Sewa News Stream

Alhassan Jalloh, a former student at Fourah Bay College (FBC), graduated in the 1990s. Comparing the level of violence on campus now to his time at FBC, he said it is a "totally new phenomenon." Club initiations were "a bit physical but not in this kind of way,” he said. Alhassan, whose cousin fell victim to (violent hazing) said that when visited his old club during a trip from the United States, he found things were different from the way it used to be. He blamed the present scenario on post-war mentality. Dr. Edward Nahim, the only Sierra Leonean psychiatrist for years, defined violence as: “infliction of physical or psychological harm on an individual for him or her to feel severe pain or discomfort.” He said that though student violence is not new, the war and (mind-altering) drugs have accelerated the rates of violence among students. He pointed out that the main reason for students embarking on violence is drug abuse. “I spoke a lot about drug abuse at the u...

This week the United Nations published findings of its survey examining world happiness. This is the 7th World Happiness Report. The first was released in April 2012. Almost all the top-ranked countries from 2016-2018 were oil-rich states and countries in Western Europe, North America, and East Asia. There were also countries in  Central America and the Caribbean.  The survey shows that African countries are struggling with happiness. Here's how member states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ranked in descending order: Nigeria 85 Ghana 98 Ivory Coast 99 Benin 102 Senegal 111 Niger 114 Burkina Faso 115 Guinea 118 Gambia 120 Mali 128 Sierra Leone 129 Togo  139 Liberia 141 ***The World Happiness Report is a survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. This year’s World Happiness Report focuses on happiness and the community: how happiness has evolved ...

Energy experts say most parts of Sierra Leone still have no access to a grid. Distribution lines were destroyed during the civil war, and old equipment still in place need to be replaced. With poor energy efficiency, the existing network is considered "very old" and there are immense power losses in the generation, transmission, and distribution. Many companies are forced to rely on diesel generators. New commentary by John Baimba Sesay, a former press officer in the Ernest Koroma administration, provides new insights for this timeline of Sierra Leone's energy situation as it unfolded 2007-2018. 2007 "Freetown was a dark city, with electricity supply to the city being at 5MW. But then, the government engaged the services of an independent power provider, as a short term emergency measure, to provide electricity to Freetown...There also was the rehabilitation of the Bo/Kenema Power Station thermal plants eventually expanding power generation from 2 to 5 MW. The...

"African Minerals Ltd (AML), created the infrastructure to mine and transport iron ore in Sierra Leone, leading to significant local unrest," writes Stephanie Hawes in Lexology's " Mining company not liable for acts of police ," published March 5. However, "the court held AML was not liable to the claimant local residents for the acts of brutality towards them by the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) who were attempting to restore law and order." Hawes, a lawyer at Allen & Overy, says the Kadie K. vs. African Minerals Ltd & others case is "an interesting case for companies, in the extractive industry sector, concerned about their exposure to human-rights-related risk including in relation to the acts of security forces."  Read on.   This case deals with several key tortious principles relating to acts of third parties and will be of particular interest to companies in the extractive industries monitoring their exposure to human-rights-relat...

Report of the Beoku-Betts Commission of Inquiry (later the Percy Davies Commission) into the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board from 1st January 1961 to March 1967: the price maintenance fund Author: Ronald William Beoku-Betts; Percy R Davies; Sierra Leone. Commission of Inquiry into the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board. Publisher: [Freetown]: Govt. Printer, [1968] Edition/Format:    Print book: English Sierra Leone. -- Price Marketing Board. Agriculture and state -- Sierra Leone.

Zainab Hawa Bangura recalls how Freetown was caught off guard in the days leading up to January 6, 1999. She remembers the fearless, unarmed students and civil society members who stayed behind to confront the rebels. The original article is archived on the website of the University of Makeni in Sierra Leone.  B y Christmas Day 1998, the rebels led by the late Solomon A.J. Musa (SAJ Musa) were at Waterloo and Freetown was under siege. Sierra Leone had collapsed like a pack of cards under the combined invasion of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). By some divine intervention, SAJ Musa died mysteriously on the outskirts of the city before the year rolled over. His death delayed the attack on the city as we were later informed. Following reports of his death, we knew it was just a matter of time before all hell broke loose. The civil society was working with Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG)...

Sierra Leone's Collins Pratt has been honored for services to Music in the West African community in South London. The New Year’s Honours list 2019 recognizes the outstanding achievements of people across the United Kingdom. Sewa News spoke to Amanda Ann, Collins's wife of more than 20 years, to find out more about this popular musician.  C ollins Brian Ade Pratt, a.k.a 'De Champ' has been in the music industry for four decades. The sounds of his musical instruments have resounded in scores of churches and community halls, crossing continents as well as classical, dance, and highlife genres. Primarily self-taught, Collins learned to play by ear in Freetown, Sierra Leone. When he was only 16  he was appointed an assistant organist at Freetown's Buxton Memorial Methodist Church. Under the guidance of the late Lloyd Beckley, Collins made his debut into the organ music world. At the time, the young musician was also a pianist at the Prince of Wales School i...