AWE Media Sierra Leone

MEDIA REFORM COORDINATING GROUP (MRCG) CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT AT THE PRE-LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON THE PUBLIC ORDER (AMENDMENT) ACT 2020 AND THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMMISSION ACT 2020 AT THE COMMITTEE ROOM IN PARLIAMENT ON MONDAY 13TH JULY 2020 Photo of MRCG CHAIRMAN Dr. Francis Sowa Mr. Chairman, Honourable Members, Hon Minister, President of SLAJ, all protocols observed. Mr. Chairman, for 55 years, a giant has stood on top of the media fraternity and industry. It may be like Goliath in the Bible, or in more recent times, it can be linked to the Police Officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for about 8 minutes. Floyd called for help, but got none. Mr. Chairman and Hon. Members, we in the media are calling for help like Floyd. Our eight minutes have started long ago. We may be in our final minute. The media industry like Floyd, is shouting “it can’t breathe.” Unlike Floyd, we at the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), comprising 10 national media organisations, are optimistic that our ...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson – (AR-WILSON) Cooperazione Internazionale - (COOPI) with support from the European Union has on Wednesday July 22, 2020 engaged over 20 Journalists in a day’s workshop at the MAF Conference hall in Bombali District, Northern Sierra Leone. The engagement was centered on bridging the gap between the media, farmers and other agricultural partners as well as fostering smallholder Agriculture in the country and was facilitated by COOPI’s Project Coordinator, Alpha Koroma and colleagues. In his opening statement, Alpha remarked that: “The Media is a strong factor that can easily influence any stakeholder to present the needed measures to be taken, sharing their success stories, publish knowledgeable materials at the same time can serve as a medium of extension services. “Unfortunately the media seems not to be interested in agricultural coverage especially in print media apart from a few radio programs which are usually powered by Agricultural development par...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson – (AR-WILSON) Sierra Leone for the first time is on course to bring into force like other nations have done, the International Labour Organisation Mandate since the law was adopted at the 95 th International Labour Conference held in Geneva in June 2006. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security have successfully regularized the ILO Convention Number-187 on occupational safety and health protection through its occupational and health safety unit, the unit’s director Mohamed Alhaji Koroma told Northern Times in Makeni at a regional consultative meeting with key stakeholders in the Northern Region in June. Mr. Koroma while explaining the need for holding such meeting said it is part of the occupational safety and health unit's mandate to meet and engage various stakeholders from key institutions including Ministries, Agencies and Departments in all the regions of the country.  He further disclosed that the East and Southern regions have already added ...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson – (AR-WILSON) Sierra Leone male elite League has been cancelled owing to the novel corona virus outbreak, despite earlier announcement from SLFA to resume the country’s Premier League in due course. The decision to call off the 2019/2020 football season was unanimously taken by the Sierra Leone Premier League Board (PLB) in consultation with the country’s local football federation (SLFA) at a meeting held on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at the Atlantic Hall in Freetown, with representatives of all 14 Premier League clubs. Two main issues were discussed. The status of the 2019/2020 Sierra Leone Premier League and whether or not two teams must represent the country at the 2020/2021 CAF Inter-clubs tournaments. It was agreed that the entire season be cancelled without a champion and that no team will relegate. At the same time the top six clubs according to the League standing which includes Big Money Spenders Bo Rangers, who were on 23 points, two points off se...

By: Sahr J. Bangah Magistrate Peter Brima Gogra has committal a sixteen- year old boy to high court for sexually fidgeting a four- year old minor. The sixteen years old boy was arraigned in court for the offence of Sexual Penetration of a child contrary to section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2012 as repealed and replaced by Section 4 (a) (i) of the Sexual Offence (Amendment) Act of 2019 Act 8 of 2019. After keenly listening to the all the allegations against the sixteen years old accused. Magistrate Peter Gogra rules that there was sufficient evidence against the accused person and on that note committal him to high court for further trial. In another related event. A nineteen years old Man, Abdul Conteh of New Jersey, back of Makeni government hospital was committal to high court for another similar offence which he committed against a ten years old minor at Mak ama village in the Bombali Shebora Chiefdom, in the Bombali District.  

By: Ibrahim Jalloh – (Jallomy) The landmark ruling of the Jury on the treason trial of erstwhile former Minister of Internal Affairs, Alfred Paolo Konteh and two others, points to the decomposing culture of political interference in state related matters. What was wrongly ascribed to be a victory for Paolo Konteh was in truth and fact an irreversible victory for President Julius Maada Bio for conspicuously standing aside and allowing the wheels of justice to spin and rest on a definite conclusion. Sierra Leoneans were held spellbound and in utter disbelief conditioned by the enduring culture of political interference in state related cases. I stand to be corrected but no generation of government in Sierra Leone has ever lost a treason trial!   We still contend with the brutal memory of the historically damaging case against the state for wrongfully and unconstitutionally sacking the former Vice President Sam Sumana. In the end, the state was exonerated and the President w...

By: Abdulai Mansaray. Just when you think that the world at large, and Sierra Leone in particular is facing the ravages of an invisible enemy the Corona Virus, our nation is plunged on the precipice of self destruction; a clear affirmation of our penchant for attracting chaos. It looks like the slow but insidious rise in COVID cases in our community is not troubling enough to scare the living daylights out of us. COVID carries its own scepticism; but that discussion is for another day.  Faced with such a common enemy, the last thing you would expect is the seeming disintegration of law and order.  One would expect all Sierra Leoneans to put aside all our differences to fight this common enemy. Unlike our politicians, we cannot accuse the COVID 19 of tribalism, nepotism, or favouritism Covid 19 is an enabler of equal opportunities. This should be one of the rare times to unashamedly put our collective patriotism, and to some extent our jingoism to use.   But that is to...