Mackie M Jalloh: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 April 2024: As the world turns its gaze toward Sierra Leone on its 63rd Independence Day, the nation finds itself at a crossroads of reflection and despair. For six decades and three years, this West African nation has trudged through a quagmire of perpetual hardship, stagnation, and unfulfilled promises. Today, as the world celebrates its independence, Sierra Leone stares into the abyss of its own failures, with little to show for its tumultuous journey. Sierra Leone, once known as the “Athens of West Africa” for its rich cultural tapestry and vibra ..read more

Bob Massally: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 April 2024: The optics of a thousand Kilo elephant in a well-lit room most Pan-Africanist are opaque to or is obscured by rose-tinted glasses or tight-fitting blinkers is the inept and failed leadership in Africa not only by Presidents but by the elite and intelligentsia. The meagre resources availed to the disproportionately bulging population of Africans are being looted and laundered in varying forms including shell companies and real estate in the capitals and offshore outposts of the so-called Colonialists. Their monies are being wasted in vanity p ..read more

Alpha Amadu Jalloh – The Fox: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 April 2024: As Sierra Leoneans, today we commemorate another Independence Day, but one question looms heavy: why should we celebrate a nationhood that has failed to deliver on its promises? For far too long, our people have endured the bitter fruits of a freedom that rings hollow, a unity shattered by greed, and a justice system that favors the powerful over the powerless. When our founding fathers stood at Lancaster House in London, they envisioned a future where their children and grandchildren would bask in the glory of unity, freedom ..read more

Magnus Cole: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 April 2024: In early April, social media in Sierra Leone went agog over the surprising appearance of President Julius Maada Bio in a Maybach Mercedes car. Bio was at this year’s annual alumni celebration of the foundation Day of the Bo Government Secondary School in the southern city of Bo. The uproar over the vehicle was instigated by its estimated cost of around 250 to 300 United States dollars. Many juxtaposed that amount against the very punishing economic hardship in the country. Three hundred thousand united states dollars may sound petty cash in ..read more

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 April 2024: Following the death of a child at the Freetown Maternity hospital – PCMH on Tuesday, and mounting criticism of government’s indifference in the face of acute electricity outage across the country, the ministry of health yesterday published a statement, promising to put measures in place to prevent suffering and deaths in hospitals due to lack of electricity. But the statement stops short of supporting calls by many in Sierra Leone for the country’s President to ensure that the ministry of finance can find the cash to pay for fuel that will power generator ..read more

Alhaji U. N’jai: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 April 2024: I first wrote this piece in 2018 and it represented my introspection on the state of the nation Sierra Leone at 57. It was also a time of great optimism as the nation had just ushered in the “new direction” government of President Julius Maada Bio. Expectations across the country where high that the new Bio led administration will correct some of the wrongs of the previous governments. It has been my fervent desire that much of the narrative on this piece would have changed for the better in the last six years, but unfortunately except fo ..read more

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 24 April 2024: Dr. Jeredine George, a specialist Obstetrician Gynaecologist at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) commonly called Cottage reported on social media this week that a newborn baby has died at the hospital because of lack of electricity. Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone with a population of over 2 million people, is facing acute electricity outage which has lasted for many weeks if not months, because of government’s failure to pay the Turkish electricity generating company $48 million it owes. The government says it has no cash. But ..read more

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 24 April 2024: According to the US State Departrment’s 2023 Report, “There were credible reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. On June 25 (the day after the June 24 elections), at the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party headquarters in Freetown, police reportedly killed a party volunteer. “On June 26, police killed four other APC supporters in the town of Masiaka. During protests on September 11, police reportedly killed two more individuals. The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) called on the Independent P ..read more

Alpha Amadu Jalloh: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 24 April 2024: In the heart of Sierra Leone, a nation once praised for its resilience and courage in the face of adversity, a dark cloud looms ominously. Extra-judicial killings have become a chilling norm, casting a shadow over the aspirations of a people who yearn for justice and freedom. (Photo above: Scores of unarmed victims of August 10th peaceful deminstrations, all shot dead in cold blood with impunity).   As the courts are overrun by the wielders of power, it is time for the International Court of Justice to take note. Under the le ..read more

FCC Comms: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 April 2024: The rains have come early and jumped ahead of our flood mitigation plans. FCC flood mitigation activities started at Juba Bridge on 3rd April. After about five days we moved onto the canal at Lumley which had also become an illegal dumpsite last year. From there work began and is still ongoing at Kroo Bay. The heavy rains in the early hours of this morning were accompanied by the return of an unfortunate habit – some Freetonians emptying their garbage into gutters and waterways during the rain. As a consequence, we saw an overflow of a number ..read more