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Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority and the prescient remark about Savage Street Bridge

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Two years ago, an executive director at Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority told everybody who would listen that the Savage Street Bridge was a disaster waiting to happen. “I would like to fix it if I had the mandate,” he reportedly told officials from the Ministry of Finance at public budget hearings held in Freetown. A prescient remark, given that Savage Street Bridge collapsed today.  This  May,  David Panda Noah, described as — one of the brains behind the SLPP election team, which engineered access to the electoral commission’s election database in 2018 — took office as Sierra Leone's  Minister of Internal Affairs. No doubt about it, Noah has his work cut out at internal affairs.   Y ou can't help but wonder what he  c ould have done differently. Or what he would say if Awoko  reached out for comment.  ( Savage Street Bridge is a disaster waiting to happen, says SLRSA Boss, by Zainab Iyamide Joaque ) Press release from the Sierr...
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Ponder My Thoughts | Freetown: Much Too Free at 225

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Freetown covers about 35 square miles and approximately 1.1 million people live within its land area.  There are huge challenges with the transport system, solid waste management and sewage management. Andrew Keili, author of Ponder My Thoughts Volume 1 , a collection of news analysis, opinion, and essays on the most talked-about topics in Sierra Leone, looks at what the city and the national government should do to ease the problems.  The city of Freetown celebrated her 225th birthday on Saturday March 11 amidst much pomp at pageantry outside the Law Courts Building. The City Authorities and the celebration committee had collaborated well to put up a good show.  Freetown Players did a good skit on the founding of the city, attributing the founding to Thomas Peters and his band of Nova Scotians who arrived in 1792. In various speeches by Mrs Cassandra Gerber (Matriarch of the Krio Descendants Union) representing the settlers/descendants, the Mayor and Vice Preside...
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Drug lord has Sierra Leone in his pocket, thanks to corrupt connections

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 An X post reports on an AD newspaper article detailing a tense exchange at a summit, where the Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof urged Maada Bio to extradite Jos "Bolle Jos" Leijdekkers, a fugitive convicted of smuggling over 1,000 kg of cocaine valued at €50 million. Leijdekkers, a 33-year-old Dutch national wanted since 2023, evaded capture by relocating to Sierra Leone, marrying Bio's daughter Agnes in early 2024, and integrating into the president's inner circle, as evidenced by photos of him at official events alongside family members. This family connection has complicated bilateral ties, with Dutch officials viewing it as state-sponsored protection for a major European drug trafficker, potentially affecting Sierra Leone's international aid and cooperation amid ongoing scrutiny of Bio's administration. Prime Minister Dick Schoof has urgently requested the President of Sierra Leone to extradite cocaine dealer "Bolle Jos" Leijdekkers....
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