News

By Prince Musa

The authorities in Kailahun have announced a restriction in the movement of motorbike taxis known as Okadas. It follows the killing of a man in the eastern Sierra Leone district for which a bike rider is a suspect. 

Paramount Chief Musa Ngombukla Kallon of Jawai Chiefdom says Okadas are no longer allowed to move about at dark. 

The deceased who has still not been identified has been buried.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi

Police in Pujehun have expressed alarm at “a sharp rise” in armed robbery in the southern Sierra Leone district and have drafted vigilante groups to help out. They have blamed the incident an influx of shotguns in the area.

Detective Inspector Guy Patrick Chico Lansana Bussu, Crime Officer attached to the Pujehun Police Divisional Headquarters, says the situation is of serious concern.

By Umaru Fofana

The case of Sierra Leone’s sacked Vice President at the ECOWAS Court suffered a setback on Tuesday, according a source at the court’s registry in Abuja.

“The team of lawyers for Mr Samuel Sam-Sumana got turned away to perfect the process of filing at the court”, the source who cannot be named told Politico via Whatsapp. 

“They will be back after perfecting the documents based on the rules of the court”, the source adds. 

By Kemo Cham

The World Health Organisation has ranked Sierra Leone among countries with the highest burden of cases of tuberculosis - or TB - in the world.

In a new report published last week, Sierra Leone, alongside its next door neighbour Liberia, was placed among the top 10 countries with the highest number of TB cases per capita, with an official calling for redoubling of efforts by the government and its partners to tackle the epidemic.

Coordinator of the National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives (NACE) in Sierra Leone has been elected Vice Chair of the Tax Justice Network-Africa, TJN-A, at their annual general meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.  

Cecilia Christiana Mattia, who has worked in the international development sector for over 15 years, served on the board of TJN-A and is also a member of the multi-stakeholder group of the Sierra Leone Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (SLEITI). 

By Umaru Fofana

Lawyers representing the sacked Vice President of Sierra Leone, Samuel Sam-Sumana are filing papers today, Tuesday 18 October 2016 at the ECOWAS Court in Abuja, challenging his dismissal, one of the lawyers has confirmed to Politico without saying much. 

By Prince Musa

The decision by the government to do away with volunteers in health facilities has caused an upset, leading local officials calling for a policy rethink.

Dr Mohamed Vandi, District Medical Officer of Kenema is the latest to raise concern over the controversial policy. Vandi told a stakeholders’ meeting in Kenema on October 12 that the absence of the volunteer nurses in hospitals and public health units had created serious gaps in the health sector.