Sewa News Stream

  In the aftermath of Sierra Leone's highly contentious June elections, the government and the opposition All People's Congress (APC) inked an agreement on October 18th, presenting it as a solution to the nation's political divisions.  At first glance, it may seem like a step towards reconciliation and unity following post-election crises, but upon closer inspection, it becomes abundantly clear that this agreement is profoundly flawed and riddled with ambiguity and concerns that have grave implications for Sierra Leone's democratic future. Commentary by Basita Michael @MichaelBasita Ignores Electoral Irregularities and Lack of Transparency Remarkably, the agreement fails to acknowledge the numerous irregularities and the lack of transparency that marred the June elections despite these issues being meticulously documented in the European Union Election Observation Missions (EUEOM) Sierra Leone 2023 elections report.  The blatant disregard for the "statistical incon

  The Cotton Tree is a well-known landmark in Sierra Leone that has been around for centuries, with some estimating its age to be anywhere from 200 to 500 years old. Three years ago, the world watched in horror as witnesses captured footage of the tree burning, with flames shooting from its trunk.  When Sierra Leone celebrated the 225th anniversary of its capital city, which was founded in 1792, the city's birth story as the "Province of Freedom" had been told many times, but there are lesser-known stories in local folklore. In a powerful counter-narrative first published in 2011, Mohamed Gibril Sesay, an author, sociologist, and politician, shared a story that sheds light on a different side of the city's history.  Here's an annotated version: The "Province of Freedom" was established in 1787 by 400 formerly enslaved black individuals sent from London, England, under the auspices of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor. They settled in Granvil

Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Milton Margai(1895-1964), Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021) in Sierra Leone, circa November 1961. Record of the royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Sierra Leone from 25th November to 1st December 1961. 

Christian Lawyers, which also goes by the name Legal Link, issued a press release this week featuring nine recommendations for the Special Investigations Committee, which President Julius Maada Bio hurriedly set up to look into the August 10 protests that left at least six police officers dead and scores of people unaccounted for.  Rashid Dumbuya, currently executive director of Legal Link, is also a former Commissioner for Human Rights in Sierra Leone, which was provided for in the Lome Peace Agreement of 1999, and was also recommended in the 2004 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report. The Human Rights Commission was established to protect and promote human rights in Sierra Leone. The commission is recognized as a national institution that fulfills the standards set by the UN Paris Principles governing such institutions. According to Dumbuya's biography on LinkedIn, he has worked with the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone and Human Rights Forum in Geneva. Christian Lawy

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) was founded in1971 primarily to promote freedom of expression and the press, to seek the welfare and protection of its membership, and seek training and capacity-building opportunities for its membership. After 50 years, how does the current president, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, plan to engage representatives from digitally literate countries that make up the international community? How does he expect them to strengthen a media landscape lagging behind current thinking or trends? A month ago, the Twitter feed of the SLAJ president was paying a lot of lip service to the launch of the Citizens Manifesto Report and the organization's support of initiatives that put citizens’ priorities at the top of the agenda for the 2023 elections in Sierra Leone. The Aug 10 protests, which later turned deadly, gave the SLAJ president a more urgent reason to speak about the economic base, public order, and protecting citizens and their freedoms.   "

Mohamed Sorie Forna and fourteen others were executed in Sierra Leone on July 19, 1975. I remember the date because my late father, driving us home, decided to go past Pademba Road. He was a Sierra Leone Daily Mail reporter in the 1950s. I have never forgotten the sight of bodies hanging on the high concrete wall towering over the prison. As I grew older and understood more of what I saw, I realized that there is reason developed countries choose not to display executed souls for all to see. By the time, Hindolo Tyre, a Fourah Bay College student president, was thrust into the role of leading a nationwide protest, which galvanized support from the labor unions, I was distracted by foreign movies like Network.  What I remember most about it was that before Howard Beale's sermons on the dehumanization of society, he asked viewers to shout, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" from their windows. Gosh, so many people I knew were silently scre