News

By Umaru Fofana

Cities and towns across Guinea have been brought to a standstill for the second day running after two labour unions called for a stay-at-home strike to protest the non-reduction in the pump price of fuel.

Both public and private sector workers have not gone to work and commercial vehicle drivers also heeded the call by the General Workers’ Union and the Confederation of Labour Unions who are demanding a reduction in the pump price from 8,000 Guinea Franc (a little over Le 5,000) per litre, to 5,000 GF (about Le 3,500).

The Paramount Chief of Mano Dasse Chiefdom in the southern Moyamba district has attributed the high rate of teenage pregnancy to the continued ban on "Bondo" the female circumcision initiation secret society.

Bondo is an established tradition in Sierra Leone through which women go through the rites of passage.

However,  at the height of the Ebola epidemic the government placed a temporary ban on the practice because it was seen as a source of transmission of the deadly virus.

President Ernest Bai Koroma on Tuesday officially presided over the re-opening of the Bintumani Hotel, one of Sierra Leone's prestigious hotels.

The ceremony comes after over a decade of refurbishment by the new management under a Chinese company called Beijing Urban Constructing Company (BUCG).

Sports betting and lottery company in Sierra Leone, Mercury International, has made a Le10 million donation as the Official Platinum sponsor for the Fourth Annual Education Excellence and Innovation Awards Ceremony.

Sports Betting and Lottery Company, Mercury International has issued a Le20 million cheque to pay for Samuel Tenga's prosthetics surgery at Choithram hospital, Indore, India. Mr. Tenga, a poor teacher in Freetown, picked up the cheque on Wednesday 10 February 2016, at the company's headquarters in Freetown.

A team of parliamentarians from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in the United Kingdom is in the country to conduct training for their local counterparts on effective oversight and constitutional review functions.

The three-day training being held at the Parliamentary Committee Room One aims at building the capacity of the law makers to ensure good governance.

Dr Edward Nahim

By Umaru Fofana

Psychiatrist Dr Edward Nahim says there are 600,000 people in the country with one mental health problem or another, and warns the number is increasing.