News

RELAXING RESTRICTIONS AS EBOLA FADES AWAY

There's a new lease of life in Sierra Leone these days, well since De Pa relaxed travel restrictions he slammed on the nation at the height of the Ebola epidemic, using emergency powers. Road transport buses have returned to Kenema for example and the mood of the nation is up again. Slightly, it must be stressed.

Eight months since they were closed due to Ebola, schools across Sierra Leone are to reopen in March.

According to a statement from State House late yesterday, the decision was reached at a consultative meeting with line ministries and development partners chaired by President Ernest Bai Koroma.

It is not clear what will happen to the several schools being used as Ebola care and treatment centres.

By Mustapha Kamara jnr

Chief Executive Officer of the National Ebola Response Center (NERC) has revealed that the committee will soon lay off some members of the teams involved in the fight against Ebola in the country.

Three months after FBC lecturer and journalist Joshua Nicol was attacked and wounded during a robbery at his home at Wilberforce, the police have so far made no arrest and "it appears as if the matter is dying a natural death,” said Nicol.

Latest reports indicate that he will almost certainly have to undergo surgery to correct a problem with his left shoulder caused by the repeated hitting and stabbing he received from the criminals during the robbery.

By Jenneh Braima

Civil Society Movement, the umbrella Civil Society Organizations’ body in Sierra Leone, has refuted allegations made by the deputy minister of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs, Mustapha Bai Attilla, that CSOs in the country were doing next to nothing where gender issues were concerned.

The minister, in a press conference last week had accused CSOs of being swift to publish negative reports about government activities and performance while failing to propagate women and children issues.

By Septimus Senessie in Kono

Plans to take on diamond mining giant OCTEA in a legal battle by the people of Koidu in the Kono District over tax evasion charges have received a major boost.

About five civil society organizations in the district have thrown their weight behind the Koidu City Council, which is championing the move. OCTEA was fingered over allegations it has failed to honor its property tax obligations.

This is in relation to tax owed for 2014, according to the mayor.

By Allieu Sahid Tunkara

The University of Sierra Leone has concluded an online virtual science fair aimed at motivating more secondary school girls to study Science courses at university.

The fair, which was organised in December, encouraged participants from nine schools, which included Annie Walsh Memorial, Grammar School and Bo school, to submit written projects online about issues facing society.