AWE Media Sierra Leone

By; Amadu Wurie Timbo Youth Activist, Researcher and Multimedia Journalist working with Northern Times Newspaper has bagged a prestigious gold customized Award as the Best Print Sport Journalist of the year 2020, setting the new record of being the first ever Provincial Nominee in the sports category to win the award which is annually organized by the National Entertainment Award in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and other partners. The young, result oriented and promising Journalist was nominated alongside experienced Sports Journalists: Alpha Barrie Alpha, Alie Bittar, Bernard Turay, Sahr Morris Jr. and Bockarie Alieu in the Best Print Sports Journalist category of the 4th edition of the National Entertainment Award. Rehme’s nomination was well embraced and supported by his colleagues in the media, fans and followers within and across Sierra Leone who widely shared his nomination flyer in multiple social media platforms, no wonder he won the title...

Statement by President of SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, as Distinguished Guest Speaker at the Inauguration Ceremony of St. Augustine Old Students Association (SAOSA) in Lungi Date: Saturday, 23rd January, 2021 Time: 2pm Venue: St. Augustine Secondary School compound, Lungi. Good afternoon everyone, I am honoured and excited to be here with you as your Guest Speaker for the induction of St. Augustine Old Students Association new executive members. It is wonderful to see a mix of many ex-students of the school, current students, teachers, principals and parents gathered at this important event and I want to commend the pioneers for a wonderful work in putting this together. Ladies and Gentlemen, life is a journey. It starts from birth and ends with death. In between that period, we go through many phases and acquire skills and experiences. The road is never smooth; it is always by the grace of God that we find ourselves where we are. Today you see me as the President of SLAJ, but I did not...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson War wounded and amputees in Northern Sierra Leone have beseeched government, civil society organizations and Journalists to up their game in addressing the imperative recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) regarding victims of war as successive governments have not adequately fulfilled most of the recommendations. Highlights of the repatriation proposal include skills training, micro credits, health, education, community reparations, symbolic representation plus provision of pensions to victims that were badly affected by the country’s civil unrest.  With support from Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) through the Media Reform Coordinating Group Sierra Leone (MRCG-SL) in assessing whether some of the imperative recommendations of the TRC regarding amputees and war wounded have been adhered to or not and for war victims of the civil unrest to disclose what has kept them going over the years.  As specified in Paragraph 492 o...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson In every community all over Sierra Leone, there is a number of youths occupying isolated areas serving as their dwelling, a hub to socialize and a point to reconnect with peers. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report points out that many of the dire conditions that gave rise to the conflict in 1991 still remain. As in the late 1980s, many young adults continue to occupy urban ghettoes where they languish in a twilight zone of unemployment and despair, the report states.  The Media Reform Coordinating Group – Sierra Leone (MRCG-SL) with support from the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) sounded voices of youths in hideouts (ghettos) in some parts of the north to unravel some of the greatest challenges that they face. Alimamy Fornah operates a local bar for palm-wine at Sowulia village near Binkolo town in Bombali district which he said he inherited from his late father who was killed during the civil war in Sierra Leone.  “I grew up i...

‘Let us be selfish for once’ Dear Colleagues, Happy New Year 2021 to all of you. The year 2020 has been a difficult one for our country, as with the rest of the world. Every sector was affected, including the media. We struggled, but in the thick of this COVID-19 crisis we demonstrated our usual resilience and we were able to record some remarkable achievements. Thanks to Mercury International, Africell and Orange who still continue to support majority of the media through regular advertising. COVID-19 RESPONSE Like with the Ebola outbreak in 2014, we were proactive in supporting the Government of Sierra Leone in the fight against the virus. Even before we recorded the index COVID-19 case we swiftly formed the SLAJ Corona Virus Response Committee to coordinate our response and to interface with both the ministries of Information and Communications, and Health and Sanitation. During the three days lockdown in April 2020 (and in May) we coordinated a national radio simulcast program to b...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson Since independence, politics has gradually infiltrated every facet of society in Sierra Leone as bad governance has a rich history emanating from post-colonial administrators whose political activities pioneered regionalism, nepotism, favoritism and sectionalism that is experienced in modern politics of the country.   This deeply entrenched menace has eaten every fabric of society thereby affecting the lives of the ordinary citizens as party politics has undermined the positive sense of national identity needed to build a strong and unified independent nation. The Media Reform Coordinating Group-Sierra Leone (MRCG-SL) with support from Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) towards this piece to uncover some of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) identified as root causes for the underdevelopment, political divide, hatred, nepotism and tribalism ravaging the people of Sierra Leone.  This is further to shed light on the latest ...

Freetown | 18th Dec. 2020 Opening Courtesies... Mr. President, it is the season of Christmas and that time of the year when we get to socially interact with you. It is also that time of the year when as little boys we used to go around the community singing carols and playing funny games. But the world has changed, and that tradition is slowly fading. Yet, even during this COVID pandemic which has prescribed a "new normal" in the way we live, dress, and work, we have seen how Mr. President has arranged his choir men and women to sing to us carols of their achievements, packaged in well-designed project albums under different record labels. In this 2020, dubbed ‘the year of accelerated delivery’ by the Government’s Strategic Communications Unit, - the leading Choir group - our President has launched some 30 project albums ranging from Social Investment Fund and Insurance Scheme for Health Workers to Sexual Offences Model Court and Garbage Trucks. In the last three months alon...