Sewa News Stream

Almost three years ago,  Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr announced on Facebook that she was back on her feet, buoyed by the support and good wishes from Freetonians, family, and friends. Standing shoulder to shoulder with her in the photo were Umaru Koroma, national secretary-general of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) (left) and then Minister of Political and Public Affairs Foday Yumkella, brother of the 2018 National Grand Coalition presidential nominee, Kandeh Yumkella. The same week, Aki-Sawyerr had been assaulted outside SLPP's headquarters. Responding to the outrage after the attack, the national secretariat of the SLPP issued a statement condemning the assault and denied its party members were involved. "We shall never be a party to any ploy to derail the effective operations of the office of the Mayor of Freetown, or any other person of authority," the statement said.   Almost three years to the day, the mayor was reportedly shaken after a mugging by knife-wiel...

Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation has issued a public notice about its COVID-19 vaccination drive. According to the notice, the first phase began on Monday, March  22, and will continue through Wednesday, March 31. Target beneficiaries are below: Health care workers (Public & Private) Every Health care worker irrespective of age. Military Officers Age 40 years and above Police Officers Age 40 years and above Fire Force Officers Age 40 years and above Prison Officers Age 40 years and above Teachers (Public & Private) Age 40 years and above Lecturers and Instructors (Public & Private) Age 40 years and above Social Workers Age 40 years and above Custom & Immigration Officers Age 40 years and above General Public Age 70 years and above The following health facilities have been designated as vaccination sites:  BOMBALI  Makeni Gov’t Hospital  Kamabai CHC KONO  Koidu Gov’t Hospital  UMC Jiama Sewafe MOYAMBA  Moyamba Gov’t Hospital  Njala Universi...

Photo courtesy of #SaloneTwitter  

The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has issued a strongly-worded statement condemning violence, abuse, discrimination, and intimidation in football and the West African nation. The letter signed by SLFA President, Isha Johansen (standing left in this archive photo), said that what was expected to be a 'healthy campaign atmosphere' quickly degenerated into an ugly, almost fatal scene. Johansen apologized to Victor Lewis and wished the football veteran a speedy recovery.  Lewis has served as chairman of the Sierra Leone Premier League Board.  Rodney Michael (photographed with Johansen in happier times) also posted a rebuttal to a listserv, known for its controversial online activity.  On the platform, Michael said Mohamed Kallon,  who is considered the most famous footballer from Sierra Leone in some quarters, was not his supporter as reported by Mohamed Kamara of Sierra Leone Football News . "He  (Kallon) may be my friend and hero, but he is a Presidenti...

Days after human rights activists held vigils to commemorate the victims of acts of violence on January 6, 1999, the owner of Freetown's East End Tigers football club Victor Lewis is reportedly fighting for his life after being stabbed in the neck. According to Mohamed Kamara of Sierra Leone Football News , Lewis was attacked during a brawl that took place inside the football headquarters of the Sierra Leone Football Association. It is not known whether Isha Tejan-Cole Johansen, the current president of the Sierra Leone Football Association, was in the building. The football association is yet to make a statement. Kamara said witnesses taking part in the elective nominations at the football headquarters blame former Inter Milan striker Mohammed Kallon, lawyer Emmanuel Abdulai Saffa, and Rodney Michael, the brother of the Mercury betting company manager, for instigating the stabbing.  Apparently, the fight started when Lewis, chief executive officer of East End Lions, a pr...

' Yeah, can Sylvia Blyden live? ' is an odd headline. But Jay-Z's 1996 song symbolizes the increasing frustration some of us feel with the escalating harassment of Sylvia Olayinka Blyden.   'So, what do you want to do with Sylvia?' I recently asked one of her detractors. Those who write about  Sierra Leone's most vocal critic  in violent and aggressive ways.  'Do you want to kill her?' I pressed.  Plus, I added, any country with a president who orders three police truckloads to surround his critic's house is THE banana republic. Sylvia Blyden is no more an enemy of the state than all the revolutionary united front (RUF) sympathizers and combatants in government. If Sylvia's detractors consider her actions self-serving, why bother with a sledgehammer for such low-level agitation? I argue Sylvia is a target for broadsides and innuendoes because the preferred candidate was roundly defeated in the recent election.  Sure, some Sierra Leoneans I know d...

Julius Maada Bio has been president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. One hundred days from that date is Friday, July 13, 2018. So why are Sierra Leoneans talking about his “First 100 Days” more than two years after he took office? What's the importance of his first 100 days as a  benchmark for an administration when non-mining activities are still constrained by the lack of access to power and good roads; and corruption and undeveloped human capital continue to deter investors? Sierra Leone still ranked 43rd among 47 countries in the region, and although its economic freedom improved earlier in the decade, Sierra Leone fell back into the repressed category in 2019 and remains there in 2020.  An influential public policy organization in the United States calls Sierra Leone 'one of the world’s 10 most impoverished and least developed countries' with the most pressing areas for improvement being financial freedom, government integrity, and labor freedom. Moreover, Sierra...