Sewa News Stream

There’s an old legend about a mayor of Freetown who paid a visit to Gambia to meet with the mayor of Banjul. Two days into his stay, Freetown’s mayor thought that most people in Banjul knew somebody's name in his city 500 miles away. Everywhere he went, he ran into someone who had family or friends in Freetown. Historical, trade, and cultural ties go back centuries between the two African countries. So it came as a bit of a shock when the Gambia announced in April that all flights from Sierra Leone (as well as Guinea and Liberia) to Banjul had been cancelled to prevent the spread of Ebola. The decision left passengers, mainly traders travelling to Banjul, stranded, while Sierra Leone’s government was still in talks with Banjul. “Given the severity of the Ebola virus disease, I support the decision,” said Felice Oluremi Lawrence. They were “safety measures taken by the government of Gambia to prevent the virus from entering its borders,” she said. Sierra Leonean born Felic...

According to sources close to State House, a recent newspaper story about defective ambulances is not true. Mohamed Gibril Sesay, a presidential adviser, has denied claims that new ambulances bought by the government of Sierra Leone earlier this month have broken down. "The ambulance story is a blatant lie, all are working, and they are not second hand.” At the beginning of September, local papers reported that the first batch of 20 ambulances ordered by the government of Sierra Leone from Dubai had arrived at Lungi. The ambulances were received by Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation Ibrahim Mansaray and other officials from ministries of health and sanitation, and finance and economic development. According to Mansaray, the ambulances are fully equipped and brand new, one report said. Sesay explained that some utility vehicles, which were bought quickly in-country to supply the needs of burial teams, [Ebola] surveillance teams, etcetera are secondhand. “Almost all ...

Discussions about Ebola are everywhere in Sierra Leone: in taxis, at the market, on the street, and at home. Understanding of the disease is growing but myths are still alive:  "I woke up last night and washed my body with salt, Ebola can't touch me now, this is what a pastor told me." "Ebola will be over when the rainy season ends." "I drink a pint of beer every night, so Ebola can't touch me." "My body is porous, if I go to the provinces I will catch the disease immediately." "People don't realize it, but Ebola is just cholera in disguise." (Unicef Sierra Leone)   Professor Jimmy Kandeh put it succinctly when he posted on his Facebook wall that “Parallels between the war in Sierra Leone and the current Ebola outbreak are unmistakable and instructive.” Both threatened national security and the  survival of our people; both emanated from across the border but found fertile ground in our country; the governm...