Sewa News Stream

  Fifty years ago, on July 19, 1975, I looked in fear at the lifeless body of Ibrahim Bash-Taqi hanging on the high brick wall of Pademba Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Taqi was executed by hanging alongside former finance minister Mohamed Forna, Army Lieutenant Habib Lansana Kamara, and Paramount Chief Bai Makarie N'silk at Pademba Road. The turmoil began after a disputed election in 1967, which led to a military coup that overthrew Sierra Leone's civilian government following independence. This military rule lasted just over a year and ended with another coup that reinstated Siaka Stevens, whose All People's Congress (APC) had won the 1967 elections. Between 1968 and 1969, tensions grew between the APC and the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), which had governed from 1961 to 1967. Dissatisfaction increased among some APC members, leading to the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP). This party fueled opposition against the APC through newslett...

“Everybody must know what they can do to avoid getting the disease…Everybody in every house in every community in this country is very important in our fight against Ebola.” - President Koroma Health organizations worried Sierra Leone's mandatory quarantine could drive panicked communities into further isolation, and Médecins sans Frontières expressed concerns about where new cases would be treated. But almost two weeks later, a place imagined to be the one of the worst equipped to deal with an outbreak of Ebola is taking serious precautions other than staying at home. Kroo Bay, a sprawling slum in the capital, Freetown, conducted a two-day door-to-door campaign to identify any potential Ebola cases that have been hidden among an estimated beachfront township of 15,000 people. According to Awareness Times , the community came together on the decision to find out the severity of the outbreak in their area following the death of a local herbalist, Santigi Bangura, also known...