News

By Mustapha Kamara & Allieu Sahid Tunkara

Outgoing chairperson and chief electoral commissioner of the National Electoral Commission, Christian Thorpe, on Monday bade farewell and officially wrapped up her duties at their headquarters on Tower Hill in Freetown after ten years at the helm.

Before handing over her keys she thanked staff of the commission for their support over the years and praised them for enabling her carry out her mandate of conducting elections in the country.

By Steven Bockarie Mansaray in Kabala

Residents of the northern headquarter town of Kabala in the Koinadugu district have lamented the return of darkness to most parts of the township after government-installed solar lights on Makeni Road, Sedikie Street and Yogomaia all went dead.

The facilities were said to have been hit and destroyed by lightning in June, leaving in its wake fear among people living in the vicinity and who had alleged that the poles had no protection from such shocks as thunder and lightning.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi in Pujehun

The Director of Development at the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Daniel Wiseman has told a gathering of district stakeholders in Pujehun that since the inception of the township road project in that district "the government of Sierra Leone has only paid 20% of the budget set aside for the contract awarded to the First Tricon company".

He said the media must not blame the delay in completing the work on the company.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi in Pujehun

The National executive of the Pujehun District Descendants' Association over the weekend donated 20 bags of rice and le 1 million to the Pujehun District Health Management to feed people in homes quarantined due to suspected Ebola cases.

The association's Public Relations Officer, Moses Kanneh referred to the donation as their first intervention since the outbreak of the disease in the district apart from "individual interventions in the sensitisation process".

By Jenneh Braima

An official in the office of the information minister, Abdulai Bayraytay, says government has no plans to implement a 21-day lockdown as a response to the Ebola outbreak as widely speculated.

He, however, told Politico at their Youyi Building office in Freetown that they might take "all necessary measures" to prevent the spread of the virus, even if it meant a lockdown, which duration would be determined by health experts.

Twenty-four hours after she was jailed for one week by the Court Martial for contempt, Politico's Crime Reporter, Aminata Phidelia Alie was freed on Tuesday afternoon.

It followed a series of phone calls to and a meeting held with Attorney General, Frank Kargbo by FreeMedia Group, the publishers of Politico.

This was also supported by the President of Women in The Media (WIMSAL), Asmaa James who also held a meeting with the Attorney General.

By Steven Bockarie Mansaray in Kabala

A district taskforce on Ebola in collaboration with a committee being headed by Dr Fasseneh Samura has extended the ban on movement of people in and out of Koinadugu district for another two weeks.

The initial restriction of one week expired on Sunday 10 August, 2014.

The committee chairman said the decision was to continue to control the movement of people into the district as the disease was being spread through contact with infected persons.