Sewa News Stream

Former minister of finance Kaifala Marah got reassigned as the nation's bank governor in last week's cabinet reshuffle, but some of his fans are not too happy. Today, he posted an open letter on Facebook addressing the change, duty, and public service.  My dear friends,  As you are all aware, His Excellency The President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma on Sunday 13 March 2016, reassigned me to the post of Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone as part of a Cabinet reshuffle. During the last few days I have guaged the mood among friends and noted the change has been received with mixed-feelings. I wish to let you know that I am very much pleased with the decision of the President. I am tempted to share with you (although some of us already know this) that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development deals with planning and fiscal policy among others, which is one side of the economy, and the Bank of Sierra Leone handles Monetary policy, which is the other side of the econom

Alpha Sibbie (left) and Sheku Ngaojia have been released from custody after paying a million Leones per head.  Earlier this month, both men were facing a year in jail for producing a film titled "Tribal War: Mende vs. Temne" Jittery government of Sierra Leone officials have called the movie, “heartless," and said it "was capable of causing mayhem” in the post-war nation eyeing election season in less than a year. Sierra Leone was ravaged by a war that lasted from 1991 to 2002, and resulted in 70,000 casualties and 2.6 million displaced people.  The war was characterized by widespread atrocities, including the abduction of children. The chopping of arms and legs also became synonymous with the brutality. F ew people have seen the 2016 film produced by the two filmmakers from Bo, Sierra Leone’s second largest city.  But a review by John Solo provides one of the most objective analysis of the film’s techniques and thematic content.  Here’s what w

After terrorists struck cities in Burkina Faso and Mali, the BBC asked  where next?   In a  statement  issued this week, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed  outraged at the news of the terrorist attack perpetrated in Grand-Bassam,  Cote d’Ivoire.  The ECOWAS Commission said it is  closely monitoring the situation, and  is in total solidarity in the fight against terrorism.  The Commission also said it is committed to the creation of a broad anti-terrorism front. When?   For each attack, the terrifying stories of those who survived massacres feed a growing climate of fear while West African governments struggle to provide a solid response. But in the meantime, these survivors' dramatic tales have become all too familiar in the region. Everywhere, populations are left with the dreadful question: when and where is next? In March 2013, Martin A. Ewi, a senior researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pret

The cabinet reshuffle announced late Sunday would see four women in Sierra Leone’s Cabinet for the first time.  Diana Finda Konomanyi, former local government minister, is now Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment.  Nanette Thomas, 60, who is shown at an attitude and behavior rally announced by President Koroma during his first term, is now Minister of Political Affairs and Public Affairs.  Onetime All People's Congress party women’s leader, Elizabeth Mans, 56, (pictured left) is Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, while Sylvia Blyden, 44, (lead photo) will become social welfare minister following the departure of Moijeuh Kaikai and his deputy, Mustapha Bai Attila, after a bitter row that went viral. Blyden is a journalist, political commentator, newspaper publisher, and a former Special Executive Assistant to Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma. As Minister of Social Welfare, Gender & Children's Affairs, Blyden will