March 2, 2017 By Regina Pratt

Department of Social Affairs of the African Union (AU) Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is strategizing a way to end child marriage in West and Central Africa.

In a press release issued last Friday,the AU says it will be organizing a three-day regional capacity building workshop on “Increased Advocacy to Ending Child Marriage through Engagement of the Media in West and Central African Stream”. The workshop started onMonday 27^th February and will ended on Wednesday 1^st March, 2017, at the La Palm Beach Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

According to the release, the objectives of the workshop were to address the impact of child marriage and importance of objective and gender sensitive coverage by the media, taking into account cultural sensitivities on child marriage with the intent of promoting change, enhance the capacity of participants to engage and work with other stakeholders in addressing the harmful practices of child marriage.

“The training would also enhance the capacity of the media to better analyze and interpret data on child marriage for advocacy purpose as well as enhance consistent positioning of child marriage in the media, public and public discourse. It would also help to disseminate relevance of the references to international standards on non-discrimination and issues pertaining to women’s participation in the media as well as developing a set of actions to enhance a renewed and consistent positioning of the issue at regional and country levels,” the release stated.

“The Commission enlightens that increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the need to focus attention on the different factors that drive the practice of child marriage thereby demystifying the numerous positions being propagated as reasons why the practice must persist,” it went on.

The release also stated that child marriage is a complex issue that is driven by a number of factors in different societies, citing that gender inequality due to entrenched societal differentiation between males and females, social and economic status, class, ethnicity, caste, sexuality, religion, traditional norms, HIV status and disability are among some major factors.

“Child marriage is a human rights violation and has been included in a number of legal instruments at the continental and international levels. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) defines a child as a person under the age of 17,” the release noted, adding that the  media can be viewed as both complaint and agents of change in the subordination of women and advocating against these harmful traditional practices respectively.

The release said practices such as child marriage are often perceived as customary and considered to occur within traditional and religious contexts, therefore, the role of the media in galvanizing the needed conversation and engendering the change that needs to happen, cannot be overemphasized.

“Though equipped with the knowledge and skills to carryout investigative reporting and considering the array of media outlets on the continent, media reports on child marriage often lacks depth and do not take into consideration, the different sensitivities of the issue,” the release stated.

It added that in certain instances, there was a mistrust between the media and child rights advocates, with both sides not understanding each other’s needs, expectations and often finding it hard to work together constructively.

The release stated that the media is undoubtedly the conduits for delivering information to the society by both traditional and new media platforms, and therefore ending the harmful practice of child marriage which requires engaging the media for increased advocacy on the factors fueling the practice.

“The overall objective of the workshop is to enhance the capacity of the media to better investigate and report on child marriage in Africa with a focus on addressing the root causes and the different facets of the issue and challenging all stakeholders towards ending this practice,” the release stated.

The release stated that this workshop will link the role of the media as key information transmitters in delivering the key tenets of the African Union campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa, the AU’s Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals.

The workshop targets representatives of major media outlets in Africa in which Sierra Leone is a participant funded by UNFPA, focused on reporting on development issues and a variety of issues around social behavioral change.

Participants of the workshop are key media practitioners with both traditional and new media platforms, national based Communication and Advocacy Officers of UN Agencies, INGOs and CSOs.

March 2, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr

As the race for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) heats-up, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has allegedly officially declared  their support for Ahmad Ahmad as a presidential candidate for the March 16, 2017 polls.

With barley 14 days to go for the decider, Ahmad, who is currently the head of Madagascar’s Football Association, had already outlined his intention  to contest against the longest serving CAF ruler and incumbent, Issa Hayatou, in the March elections in Ethiopia.

Since Madagascar Football Association boss declared his intention for the African Football most enviable position in January, more countries have said to have been queued behind him to further raise the blood pressure of Hayatou and his followers.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, Nigerian’s Tony Ubani of the Vanguard newspaper reported that Sierra Leone has joined the likes of Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), Nigeria, Ghana,Senegal and The Gambia to openly support the 57-year-old man.

“As you know the whole of COSAFA, which has 15 members are for Ahmad. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, the Gambia, Sierra Leone are openly supporting the man from Antananarivo. Also, the closeness of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino and Secretary General, Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura to the ‘’New Generation’’ who wants to topple the ‘’Old’’ order, would be another blow to the Hayatou camp,” the Nigeria Vanguard newspaper reported.

However, the Sierra Leone Football Association Director of Competition, who also doubles as the acting Communication Officer, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, has dismissed the said report as baseless and misleading, adding that the SLFA President, Madam Isha Johansen,was  yet to make an official statement on the said elections.

“The president of the FA has not make any statement on that and the report is completely misleading. We all know Amaju Pinnick (Nigeria Football Federation) is backing Ahmad but that does not implies the SLFA boss is backing him. She has not made any statement on that as she is keeping her cards close to her chest,” Sesay said.

A total of 54 countries in CAF will cast their ballots in the March elections and any candidate, who polls 28 votes, automatically becomes the winner of the election and Ahmad Ahmad is said to have secured 21  member countries in his fold with more others weighing their options.

North Africans have not indicated where their votes would go but feelers showed that Ahmad would divide their votes because of a recent face-off with the 71-year-old Hayatou, who became President of CAF in Casablanca, Morocco in 1988.

Ahmad is a member of the CAF Executive Committee and he is currently in his third term of office with Madagascar.

March 2, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr

President of Sierra Leone Wresting Association, Prince Vandy Sualley, has expressed his delight over the outstanding performance and display of wrestlers in the just concluded traditional wrestling tournament in Maisaka, Port Loko District.

The one-day tournament, which attracted over 25 wrestlers from Freetown, Port Loko and other areas of the country was the first to have been staged in Maisaka.

According to Sualley, the essence of such tournament was to scout for more wrestling talents across the country and to also continue on the drive to decentralise the sport in Sierra Leone.

“This was a great tournament and I and the technical team were able to see few talents than expected. I can proudly say we achieved our goal and we are going to build on this and also consider of having such in other parts of the country,” Sualley said.

Team Freetown dominated the tournament by winning 7out of their 8 fights, while the host region finished second in the ranking table.

March 2, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr

Sierra Leone Beach Volleyball team will host neighboring Guinea in Freetown from March 4-6 in international friendly matches at the newly constructed beach volleyball court at Bishop House, Siaka Stevens Stadium.

The line-up friendly encounter will be used by both nations to get their male and female U-21 teams in preparation and in shape after they secured an automatic qualification from the Zone II region to book the U-21 Africa Nations Beach Volleyball Championship ticket.

Already, the Sierra Leonean team are presently under intensive training at the hosting venue and coach Sorie Kamara, who is the country’s director of Beach Volleyball as well as the assistant national team coach is positive that Team Sierra Leone can beat their Guinean opponent.

“We have young and energetic team to any opponent and I believe we can beat any team and we are ready to face the Guineans,” Coach Kamara.

This will mark the first official international friendly encounter between the two nations despite they have both met in an international tournament before.

…death penalty, supreme executive authority others retained

March 3, 2017 By Mohamed Massaquoi and Elizabeth  A.  Kaine

The Deputy Minister of Information and Communications yesterday informed journalists at the regular press briefing in Freetown tha, cabinet will soon complete the normal protocols regarding Government White Paper on the constitutional review process for it to be tabled in the House of Parliament.

Cornelius Deveaux said it was unfortunate that some civil society and political party representatives were accusing government of manipulating the review of the 1991 Constitution in order to retain the ruling All Peoples Congress APC in governance, adding that in the proposed Government White Paper, there would no provision relating to the extension of the mandate of President Ernest Bai, reiterating that very soon the document would be forwarded to law makers for a subsequent referendum.

It could be recalled that on the 24th January, 2017, the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) presented its report to President Koroma. Part of the Committee’s work was to proffer recommendations as to what should be in a new Constitution. The said recommendations were a culmination of consultations and deliberations by the 80-person CRC Committee and public input.

Close to the end of the process, the APC and eight other political parties raised objection on the grounds that the report did not capture some of the views of the public, thus withdrawing their signatures.

The Chairman of the Committee, Justice Edmond Cowan, stood his grounds that final work on the report was concluded.

Also, the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), called on the government to adopt the recommendations made by the Committee. According to the Access to Justice Coordinator, Moses Massa, government was obliged to adopt the recommendations in the report that were deliberated upon and discussed by the Committee members and their nation-wide sensitization and presentations.

Massa said all annexes to the recommendations and report were not subject to public scrutiny and did not represent the views of the public. Massa said the government should respect the will of citizens, and that issues which did not come from the people should not be part of the referendum.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister yesterday hinted journalists that despite all prior recommendations, government has now resolved that the death penalty should not be removed in the law books of the country, and that the title of the president as the Supreme Executive Authority should be maintained, because any attempt to rephrase that aspect of the constitution would undermine the authority of the president.

 “We are doing this not because we want to continue to be in governance but rather to   strengthen the democracy of the country. Also, we are aware that some politicians have been making negative statements about the entire process. It will be a surprise to them that we did not add anything to the mandate of the president,” he said.

The National Elections Watch NEW some few weeks ago urged President Koroma and National Electoral Commission NEC not to conduct the referendum examining the extent of tedious procedures around the referendum, drafting and passing of referendum Act, drafting of referendum question, preparation of referendum education materials and accreditation of referendum committees, public sensitization and campaign, referendum poll and announcement of referendum results, etc.

“Furthermore the Public Elections Act 2012 Section 17 states that the registration of voters, updating and revision of the voters register shall be conducted not later than six months before an election or referendum, as the case may be.  NEW sees this as not feasible to be accommodated in an already tight Elections calendar and therefore, recommends deferring the conduct of the referendum after 2018 electoral cycle,” NEW Marcella Samba-Sesay noted.

March 3, 2017 By Ibrahim Tarawallie

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has announced that a total of 3,300 Civil and Voters Registration Centres would be used to register eligible Sierra Leoneans for the forthcoming presidential, parliamentary and local councils elections slated for March 7, 2018.

Christopher Jones, an Electoral Officer of NEC, revealed that the voter registration exercise would run from March 20 to April 16, 201, across the country, and that only those who took part in the process during the four weeks allocated by the commission would be eligible to vote.

He was making a presentation in the conference room of NEC at Tower Hill in Freetown during an engagement with civil society and the media on the voter registration process.

Section 33 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone states that: “The National Electoral Commission (NEC) shall be responsible for the conduct and supervision of the registration of voters for, and of, all public elections and referenda.”

He said the registration of potential voting population would be led by NEC and that after which, the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) will then proceed with the subsequent civil registration process after they would have finished capturing eligible voters.

According to him, the 3,300 voter registration centres will become Polling Centres on the day of elections, and that a Mobile Biometric Registration VIU 820 Kits will be used for both the Civil and Voter Registration exercise.

“NEC and NCRA are presently engaged in a series of cascaded trainings targeting senior cadre staffs of both institutions. A single registration form will be used during both registrations,” he said and maintained that data generated during the voter registration would be shared with the NCRA.

Mr. Jones allayed the fears of civil society and the general populace that the dual purpose registration was consistent with the legal instruments of both institutions.

He highlighted camera, fingerprint reader, computer and signature pad to ensure the integrity of both the Civil and Voter Registration Registers by upholding the principle of ‘one person, one vote’ as functionalities of the VIU 820 kit.

Also, NEC Commissioner for western area, Miatta French, urged Sierra Leoneans to come out in their numbers and register for the elections as they would not be going to households to do the registration.

She said polling staff would be at the various centres from 7am to 5pm on a daily basis in order to capture the information of eligible voters.

Even though special arrangements has not been made for persons with disabilities, Commissioner French assured that preference and assistance will be provided to them once they make themselves available at the centres.

She added that each of the centres will have one VIU 820 kit with three registration staff on hand to capture voters’ information.

Unlike the last voter registration, wherein pictures of people where not clear, Chief of Voters Roll and Data Management, Henry Swaray, said there was a software in place now to ensure that pictures were clean.

Medical and Dental Council Secretary in court

March 3, 2017 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma

Former Secretary of the Medical and Dental Council of Sierra Leone is currently before the High Court presided over by Justice John Bosco-Allieu for the offence of larceny, embezzlement and forgery by servant.

The accused; Avril Paris, is  in court on 19 count charges ranging from larceny by servant, forgery, uttering of false documents to embezzlement, contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone.

State prosecutor, lawyer Cecelia Bull, alleges that the accused in December, 2016, embezzled millions of Leones belonging to the council.

In his testimony on Wednesday, 2^nd  March, 2017, Dr. Abdul Wahab Labie, who introduced himself as a medical doctor, told the court that he recognised the accused and recalled the 5^th of January, 2016.

He said on the above date, he went to the Medical and Dental Council in Freetown to renew his medical certificate, and that during the process of meeting the council’s Registrar,  he was directed to an office where he met the accused and told her that he wanted to renew his certificate.

“I told her that I have been out of the country for many years and that I have to pay for all those years that I have been away. She calculated the money and gave me the total amount that I was supposed to pay,” he said.

He continued that the accused later took out a receipt book with the Medical and Dental Council logo on it and asked him to pay the money to her, which he did with a receipt issued to him.

He informed the court that he was calling the accused several weeks after the payment was made, but she was not picking her calls and that when he eventually went to the council to collect his certificate, he met with one Dr. Thorpe; Registrar General of the Council and explained everything to him.

“After several checks, Dr. Thorpe told me that my name is not on the list and that they were not aware of his payment,” he stated and added that during that time, he was shown a document, indicating that over Le40 million belonging to the council had got missing.

Matter continues in the High Court.

March 3, 2017 By Joseph S. Margai

In an effort to decongest the major streets in Freetown, Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), is set to remove abandoned vehicles from the streets in the eastern part of the city, an operation that has successfully been done in the Western part of Freetown.

It could be recalled that concerns have been raised over the years by motorists and pedestrians that traffic congestion in Freetown was mainly as a result of the many abandoned vehicles and street garages. SLRSA has made frantic efforts to curb the spate and rate at which motorists repair vehicles on the streets.

In a telephone interview yesterday with the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of SLRSA, Abdul Karim Dumbuya, said the spate at which abandoned vehicles have taken over the major streets of Freetown was becoming an eyesore, but noted that his institution has started to clear most of them in the major areas in Western Freetown.

“We have peaceful Sierra Leoneans who are embarrassed on daily basis by the numerous abandoned vehicles on the streets. Some people get late for work and even to their business places. Many people have been missing their flights because of the congestion of the city which is responsible for the long queue of traffic. It was also an embarrassment to foreigners as well,” he said.

He said it was a serious concern to the SLRSA Executive Director, Dr. Sarah Finda Bendu, and her team, and that she wasted no time to give instruction for major streets in Freetown to be decongested.

“We have nine tow trucks in good working order readily available to clear all the abandoned vehicles in Freetown and even those that are left on the streets after road traffic crashes. Our personnel are also ready to discharge this responsibility,” he said.

He disclosed that they started to clear abandoned vehicles in Western Freetown some months ago, and that they have successfully done that with accolades from the public.

He said all the abandoned vehicles that were cleared along the major streets in Western Freetown have been taken to Cockrill.

He, however, stated that SLRSA was faced with the challenge of accessing space to park the numerous abandoned vehicles, but noted that they have been coping with the little space they have.

The bold action taken by SLRSA to decongest the Western Freetown has received a lot of accolades from well-meaning Sierra Leoneans. A vox pop conducted by this reporter brought out the views of members of the public.

James Browne, a public servant, said the move by SLRSA to decongest the city of Freetown was timely because many of them used to go to work late but could now arrive for work on time.

A student of Fourah Bay College, Hawa Bangura, said previously, she had to get up early in the morning to go for classes because she would get late if she did not leave home early.

March 3, 2017 By Alhaji Mansaray

Having gone through two weeks training in hospitality hotel training, 19 staff of the Leisure Lodge Hotel at Aberdeen in Freetown had received certificates at a ceremony held at the conference room of the hotel.

Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Sidi Yahya Tunis, during the presentation of the certificates, said since his appointment, he has been emphasizing the need for investments in capacity building, marketing and rebranding Sierra Leone. He added that his goal was to encourage people to invest in the Tourism sector.

“If the tourism industry is to grow, the responsibility lies on every Sierra Leonean. I am highly impressed with the training because capacity building is very key,” the Tourism Minister stated.

He called on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Leisure Lodge Hotel, Tamba Allieu Kokobaye, to continue training his workers, so as to enable them know how to receive and take care of guests, adding that when guests are well treated at a hotel, they will be moved to come again.

Chairman of the National Tourist Board, Alhaji Ahmed Wurie, said what the CEO of the Leisure Lodge Hotel has done was laudable, especially when the trainer from the two weeks hospitality training was from the Netherlands.

He urged others to emulate what the CEO has done as he expressed his gratitude to the trainer, Jeannette Biesbroeck, for the training.

General Manager, National Tourist Board, Yasin Kargbo, said the CEO of Leisure Lodge Hotel has been in the tourism industry for a long time.

He called on the grandaunts to treat others as they would like to be treated, noting that the training, which has been given to them, was like a baton, which they needed to take further.

Trainer of the grandaunts, Jeannette Biesbroeck, said all of the trainees were highly committed during the training.

“During the training, the trainees were able to sell the Leisure Lodge Hotel and Sierra Leone to me. That has urged me to come back to Sierra Leone in the future. The training mainly focused on health and safety of the guests,” she noted.

Leisure Lodge Hotel CEO, Tamba Allieu Kokobaye, said the training came at a time when the staffs were in dire need of it.

He thanked the trainer, Jeannette Biesbroeck, for making it possible to come to Sierra Leone and passed on her expertise to his staff.

“I also want to thank the National Tourist Board for their support to this training. I am very proud of my staff because of their performance during the training. They were very determined to go through this training and they have successfully done so,” he said.

March 3, 2017  By Sahr Morris Jnr

African Cycling governing body, CAC has instructed the crisis-riddled Sierra Leone National Cycling Association of (SLNCA) to hold new elections within 90 days.

In a recent correspondence addressed to the Association’s  President, Winston DC Crowther, the African Cycling Confederation stated that their decision to call for a fresh congress came following recommendations from their legal commissioner, who investigated the tussle within the association.

“CAC’s decision finally was that the federation ought to conduct fresh election to choose their executive, as there were flaws in the elections. We direct that you hold fresh election within 90 days of this notice,” CAC stated in their attached email.

“Before the elections, SLNCA ought to submit a list of its members duly signed by you as president and your secretary general. The final list is to be submitted after verification of your National Olympic Committee to CAC. The members captured on the list are those to be invited for congress,” the CAC stated and warned that failure to comply with their directives will lead to sanction including suspension of the SLNCA from the international federation.

The latest communication from CAC came almost a week after the National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NOC-SLE) broke their silence, saying they only recognised the Crowther executive until the international federation says otherwise.

It could be recalled that on 6 October, 2016, the SLNCA former Vice President, Percy Nicolson, was elected as the association’s leader after securing 54 votes as against his opponent, Franklyn Cole, who recorded 13 votes from the 72 delegates, who exercised their franchise.

The elections were conducted by both the Ministry of Sports and a three-man committee that was setup to conduct a verification process of delegates, who voted in the process. Weeks after the said elections, Winston Crowther was boastful that the said congress was illegal.

The Crowther administration’s life-span had ran out since 2014 and the call by CAC is seen as the final attempt to restore sanity within the association.

March 3, 2017  By Sahr Morris Jnr

National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NOC-SLE), has announced Saturday 25th March, 2017, as the date for its elective congress, which will be conducted in the Southern Region of Bo.

With the four years term of Dr. Patrick Coker led administration already approaching its climax, the Olympic Committee has already engaged its stakeholders and delegates ahead of the March 25 polls.

According to the NOC-SLE administrative secretary, Alie Gibril Koroma, they have already started receiving nomination letters for the various positions but admitted that he cannot name any potential candidate yet as the forms were sealed.

“Nominations are already in and will be closed just a week before the congress. We cannot name any individual going for any position now because we are yet to open any of these envelopes,” Koroma said.

Meanwhile, it is unclear if incumbent, Dr. Patrick Coker, would not be seeking for a re-election nor any other name has popped-up for the presidency.

The medical practitioner was elected President of the NOC-SLE on May 13, 2013, after defeating  the now Treasure, Prince Sualley, in a keen contest, which saw the former pulled 10 votes against the latter, who secured 6 at Mugoneh Hall in Goderich.

Dr. Coker replaced Henry Moore, who steps down after an illustrious career in that capacity.

March 3, 2017 By Sahr  Morris Jnr 

Budding international sprint sensation, Maggie Barri, has again broken her own national record for Sierra Leone in the 400 meters Indoor event at the Big 10 Championships in Ohio, where her University (The Ohio State University) participated.

Maggie took no time in attacking her own personal best time and Sierra Leone National Record of 54.15 seconds to lower it to 53.46 seconds in the preliminary heats of the women’s 400 meters event, which now stands as the new national record.

Maggie Barrie a triple sprint specialist, has a personal best time of 11.68 seconds in the 100 meters. She only started running the 400 meters in earnest at the collegiate level and she is already showing significant signs of dominance, which says she will be a major force to reckon with in the very near future at the global level.

March 6, 2017

The Commissioner of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Ady Macauley, last Thursday interacted with representatives of Local and International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to clearly explain the mandate and jurisdiction of the ACC.

Addressing them at an NGO forum organised by the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (SLANGO) in Freetown, Commissioner Ady Macauley (Esq) emphasised that ACC has the mandate to fight and suppress corruption wherever it is prevalent. He added that there are sections within the 2008 Anti-Corruption Act that deal with misappropriation of donor and public funds and property.

Commissioner Macauley, in very clear terms, said the jurisdiction of the ACC is wide and the enactment of the 2008 Act was a demonstration of Government’s compliance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). He furthered that chapter three of the UNCAC requires each member state to criminalise conduct of even foreign public officials based in Sierra Leone, which is inclusive of NGOs and persons working for international NGOs.

Commissioner Macauley said his interaction with NGOs was prompted by several issues bordering on accountability and corruption. He disclosed that the Ebola period exposed the level of corruption within NGOs and INGOs, adding that within the past three months he had signed indictments and charged to court at least fifteen NGO workers. The ACC Commissioner lamented that the duty waiver concession is being misused and abused by some NGOs, adding that the ACC has held discussions with the Ministry of Finance on accountability and transparency in the operations of NGOs. “If we collaborate and help NGOs put systems and processes in place, there will be credibility and confidence in their operations and the donors giving them monies will be confident that the monies are going to the right people and for the right purposes,” he noted.

In his statement, Deputy Commissioner of ACC, Mr. Shollay Davies, said the interaction was for them to know the scope of ACC’s operations and share experiences working with local and international NGOs in the country. He spoke about a systems review undertaken by ACC in 2010 relating to transparency and accountability within NGOs and INGOs operating in Sierra Leone. The Deputy Commissioner observed that some of the issues raised in that report are still prevalent and active. He therefore encouraged all NGOs to direct their energies towards addressing those issues and conduct their operations free from corruption. “By the provisions of the 2008 Act, as long as you receive funds for and on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone or a section thereof, makes you a public officer,” he emphasised.

The interaction was climaxed by question and answer session.

March 6, 2017 By Jonathan Abass Kamara

The Director of Hospitals and Laboratory Services, Dr. Victor Matt Lebby, has lamented the irrational use of drugs in Sierra Leone, noting that “Sierra Leone is the only country where you buy medicines without prescription.”

Addressing the Launching and Support for the establishment of Hospital Drug and Therapeutic Committees at a ceremony held at the Hill Valley in Freetown, Dr. Lebby said Sierra Leone suffered a lot of challenges during the civil war, which disrupted Pharmaceutical and other medical services, pointing out that in the post war era Pharmaceutical services to the nation must rationally be used to save lives.

He noted that the Ebola outbreak was another challenge which required the Directorate of Drugs and Medical Services, and the Pharmaceutical society to ensure that the supply chain was  maintained for a resilient health system.

Dr. Lebby underscored the need for proper regulations, policies and guidelines in executing Pharmaceutical practices in the country’s health facilities, hoping that the established Committees in the four Pilot major Teaching Hospitals: the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, Ola During Children’s Hospital, Connaught and the Regional Hospital North, in Makeni would help improve standards in the country.

He observed that financing was key noting that the country cannot be donor-driven for over and commended the Directorate of Drugs and Medical Supplies for ensuring human resource capacity building and Health Information Management System is established in the entire district across the country.

The Director, Management Services for Health (Msh), Mr. Mutarda Sesay said the thrust of Msh activity was improving their activities from the district to the peripheral health units down to village level, identify human resource, monitor and mentor.

He said District Health Management Teams have been motivated with monitoring and supervision countrywide to explore how readily peripheral health units are at the periphery on drugs management.

Commenting on data processing, Mr. Sesay opined that Quality Data should be used for decision making in a very evidence base direction for utilization.

He noted that the Directorate of Drugs and Medical Supplies is equipped with Pharmacists in every district across the country, a situation he described as commendable but stressed the need to ensure recognition and motivation on the circumstances they operate.

The Director of Drugs and Medical Supplies, Mr. Bassie Turay described the establishment of the Committees in hospitals as first in the history of Pharmaceutical activities in Sierra Leone targeting medical services in the country.

He said the Genesis of the launching event started as early as 2012 when his Directorate was approached to develop a concept addressing multiple problems on the lives of the people with the credibility of Pharmaceutical products administration and management on the formulary system.

“The rational use of Pharmaceutical is a global concern”, opined Mr. Bassie Turay.

The Director USAID System Improve Access to Pharmaceutical and Services (SIAPS), Mr. Francis Aboagye-Nyame said part of their role is to improve the ability of quality medicines to ensure that the structures are put in place to handle Pharmaceuticals credibly.

Commenting on the human resource capacity building, Mr. Aboagye-Nyame  expressed their concern on two levels: individual and institutional, to ensuring that their staff are well utilized, building capacity for Pharmaceuticals and supply chain management services, strengthen financing strategy and mechanisms to access medicines at affordable cost.

Health Advisor USAID, Saad El-Din Hussain Hassan underscored the importance of planning as to how it helped with the Free Health Care drugs and supplies Plan on procurement and quantification for the smooth flow of consumption.

He said four pilot tertiary hospitals, three in the Western Area and one in the north, Makeni have been targeted as a pilot and may roll out to twenty more hospitals and stressed the need for monitoring noting that one of the big obstacles in 2015 at the District Medical Stores was the issue of expired drugs.

Handing over the supplies donated, Mr. El-Din Hussain Hassan described the event as another key milestone in the era of Pharmaceutical services in Sierra Leone.

March 6, 2017 

The Sub-Regional Office of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Kono on Wednesday, 1st March, 2017 engaged stakeholders in revenue generation in a ‘take no bribe and pay no bribe’ campaign in the Kono District. The engagement took place at the Commission’s Conference Room at 25 Alhaji Chewtoh Jalloh Street, Kono.

Welcoming participants, Senior Investigations Officer ACC, Momodu Sittar said the meeting was organized to raise awareness around revenue generation and its implications on economic growth.

He stressed that, the engagement was designed to get feedback on the functions of the institutions and their role in the fight against corruption. He highlighted the following: soliciting or accepting an advantage, abuse of office, abuse of position, misappropriation of public funds, receiving gifts among others. He further admonished them to perform their functions effectively and efficiently.

Addressing stakeholders at the engagement, the Sub-Regional Manager Kono Wilfred Bangura said, the meeting was organized to update stakeholders on emerging corruption issues in revenue generation. The sub-regional Manager stated that, all present should be mindful of the no. 515, an easy way he said to report bribery free from all the networks. Mr. Bangura gave a brief background of the Pay No Bribe campaign. He said people should not use their offices to get enrich themselves. Mr. Bangura emphasized that ACC lays premium on every corruption offence no matter the amount involved. Hence the need to understand that there is nothing petty about petty corruption. ‘Any breach in the AC Act of 2008 is an offence’ Mr. Bangura stressed.

Mr. Patrick Saffa, Collector NRA said his business is to collect taxes on behalf of Government. According to him, an assessment is done on two requests. He mentioned rental returns to land lords as a source of revenue. He also spoke of P.A.Y.E and GST registered taxes and receipts. He cautioned that people should request for their receipts when once purchase is done in shops/Hotels. He advised on withholding taxes and the role individuals and institutions in deducting 5.5%. He said many shops are not registered. He said all shops that fail to register by April 2017 or fail to obtain a TIN number would be closed.  He promised to work with other sectors to collect taxes.

Other stakeholders who made salient contributions were, Mr. Sillah of the Trade Ministry who thanked the ACC for such a laudable venture, Mr. Kpange, Finance Officer, Kono District Council and Edward Nabieu of the Immigration Department.

…Failure to remove boulders heightens fear

March 6, 2017 By Joseph S. Margai

Residents of Mount Aureol, Mountain Cut, and Upper Fullah Street communities are living in perpetual fear because government has refused to remove some boulders at the Rock-Stone community, which pose serious danger.

According to them, they have made several calls for government to remove the boulders, but to no avail.

Sulaiman Bangura, a resident of Rock-Stone community, says the boulders have been in the said location since time immemorial, reiterating that they have made several moves for the authorities to remove  them, but noted that nothing is being done in that direction.

He says they recently held a meeting with members of the community and that they decided contributing some minimal amount of money to hire bulldozers to remove the boulders.

“We know it is not an easy venture to embark on without the help of government but we will do our best. We are aware of the fact that we are at risk because of the position of the boulders. They can roll down at any time from now and they have the potential to destroy houses and other properties or even kill dozens of residents. The situation will even be worst if the rocks roll at night when everybody will be asleep,” he explains.

Abdul Bangura says they are not happy staying in the community but notes that they have no option because they cannot not afford to pay rent in safer communities.

Youth leader of the community, Osman Kargbo, says that although the situation in the community is worrisome, they are also afraid to heap pressure on the government for fear of being relocated to communities outside Freetown.

He alleges that the flood victims that were taken to Mile Six in the Western Area Rural District have been expressing concern over poor health and water facilities, food, market centres, and other recreational facilities.

“If government decides to relocate us to a place that does not make us confortable, we will not go there. That is a fact. The only thing we want now is to get these stones removed from here,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Research Officer at the Department of Disaster Management in the Office of National Security (ONS), Nathaniel Kamara, says they have visited the community and advised residents not to stay there, considering the fact that they are exposed to danger.

“We have made our position clear to them but they were insisting that they have now settled in the community. They claimed to have got houses there and that they could not afford to huge amount of money that landlords demand to rent their houses,” he says.

He avers that if the ONS decides to demolish houses around the rocks, there are several implications of landownership, human rights violations, among other things, to such decision.

March 6, 2017 By Jonathan Abass Kamara

The Director of Hospitals and Laboratory Services, Dr. Victor Matt Lebby has reiterated the importance of the utilization of donor funds towards building a resilient health system.

Addressing health care providers at a meeting held in the St. Anthony’s Parish hall at Syke Street in Freetown during a validation meeting of Integrated Laboratory Referral, Dr. Lebby opined that the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and partners is also imbedded in strengthening the health sector countrywide.

He said much has been done in building the health care delivery system and called on participants to re-double their efforts in the discharged of their duties to ensure accountability in their various duty stations across the country.

Dr. Lebby noted the significant role played by Laboratory Technicians to reduce diseases and illnesses stressing the need for the building of a sustainable system on transportation, packaging and proper use of specimen.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer II, Dr. Amara Jambai observed that there has been serious constrained for integration and coordination over the past years, but optimistic that with team work and dedication they would achieve the desired goal.

The WHO Coordinator, Health Security and Emergency, Dr. Harry Opata described the validation as a step in the right direction noting the challenges involved in addressing laboratory capacity with special reference to specimen transportation among others.

The Senior Laboratory Adviser, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Gladys Anyo reminded participants that lot needs to be done to enhance collaboration and quality services in the management of specimen, adding that the policy guideline would serve as a road map for effective and efficient service delivery.

Other key highlights include statements by the Senior Laboratory Consultant, Haja Dr. Isatta Wurie, presentations, and an interactive session on the way forward to regulate the practices of professionals within the framework on quality services in specimen management and policy guidelines.

March 6, 2017 By Jariatu S. Bangura

The United Nations women representative to Ethiopia has urged Sierra Leoneans to step up campaign and raise awareness against early child marriage.

Speaking in parliament last week, Madam Letty Chiwara said 1 out of any 10 Sierra Leonean women between the age of 15 to 49, experience sexual violence in their life and that over 40% of young women have their first baby at the age of 18 years or below.

 She said 12 % of them get pregnant at age 15, which according to her, was not acceptable for a country that was fighting for women’s equality.

“We know that the country has encountered a lot of challenges in the past years but be rest assured that UN women is with you to ensure that we embrace gender equality. With this campaign, it will be an official movement for women’s empowerment and participation. We would move faster in national recovery. There is still a long way to go in order to realise the development agenda that is ahead of us. There are many challenges in Sierra Leone but through this campaign, we are asking all and sundry to take a personal responsibility to address and overcome some of these challenges,” she said.

She stated that  girls  giving birth to babies was an additional burden as they expect their parents to look after them, thus urging Sierra Leoneans to stop child marriage.

She called on everyone across the 14districts in the country to embrace the HeForShe campaign.

She noted that since the launch of HeForShe campaign in 2014, 1.3 billion signatories have endorsed it.

She said they were hoping that Sierra Leone will reach the targeted figure by 2030 and that the promotion, equality, and empowerment among women and girls across Africa will be achieved.

 “We want all Sierra Leonean women, men and boys to rise up beyond awareness and participation of women in the country and Africa as a whole.  I do hope that Sierra Leone will reach the world in getting the climate 50/50 by 2030 which is no longer a child dream but doable in achieving the solidarity and campaign commitment to gender equality,” she said, adding “Sierra Leone is now taking the course to join the other countries in promoting and accelerating women’s economic empowerment,” she said.

She said to advance women’s role in peace and security and  their participation in leadership and elimination of Gender Based Violence, was a comprehensive approach that engages every segment of society.

She expressed optimism that the HeForShe campaign will work to promote gender equality and gender parity across Africa.

Madam Chiwara commended sierra Leoneans, who  have already accepted to champion the course for change.

“When I checked the webpage of the HeForShe campaign, I realised that 57 sierra Leoneans have joined the campaign on the HeForShe website of which 45 were men and 12 were women,” she said.

She applauded the Sierra Leone Parliament for promoting the campaign.

March 6, 2017 By Sahr  Morris jnr

Algerian referee, Mehdi Abid Charef, will be the man in the middle when the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) FC would battle against Tunisian Club Africain in the first round of 2017 Total CAF Confederations Cup.

The two sides will go face-to-face on Sunday, March 12, 2017 at the Stade Olympique de Radès in Tunis for the first leg encounter before the Sierra Leonean team host the return leg in Freetown the following weekend.

Mehdi Abid Charef will be assisted by Abdelhak Etchiali as his AR 1, while Abbes Akram Zerhouni will be the AR2.

The 36-year-old has been a FIFA referee since 2011; he also took charge of the CAF Under-20 Championship finals between Ghana and Egypt in 2013 and also handled the Group B clash between Gabon and DR Congo match which ended 0-0.

Abid Charef also handled Nigeria’s 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania and in May, 2016, the Confederation of African Football also appointed him as the central referee for Ghana’s Medeama FC Confederation Cup decider against South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns.

The experienced official also took charge of the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier match between the Uganda Cranes and Congo Brazzaville in November, 2016 and was supported by Adelhak Etchiali and Mokraine Gourani as the first and second assistants.

Charef was also part of the officiating team at the Gabon 2017 Nations Cup and he whistled the all West African clash between Ghana and Mali.

March 6, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr

As the race for this month’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidency heats on, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) President, Isha Johansen, remains undecided on who to support in the March 16 polls.

With barely 11 days to go for the decider, Madagascar’s football boss, Ahmad Ahmad, will be challenging the longest-serving CAF president, Issa Hayatou, for the continent football hot-seat and already several nations have reportedly showed their support for one of the two candidates.

Last week, Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper reported that SLFA boss has joined the likes of Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia to openly support the 57-year-old Ahmad Ahmad.

However, the Football Association Director of Competition, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, dismissed the said report as baseless and misleading, noting that the SLFA president  was  yet to make an official statement on the said elections.

Just few days after Sesay’s statement, Johansen was unimpressed and according to reports from Inside World Football.com, she ordered an immediate enquiry into the media reports in which her Director of Competition said she would not be voting for the Madagascan Hayatou’s challanger.

“Johansen is understood to be incensed that Sesay made such a pronouncement on behalf of the SLFA without due consultation,” the online media reported.

 “I never granted an interview to anyone as to what direction we are taking in any of the elections,” the SLFA boss told Inside World Football and refused to confirm who she will be voting for.

She further stated: “In fact, right at this moment, I am focused on my own candidacy for the female slot on the CAF Executive Committee and this involves me trying to further put Sierra Leone on a high pedestal in the governance of football in Africa and my protection and desire to raise the profile of the impact of women in football.”

Johansen is not the first to deny claims of supporting a particular candidate, the South Africa sports minister, Mbalule Fikile, in February,denied claims by Issa Hayatou that he has been endorsed for re-election by the South African President Jacob Zuma.