It was a female first and second for the United States embassy reporting contest for Sierra Leonean journalists. Martha Kargbo of Sky Radio and Sylvia Villa of Awoko topped the crowded field.
The fellowship, according to the US Mission, was organised to encourage local journalists to focus on long form, investigative reporting that seeks to address societal issues and strengthen democracy.
By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone has indefinitely banned the export of fish to forestall imminent shortage of supply to the local markets.
The Ministry of Fisheries says the move has become necessary to protect vulnerable and poor Sierra Leoneans who depend on fish for their primary source of protein.
Charles Rogers, Deputy Minister of Fisheries, told journalists that the rainy season and the mountains of seaweed that have invaded the country’s beaches had made it hard for artisanal fishermen to fish.
By Kemo Cham
A World Food Programme project that provides crucial nutrition for HIV and tuberculosis patients in Sierra Leone has received a major boost which will enable it expand the number of beneficiaries.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has provided US$3.1 million to the programme which will see the UN food agency scale up its nutritional support for over 20,000 Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and TB patients, according to a statement received by Politico.
By Kemo Cham
Newspapers need to up their game by improving on content, the Guild of Newspaper Editors of Sierra Leone has urged its members.
Various speakers at its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) in a long time, lamented over the current state of the print media in the country, particularly in content production.
By Kemo Cham
The health sector in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, suffers gross neglect and abuse of patients seeking healthcare with even the dead not spared, says a new report by a local organisation Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI).
The damning report released over the weekend says health centres and hospitals, especially in government-run facilities, habitually demand bribes before attending to patients.
Patients who resist such demands are sent back home without treatment.
By Umaru Fofana
Police in Sierra Leone on Friday released on bail three senior officials of the country’s football association after they had spent a night in custody.
On Thursday the President of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) Isha Johansen, her Vice President Brima “Mazola” Kamara and Secretary General Chris Kamara were detained on the orders of the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
They have not been charged.
Mrs Johansen says her arrest and subsequent detention left her “shocked and mortified”.
By Mabinti Kamara
The Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL), the leading liquor producer in the country, has defended the government’s recent move to increase tax on imported alcoholic beverages., syaing the new tax regime is sure to help boost local manufacturers.
Supported by: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
