By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) has published the first draft of its report for public vetting.
The CRC is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the 1991 constitution. The abridged draft was published in a validation workshop hosted by the CRC which provided opportunity for members of the public to endorse or reject some of the provisions contained in the new constitution.
By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Fourah Bay College, FBC, one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Africa, has commemorated its 189 anniversary amidst concerns about its dwindling influence.
Founded by the Church Missionary Society in 1827 and now one of three constituent colleges under the University of the Sierra Leone, FBC is still grappling with challenges ranging from insufficient infrastructure to accommodate students, to water shortage and unreliable power supply in the face of high demand for enrolment.
By Kemo Cham
A new Finance Act aimed at boosting the donor funded partial Free Health Care (FHC) initiative has been submitted to parliament, the National Revenue Authority has confirmed.
The Act, which also aims at encouraging women's empowerment, provides for the allocation of 0.5 percent of all GSTs charged to the Free Health Care programme introduced some five years ago to boost access to health care for some of the most vulnerable people in society.
By Kemo Cham
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) has announced the commencement of mass recruitment of health workers with a view of enhancing the human resource base of an overstretched health sector.
The recruitment process is targeting volunteer health workers who served in the national Ebola response. Over 500 of them, from 11 districts, are being enlisted by the National Health Service Commission (NHSC) as Maternal and Child Health Assistants (MCHA), who were previously called Maternal and Child Health Aides.
By Mabinty Kamara
Dr Christian Bell, one of Sierra Leone’s very few trained gynecologists, has retired from public service. He announced his departure to private practice last month at the opening of a state of the earth private health facility – Aspen Medical International Sierra Leone.
Aspen Medical International is a US-owned healthcare provider. The Sierra Leone office, jointly owned by Bell, is its second branch in West Africa, after Aspen Medical in Liberia.
Kelvin Lewis, SLAJ Prexy
By Umaru Fofana
Senegalese president Macky Sall has announced an increase in the subvention given to the private media in his country, and thanked them for holding his government to account, and advancing “the country's digital presence”.
Supported by: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
