News

By Kemo Cham

The Sierra Leone government has proposed a series of tax amendments aimed at boosting its revenue base as it unveiled an ambitious budget line for 2017.

Some 16 tax proposals were presented to parliament on Friday contained in the Appropriation Act 2017. They range from a 0.5 percent royalty on turnover of all companies and tax payable persons, to a 35 percent excise tax on cigarette and tobacco products.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi 

The Family Support Unit (FSU) of the Pujehun Police Division says it is investigating a case of an alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl involving five men.

The incident reportedly happened in Taninahun Village in the Malen Chiefdom. 

Detective Sergeant Lahai Koroma, the FSU Line Manager in the southern district, said the incident took place on the 5 November. He said the five suspected young men aged between 18 and 25 years, were all under police custody.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi

Faced with a high rate of maternal deaths, the District Health Management Team (DHMT) in the southern Sierra Leone district of Pujehun has called for police intervention to curb a rising rate of home deliveries.

The district health authorities say home delivery is fuelling the rate of maternal mortality for which Sierra Leone is already ranked among the worst in the world. World Bank figures show that the country has 1,360 deaths per every 100, 000 live births.

By Prince Musa

A local nongovernmental organisation in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone, has accused the Paramount Chief of Mandu Chiefdom of intimidating police to pervert the course of justice thereby compromising a two-year-long sexual abuse case in the locality.

Humanist Watch Sierra Leone says PC Kellie Coomber and the Line Manager of the police Family Support Unit in Daru connived to frustrate progress in the case which involves the Town Chief of Mobai Mandu Chiefdom, Momoh Laa. 

By Prince Musa

The underdevelopment and deplorable state of Kenema District should be blamed on bad politicking, a government minister says.

Ishmail Sengu Koroma, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, blamed the situation on local politicians whom he accused of “jealousy, tribalism and selfish leadership.” 

He also vowed to use force, if necessary, to get people to tow the line of the government for development to come to the eastern district.

By Kemo Cham

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has put in motion a system of self-regulation in a bid to win public support for greater press freedom.

The association last week kick started a campaign to popularize its revised Code of Ethics which seeks to promote professionalism among its members.

SLAJ president, Kelvin Lewis, was quoted saying journalists should choose between journalism and politics and that genuine practitioners should endeavor to let the public easily distinguish them from impostors.

By Kemo Cham

Exactly one year to the day the World Health Organisation first declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, the country will mark the occasion with a three-minute silence.

According to a statement from State House, at exactly 11:00 am on Monday 7 November, flags on all government buildings will fly at half mast. 

All vehicles are expected to stop, and classes in schools and all other learning institutions will also grind to a halt lasting the moment of silence.