Feature

By Gideon Tucker

Sierra Leone’s tourism sector is arguably the best hope for a steady source of foreign exchange that could help stimulate the country’s economy and contribute to the development of the country.

The mining sector- first it was diamonds and then iron ore to rutile and bauxite, but they have not provided the desired results; especially for those the locals in those mining areas.

Rutile has been mined for decades in Moyamba district, yet it has the most depressing district headquarter town in the entire country.

By Aminata Diamond Sillah

This week the world watched with consternation as the 14th Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Mohamed Sanusi II was dethroned, banished and subsequently detained. Although his dethronement may have been in compliance with Part 3, Section 13(a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019, his detention was a clear violation of his fundamental rights of personal liberty and freedom of movement as guaranteed under Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

By Dr Manal Ghazzawi

Will the novel corona virus disease otherwise named COVID-19 or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) come to Sierra Leone? Indeed, this is a question all of us may have been asking ourselves in our beloved Sierra Leone, a country that has seen and endured more than its fair share of natural and manmade disasters. Called a “novel virus”, it is a new virus that we are learning about every day through rigorous studies and from signs and symptoms infected patients present with.

By Abdul Tejan-Cole

It was only a matter of time before the corona virus disease (Covid-19), arrived in Sub-Saharan Africa. On February 28, Nigeria confirmed that an Italian citizen who works in Lagos and had returned from Milan, Italy, a few days earlier, had tested positive for the virus.

By Kemo Cham

“Today is a bad day,” says fisherman Munda Dasama, shouting at the top of his voice, over the sound of the roaring sea waves behind him, as he disembarks from his boat.

The exhausted-looking young fisherman has been at sea for about two hours.

“I caught only six kilos [of fish] today. That’s Le60, 000,” he says, which is roughly US $6. While standing on the beach at Liya Kpaka, a small community in Pujehun District, he laments the trend of low fish catch that is worrying the people of his small fishing community.

By Abdul Tejan-Cole

Last week, Mighty Earth, a global campaign organization that works to protect the environment, published a report entitled “A Bridge Too Far? Social and Environmental Concerns in Bridgestone’s Liberian Rubber Plantation and a Plan for Remediation.” The report documents serious labour and environmental concerns at the single largest rubber plantation on the planet – the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Harbel, Liberia.

By OB Sisay

As the coronavirus spreads policymakers are facing the challenge of structuring effective responses to manage the risks to public health, critical services and the economy. It will get worse before it gets better as many find that previously-held assumptions about their capabilities to absorb and manage the shock are misplaced.