what they alleged were repeated attacks on activists and human right defenders.

According to a statement from the group, independent voices have come under physical, emotional and other forms of attack since last year’s general election.

By Mohamed T. Massaquoi

Police at the Mano River Division in Jendema have warned of a potential for security breach in the border region owing to ‘low police strength’ on the Sierra Leonean side.

Jendema is the main Sierra Leonean town at the Mano River Border, and the only official crossing points between Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The police say in addition to low personnel strength, lack of vehicles also inhibits their movement, thereby making it difficult, if not impossible, to monitor the largely porous 77 miles (123km) border line.

By Kemo Cham

Sierra Leone should continue to focus on revenue mobilization and prudent management of public finances to reduce its public debt and create the fiscal space to invest in its people and infrastructure, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

While praising the Bio Administration for impressively weathering a difficult economic condition in the last 12 months, the IMF also urged the authorities to step up structural reform efforts to manage fiscal risks, ensure greater accountability, and diversify the economy.

By Kemo Cham

Residents of Bonthe and land rights campaigners are calling on investors and the World Bank Group to suspend a planned voting on a possible funding for the Rutile miner, Sierra Rutile.

The company, which operates in the southern part of Sierra Leone where it runs one of the largest Rutile mines in the world, hopes to get a US$ 60 million loan when the board of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, meets and votes for a decision later this year.

By Umaru Fofana

The ECOWAS Court of Justice yesterday met to hear a case filed on behalf of pregnant girls in Sierra Leone who were shut out of school following the Ebola outbreak in 2015 and more recently.

The Government of Sierra Leone raised an objection that one of the parties – Child Welfare Society (CWS) lacked the “legal capacity” to be in the matter which the court upheld and struck them out.

But the court decided that the other party, Women Against Violence (WAVES) could stay on before adjourning to 25 June for hearing.

By Kemo Cham

The former head of the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), Alie Badara Mansaray, has been indicted by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Mansaray, who headed the Commission from 2014 to 2018, was indicted for corruption alongside Richard Turay, who was his Finance Director.
The two former top officials were each slammed with two counts of conspiracy to commit a corruption offence and misappropriation of public funds.