Sewa News Stream

Still in Freetown and doing my stuff. As promised, I do have additional updates on what is happening in our nation's capital. Healthcare : The spate of deaths here in S/Leone is alarming to the outsider. We are losing more friends and relatives at a faster rate than we could make new ones. Yesterday, as I drove through Kissy Road between “Up-Gun turntable” and Savage Square, I noticed at least five funeral processions passed us on their way to the Kissy Road “berring gron”. Three of the corpses were evidently younger people who were probably no older than 30. People are getting so used to burying their dead that even the Okadas hardly pause for a second from their speeding, in respect of the dead. As I noticed several Columbia Davies vans ( they seem to have increased their fleet) transporting the hearse; the “business instinct” in me told me how profitable funeral parlors are increasingly becoming in this part of the world. Healthcare is no doubt the major contributor to u...

I have been in Freetown for two weeks working on my research project. For two weeks now folks and life has been very eventful. Here is a quick summary of my initial observation. Transportation : Movement from one place to the other by any means is extremely slow and difficult. For starters, there are no sidewalks. Therefore, vehicles, Okadas and pedestrians all share very narrow pot-holed roads and it is more dangerous to walk than ride a car or okada. Speaking of Okadas, the[y] are here to stay–annoying and marauding, they no doubt control this city. They are the preferred method of transportation for many Freetonians, and particularly popular among our young women running “quick missions”. Unfortunately, very little has been done by the central govt. to regulate and more importantly generate any serious tax revenue from this bustling revenue base. Communication : Perhaps if there is anything that needs serious government regulation and an overhaul – it is definitely this are...

Dark Clouds on the Horizon? Reflections on the SLPP Convention of 2011 By Yusuf Bangura The election of ex-junta leader Julius Maada Bio as flag bearer of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) for the 2012 presidential elections has sent shock waves around the country and in the Diaspora. Although Bio was one of the front-runners among a motley crowd of 19 aspirants, people with less partisan attachments had hoped that the delegates would settle for a less controversial figure with no history of violence and elect an executive that is inclusive. Unfortunately, it seems that the party has decided to narrow its political appeal to its core support base, which is the South and East of the country, and adopt a candidate with a troubling background. Before addressing the political implications of this choice, it is worth noting that the SLPP has always distinguished itself from the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) on the basis of its aversion to violence, respect for the law and regional...

Serious financial discrepancies still remain unexplained and unaccounted for, according to NOSLINA's Audit Committee. In a press release issued this week, auditors for the largest diaspora organization that advocates on behalf of Sierra Leonean interests in North America, announced recommendations to improve internal methods of financial management and control. The audit committee, which covered the period September 2008 to June 2010, is made up of financial experts that NOSLINA's board and executive appointed in June of 2010. The organization called the move a historic step—ordering a first-ever comprehensive audit of the financial operations of the 13-year-old organization. Donald Taylor, the immediate past chairman of NOSLINA, told us by telephone from California this evening that among the findings, the committee had observed that the organization's checkbook had only one signatory, and its monthly bank reconciliations were either infrequently or incorrectly perf...

Victoria Adjo Climbié had a smile to remember. Ten years this February, she was murdered by her guardians in London. The once happy little eight-year old girl from Ivory Coast had suffered a catalog of abuse right up to her death in February 2000. A United Kingdom- government inquiry reported that there were 12 missed chances to save her. All the agencies and people with power to do something —the police, social services department of many local authorities, the National Health Service, the NSPCC, and local churches—had failed. All of them had noted the abuse and done nothing. Victoria was found with 128 separate injuries when she died. Since then, the U.K. government has done much to protect children. Part of their plans included working with London's African communities that develop and strengthen community-based preventive activities in this field. AFRUCA was one of them. Established in response to the need for support at a grassroots level, Africans United Against Child Abu...

One of the news stories I discussed today was Awoko's "Lawyer locked up for gender-based violence." For those who may not have read it, the article is about a domestic violence case in an east end Freetown community and the debate it has generated on the new Domestic Violence Act; its implementation, and protection it provides women under the law. In the coming days, we shall see how it will play out in court. Another women's issue that, sadly, always makes the headlines is rape. In the 12-month period leading up to March 2009, the local press carried numerous reports of Sierra Leonean women and girls who were victims of sexual violence and rape. One of the youngest victim was only a few months old. Local groups who advocate for victims of sexual violence--24/7/365--say there are so many incidents of rape in Sierra Leone that there is no way of knowing just how many victims there really are. Ironically, because the raped baby and the hundreds of women and girls who ...

This weekend, the All Peoples Congress Party of North America held a fund raiser in Maryland. In the interest of full disclosure I am not a member of APC North America, but I planned to buy a ticket and support the event. Unfortunately, something came up at the last minute and I didn't make it. Still, I am rather curious to know which Sierra Leonean cause they will donate to. A few that come to mind: Income generating projects for youth, sustainable empowerment of women, adult literacy, job skills training, educational improvement and health care. See, some months ago, the APC of North America announced that in support of President Koroma's "Agenda for Change" APC-North America would embark on what it called “unprecedented fund-raising efforts to renovate Kissy Mental Home.” A news article reported that the North American branch of the APC party had donated the sum of US$10,000 for the renovation of the psychiatric hospital. Two former members of APC-NA, Martin Bash K...