News

By Mabinty M Kamara

The Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Petroleum and Management (IPeM), Alex Bangura, has stressed the need for skills required for the industrial sector and said his institution was committed to providing such training for the local population.

By Septimus Senessie in Kono

Member of Parliament for Constituency 025 in the eastern Kono District, Tom Issic Tucker, last week presented a cheque of Le60m for the two chiefdoms – Nimiyama and Gorama Kono - which make up his constituency.

The money presented at the Sewafeh Town Court Barray in Nimiyama Chiefdom is meant to undertake community development projects allocated MPs annually by the central government for their constituencies.

By Prince Musa

Amid a huge financial challenge, the opposition-controlled Kenema District Council in eastern Sierra Leone has parted ways with seven of its staff if only to cut its coat according to its size. 

Council officials told Politico that three of the sacked workers had reached the retirement age, one was being investigated for an alleged theft, while the others were carefully selected because the council could not afford the funds to maintain its current wage bill.

By Kemo Cham

The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has suspended five of its staff in Kono over the brewing dispute over a controversial mining project.

The reporters working with FM90.2 in Kono were sanctioned for failing to report on a press conference organized by a government minister at the center of the saga, details of documents seen by Politico indicate.

By Kemo Cham

The Sierra Leone Chamber for Agri-business Development (SLeCAD) has decried a horde of issues they say are hindering their growth.

SLeCAD is an alliance of businesses dedicated to the agricultural sector. Its members said at  a press conference on Thursday that access to finance is their greatest challenge, and they blamed cut-neck level interest rates and other unfavorable conditions given by banking institutions. They called on the government to act immediately to save the industry.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi

The authorities in Pujehun District have ordered the killing of all stray dogs found roaming the streets. The order is in response to a dog bite incident that apparently killed a 7-year old girl.

Health officials are investigating the cause of her death, but already suspicion has fallen heavily on a possible rabies infection.

The incident in the Gbondapi community has sparked widespread concern because it followed reports of the hospitalisation of another victim of a dog bite in the same community.

By Prince Musa

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Monday concluded a three-day consultative meeting on the planned controversial boundary delimitation process in Kenema District.

A delegation of NEC officials met with some stakeholders in the district with a view to soliciting their input to the draft document which came into being as a result of the 2015 Population and Housing Census.