By Umaru Fofana
There is an alarming increase in the spate of the use in Sierra Leone of the psychoactive substance known as Kush. The authorities and the United Nations have expressed concern especially because those seeking help are mostly young people who are in or dropped out of secondary school, with 73% of them living in urban or peri-urban areas. Many face huge mental health issues or are dying.
By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
A young woman at the centre of an altercation with a lecturer at Fourah Bay College (FBC), has narrated how the whole problem started that led to an assault on her that left her bleeding.
21-year-old Nasu Ensah told Politico that a video on social media showing her being beaten with a shovel by lecturer Salmata Abiodun Ibrahim,Ph.D, at their Kortright residence on the FBC campus happened in the evening hours of Friday 28th July 2023.
By Nasratu Kargbo
President Julius Maada Bio has called for peace and urged his fellow politicians to find common ground within their political divide, and put the nation first.
Bio made this call whilst making his speech at the State Opening of the Sixth Parliament on the 3rd of August 2023.
By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The ECOWAS Parliament at the just concluded Delocalized Joint Committee meeting held in Monrovia, Liberia from the 25th to 29th of July 2023 commended Sierra Leone and other countries for achieving the 30% quota for women in Parliament and cabinet positions.
It also commended the country for its participatory governance in the sub-region following the just concluded elections.
By Saio Marrah
Magistrate Mark Ngegba has committed for trial in the High Court the murder of Gillis Edward Ola Johnson, a former teacher of Providence High School in Freetown.
The magistrate dismissed a no-case submission made by lawyer Teddy Koroma on behalf of Mohamed Aroun Conteh on Wednesday 2nd August 2023.
According to him, the evidence shows that the accused was the only person who visited the house of the deceased on the day of the incident, noting that circumstantial evidence may only be decided by jurors.
By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Chief of Staff Office of National Security ONS Francis Langumba Keili, says based on the reports they have been receiving from the national security centre, there are tensions in the communities.
The ONS boss said this at a post-election peace and social cohesion dialogue with political parties, security sector and other election management bodies, held at Kenema City Hall on Wednesday 26th July, 2023.
By Nasratu Kargbo
The Security Sector and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have signed a communiqué agreeing that the sector should ensure swift investigation of cases of online threats and violence of a political nature.
The communiqué was signed in an engagement organized by Fambul Tok International on the 1st of August 2023. The communiqué urges the “Security sector to be proactive and facilitate timely investigation of all reported cases of threat or violence during political events including sub-national and national elections”.
Supported by: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
