SELECTED ARTICLES

| 2015 - 2020 |

REUTERS:

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• Warrior pose: Sierra Leone's soldiers heal trauma with yoga -- Nov 09, 2019

  • Sergeant Felixon Musa stands tall, arms raised in front of a group of 100 Sierra Leonean soldiers, taking them through a yoga routine he thinks is as important as any arms drill.

• Sierra Leoneans sue government for alleged environmental failings at diamond mine -- Aug 29, 2019

  • Sierra Leoneans living next to the country's largest diamond mine are taking their government to West Africa's regional court for failing to protect them from alleged environmental lapses by the company that runs it, a subsidiary of Octea Limited.

• Sierra Leone community's suit against diamond miner shows activist trend -- Aug 6, 2019

  • At the foot of a slag heap some 40 meters high, Adi Kalie Bangura showed the black welts that dot his arms and legs that he says are the result of drinking and bathing in water contaminated by Sierra Leone’s largest diamond mine.

• Sierra Leone school defies state ban on pregnant girls in class -- Jul 16, 2019

  • When Mariatu Sesay realized she was pregnant at 14, one thing scared her more than the social isolation she felt in the classroom: Sierra Leonean law banned her from attending school at all because she was expecting.

• Sierra Leone's fishing ban to replenish stocks yields little -- Apr 29, 2019

  • Sierra Leone is nearing the end of a one-month ban on industrial fishing that local fishermen hoped would replenish stocks but whose impact has been limited by its short span and the financial muscle of foreign companies.

• Jane Goodall returns to Sierra Leone chimp sanctuary fighting the odds -- Feb 28, 2019

  • Jane Goodall visited a chimpanzee sanctuary in Sierra Leone on Thursday that has taken on the veteran primatologist's mission to protect the animals threatened by deforestation, disease and hunting.

• Sierra Leone's sick suffer untreated as doctors strike -- Dec 13, 2018

  • Seven-year-old Carlos Kamara needs urgent surgery on a collapsed lung after he swallowed a toy whistle. Instead, all he can do is lie in pain in a half-empty hospital ward waiting to be seen.

• Sierra Leone ruling against palm oil company will empower communities: campaigners -- Nov 12, 2018

  • A court ruling in Sierra Leone that ordered an international palm oil company to return a big block of land to its owners should empower more communities to retake control of their land and resources, lawyers and campaigners said.

• 'Cartel' of Sierra Leone officials ran passport scam for U.S. visas: anti-graft chief -- Sept 14, 2018

  • Corrupt Sierra Leonean officials have been selling fraudulent service and diplomatic passports for thousands of dollars to individuals hoping to use them to enter the United States, the country's anti-corruption commissioner told Reuters.

• Former top officials in Sierra Leone charged with graft -- Jul 05, 2018

  • Two former top officials in Sierra Leone were arrested on Thursday as part of a crackdown on graft by new President Julius Maada Bio's government.

• Bridge in Sierra Leone sparks row over diamond mining -- May 06, 2017

  • A dispute over a bridge in eastern Sierra Leone thought to span diamond deposits has divided a local community with a foreign mining company accused of illegally mining the area after volunteering to rebuild the overpass.

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The GUARDIAN:

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• Police intervene as opening of Sierra Leone parliament is overtaken by chaos -- Apr 27, 2018

  • Police use force as members of ousted All People’s Congress party are removed from parliament after defying high court injunctions.

• Violence fears as tense election reaches runoff -- Mar 21, 2018

  • Beatings, stone-throwing and arson attacks blamed on ‘tribal rhetoric’ from both main parties.

• China’s influence looms as Sierra Leone goes to the polls -- Mar 07, 2018

  • Beijing has been a close ally of outgoing president and is seen as a powerful player in an unusually open election.

• Ebola survivors sue government of Sierra Leone over missing millions -- Jan 05, 2018

  • Stewardship of $15m in foreign support for deadly outbreak under scrutiny as officials are accused of failing to honour promises.

• Failed promises: survivors of deadly mudslide left homeless by Sierra Leone government -- Nov 27, 2017

  • With little sign of promised government help, hundreds of families displaced by the disaster in August now face eviction from government shelters.

• President's iron-fist methods raise fears for future of democracy in Sierra Leone -- Oct 20, 2017

  • March elections prefaced by misgiving as Ernest Bai Koroma’s failure to put party leadership to vote rekindles memories of former dictator Siaka Stevens

• Sierra Leone arrests pastor who blamed Islam for 'every terrorist act in history' -- Sept 27, 2017

  • Popular Christian preacher Victor Ajisafe detained after anti-Muslim diatribe goes viral on social media, triggering countrywide condemnation.

• 'The whole thing is a sham': plan to help Sierra Leone mudslide victims derided -- Sept 01, 2017

  • Amnesty International says government pledge to rehouse citizens from vulnerable areas amounts to little more than pre-election posturing.

• Sierra Leone mudslide: president calls for urgent help as search continues -- Aug 16, 2017

  • Hundreds feared dead, thousands still missing and many more left homeless after mud engulfs houses near the capital, Freetown.

• Free speech becomes a talking point in Sierra Leone as WhatsApp storm rages -- Nov 24, 2016

  • The arrest and detainment of a student for sharing a message on social media has become a focal point for unrest about expressive freedom in Sierra Leone.

• Mass graves beckon for Sierra Leone's homeless and destitute dead -- Jun 23, 2016

  • Volunteers calling themselves the Death and Destitute Organisation bury Freetown’s unidentified bodies, frustrated by lack of action by the authorities.

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AL JAZEERA:

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• Opioids: Sierra Leone's newest public health emergency -- Feb 13, 2017

  • Opiate addiction has become increasingly common in Sierra Leone, where there are few avenues for drug rehabilitation.

• Prepare the gallows: Sierra Leone and the death penalty -- Oct 31, 2016

  • For the first time since its civil war, Sierra Leone might be about to execute someone.

• Did the world fail Ebola orphans in Sierra Leone? -- Jul 03, 2016

  • A 16-year-old boy lost his family to Ebola and his leg to a misdiagnosis in a hospital overwhelmed by the epidemic.

• Child prisoners: 'I don't want to come out a monster' -- Apr 29, 2016

  • Imprisoned children fear being sent to adult jail when they turn 18, but many also worry about what life on the outside will mean for them.

• The forgotten child prisoners of Sierra Leone -- Apr 28, 2016

  • Child inmates are left to languish in prison with no visitors or legal assistance as many wait years for a trial.

• The case of Sierra Leone's missing ambulances -- Nov 26, 2015

  • Despite vehicle donations and purchases during the Ebola epidemic, many patients still struggle to reach a hospital.

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