As it takes one year in power, the Sierra Leone People’s Party Government has found out, and to their utter chagrin, that being in opposition criticizing the government of the day left and right on every issue is not the same as being on the receiving end of that criticism – much of it unfair at that.
It can be recalled that when the SLPP was in opposition, their propagandists spoke derogatorily of the then APC government having sold the country to the Chinese in exchange for a pittance. Now it is very interesting to read and hear the things that are being said by APC propagandists on SLPP’s involvement with the Chinese.
Truth of the matter is, the SLPP has far more on its plate than it can chew; in terms of managing an economy that is deeply in the red and nowhere near bouncing back to life; controlling and if possible, reducing inflation and consumer prices that keep escalating every now and then causing the poor, who still make up the majority of the population, unimaginable stress and sleepless nights, particularly those that are unemployed and have many mouths besides theirs to feed daily.
On both sides, the government and anti-government propagandists are very busy informing and misinforming the poor people, depending from which side of the political divide they are seated and speaking from.
However, the truth of the matter is that it does not matter to the people, who is speaking the truth or who is bombarding them with sugar coated vibes. What matters to them is that the cost of living is driving them crazy to the point that they are now chanting: “De gron dry-o!!!”
For Sierra Leoneans who have all kinds of graphic metaphors and similes to describe their deplorable existence, de phrase: “De gron dry” needs no explanation.
To the APC propagandists who pray every minute, every second that life here would get worst than they had it in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and other poor developing countries characterized by decades of dictatorship, mismanagement and corruption, the appeal is, please cool down.
Since this government came to power, there is a lot that is happening positively on the governance and public financial management fronts that augur well for a well managed economy that will eventually translate into prosperity for the state and its people.
In helping to build the Mama Salone that we all envision, if we all truly love this our beautiful country, the advice is to practice constructive criticism.
That is, where we honestly believe that the government is doing well by way of improving on performance and delivery that benefits the people, let us be magnanimous to say so.
At the same time, without any fear, we should feel free to genuinely criticize where we see lapses and excesses without resorting to “mammy kurs” and hate speeches reek with tribalism and regionalism.
The message here is that we can criticize the government and its officials without being offensive and odious to others; then the criticism will be taken in good faith and acted upon by whoever it is addressed to.
To the government propagandists…You are very easy to lose your temper and take off your shirts, vest and blouses to fight.
You cannot fight fire with fire; you only make matters worse. APC and the opposition in general have the right to criticize your government; it is your duty to take such criticism in good faith and to engage the opposition constructively, civilly with a sense of humor.
That said, Sierra Leoneans, we are all in the same boat. If any of us pray that now that we are in the middle of the sea with a storm blowing over us and only a few life belts available, that the boat capsizes, which of us do we think will be saved?
As such, we should not pray that the “Pa-o-pa” government fails; for if it fails the failure will affect all of us in diverse ways.
At the same time, the Pa-o-pa government and its people should stop seeing those of us who do not belong to their party or did not vote for them in 2018 as enemy aliens that they should seek to suppress and destroy at all cost.
Rather, we want to see Pa-o-pa and Torkpoi in words and deeds genuinely living their mantra of “ONE COUNTRY, ONE PEOPLE”.
How long will, as Bob Marley said, fools continue to die for want of wisdom?
As ONE COUNTRY, ONE PEOPLE, tell me what 7 million of us thinking, working and pulling in the same direction cannot achieve that countries like Botswana, Rwanda, Seychelles, Cape Verde, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia have?

The newly appointed Solicitor General of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Lamin Tarawalley, has subscribed to the Oath of Office before His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio in accordance with the Constitution during a ceremony held at State House.

Shortly after taking the oath of office, Mr. Tarawalley said he was thankful to President Bio for the honour and privilege to be appointed Solicitor General of Sierra Leone, adding that he was aware of the challenges, but vowed not to betray the President’s trust. He noted that the New Direction Government had made tremendous strides in revamping and restoring trust in the legal system of the country.

“Good laws and good legal system are part of the development and growth of any nation and I commend your government on that. It is my pleasure to work in tandem with the Attorney General to build, develop and improve the justice department, otherwise known as the Law Officers’ Department, which is the largest government law firm. If our laws must be respected, we must respect them and to me this is doable,” he said.

In his brief response, President Bio congratulated Lawyer Tarawalley on his new role, saying that he had been meticulously chosen and therefore so much was expected of him because the country was lagging behind and that a lot of work was required to catch up with the rest of the world.

“We are beginning to find our place in society and we should continue on that part. That is why I want to encourage everyone to put their hands on deck, because this is not something we can do alone. Now is the time to work and there are very good signs that we are on the right track. Therefore, as you join us, I want to implore you to continue to work very hard. On my part, I promise to provide the quality leadership necessary to change the bad reputation of the country,” he said.

According to the National Publicity Secretariat of the main opposition All Peoples Congress party, the Party Chairman and Leader, former President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, officially resumed work at the party office on Friday March 29,2019, one year after the March 2018 elections.

The Chairman and Leader, former President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, held productive engagements with various organs of the party, diaspora representatives, the Monitoring Committee charged with the responsibility to Monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Nine man Committee and displaced members and supporters from Kailahun,Kenema,Bo,Moyamba and some parts of Kono.

Chairman and Leader, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, informed party stalwarts that the one year grace period is over and that he will publicly begin to Comment on national and party issues.

The Africa region is losing over $2.4 trillion annually due to its high disease burden, new estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals. In a report released on Thursday, the UN health agency said this amount is equivalent to US$630 million years of healthy life lost in 2015 due to the diseases afflicting the population across its 47 member states.
Five countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania – accounted for almost 50 percent of the total years lost in healthy life accrued in the region, according to the report.
The report which was launched during the second WHO Africa Health Forum which ended on Friday in Cape Verde also confirmed a long held view of some global health experts that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have overtaken infectious diseases as the largest drain on productivity.
NCDs are now said to account for 37 percent of the disease burden, against 36 percent of communicable diseases.
Some communicable and parasitic diseases, maternal, neonatal and nutrition-related conditions, as well as injuries, also contributed to the lost healthy years, according to the report.
According to WHO, $796 billion or 47 percent of the loss in productivity value could be avoided in 2030 if the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health, like as SDG 3 on good health and wellbeing and SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, are met.
The report also draws attention to the need for increase in spending in the WHO region.
As a target of SDG 3, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) would require countries in the WHO African Region to spend, on average, at least $ 271 per capita per year on health, or 7.5 percent of the region’s gross domestic product, it said.
The UHC calls for countries of the world to provide healthcare and financial protection to all of their citizens, regardless of status.
And healthcare spending is key to achieving this.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, lamented the trend of low spending in the region.
Writing in the foreword of the report titled: ‘A Heavy Burden: The Productivity Cost of Illness in Africa,’ she said:
“Four years into the implementation of countries’ efforts towards achieving UHC, current average expenditure on health in the Region falls short of this expectation.”
According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates, attaining the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will require spending ranging from $ 1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion per year until 2030, or up to $ 37.5 trillion.
Low-income countries will need an additional $ 671 billion ($76 per capita on average) until 2030 to attain the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
To achieve the health-related SDG targets, countries must invest adequately in the development of resilient national and local health systems to effectively, affordably and efficiently deliver the integrated packages of proven cost-effective interventions contained in relevant programmatic global strategies and plans to target populations in need.
The African Union (AU) has a healthcare spending target called the Abuja Declaration, which requires member countries to spend at least 15 percent of their Gross Domestic Product on health.
According to the 2018 WHO Global Health Expenditure Database, only 35 out of 55 AU member states, representing 64 percent, have seen an increase in domestic investments in health, but not enough to meet the AU target.
The database shows that only 2 out of the 55 AU member states meet the 15 percent target.
This latest report comes amidst growing concern over public health challenges facing particularly fragile health systems across the region, like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea which are still trying to recover from the 2014-2016 deadly Ebola epidemic that exposed the weakness of their health systems.
Two years after West Africa Ebola epidemic, the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently battling what has been described as the second largest outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic disease in the world.
This month’s cyclone in Mozambique, which has also led to a cholera outbreak there, is sure to pile more pressure on healthcare system in the region.
The findings of the study on disease burden suggest that health systems strengthening should focus on rich as well as poor countries and on all ages as well as on the specific disease categories, says WHO.
“This report illustrates how achievement of the critical health SDG targets, including universal health coverage, would contribute to poverty eradication efforts on a large scale, reduce disparities in lifespan, tackle social exclusion and promote political stability and economic development in the WHO African Region,” states Grace Kabaniha, Health Economist in the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

With the inauguration of an ultramodern laboratory at Lakka in Western Freetown last week, officials say will revolutionize diagnostics and treatment capacity of the bacterial disease in the country. This lab will accelerate the country’s response to Tuberculosis (TB), hospital sources said.

The lab facility, located at the country’s main infectious disease treatment center at Lakkah in the west end of Freetown, is categorized as a Level 3 Bio-Safe laboratory, and it is equipped with a Digital X-Ray machine which can diagnose the bacterial disease within 24 hours.
TB is a highly infectious disease which generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Its most common symptoms are chronic cough and fever.
But sometimes victims do not show symptoms.
The disease is airborne and can be contracted via coughs and sneezes by infected people.
The disease is referred to as the sickness of the poor, because it mostly affects poor people living in squalid conditions.
TB is also ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the 10th cause of death worldwide.
About 100 million people are affected with the disease annually, 10 percent of which are pediatric cases.
Sierra Leone has an estimated 23, 000 cases of TB, according to WHO figures, ranking it as one of the countries with the highest TB burden in the world.
Countries with more than 10,000 people with TB per year are considered high burden.
But the good news is that TB is a preventable and curable disease and in Sierra Leone a lot of people are being put on treatment.
According to the ministry’s figures, 17, 169 people were put on treatment last year and officials say there has been 90 percent treatment success.
Dr. Lynda Foray, Program Manager, National Leprosy and TB Control Program, lamented the lack of adequate human resources, which has hindered the country’s ability to, among others, conduct contact tracing, as well as stigma and discrimination of TB patients, as challenges to control the disease in the country.
A major issue for Sierra Leone is Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) TB, which is currently estimated to be between 400 and 660 cases.
The new lab facility, according to officials, places the country in a better position to address MDR and other challenges.
It notably makes it the first country in the Mano River Union (MRU) and the second in the larger West Africa Sub-region after Benin, to have installed such an advanced technology in the treatment of TB.
The Civil Society Movement Against Tuberculosis, welcomed Tuesday’s development.
It’s Executive Director, Abdullai Abubacar Sesay, observed that not only is the facility providing advance technology which is needed to alleviate the suffering of TB patients, it has also made it easier for them in terms of providing free service.
While laboratory services for TB patients are charged in many other countries, in Sierra Leone it has been made free for us, said Mr Sesay.
“We are extremely happy and grateful to the Ministry of Health for having this lab because we know treating MDR TB is not an easy thing to do. So the lab will help diagnose people with TB faster now,” he said.

Reports of a road accident involving 3 members of Parliament who are among the delegation on a visit to Rwanda, was confirmed by Sierra Leone’s Parliament last Thursday. According to a statement from the office of the Clark of Parliament, the said incident which occurred in the morning hours of the day, involved Saa Emmerson Lamina, the head of the opposition Coalition For Change party in the House, Dickson Rogers of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party and Hassan Priest Sesay of the main opposition All Peoples Congress. It also stated that all three men were responding to treatment.
Sheku Turay, Head of Department, Public Relations at the Parliament of Sierra Leone, confirmed the news.
He told this medium that the three MPs were part of a contingent of eight lawmakers currently on an official visit to Rwanda, namely: the Speaker of the House, Dr Abass Bundu, the head of the opposition bench, Hon. Chernor Maju Bah and a Paramount Chief MP from Moyamba District, Mrs Haja Fatmata Bintu Koroma Meama-Kajue.
The three MPs were said to be in a different car when the accident happened.
The Sierra Leonean delegation is in Rwanda on a five-day study tour of its parliament.
Reports in the local media in Kigali quoted Speaker Bundu as saying that they were interested in learning Rwanda’s experience in empowering women in decision-making, among others.
Rwanda and Sierra Leone share a common experience in terms of civil unrest.
While Sierra Leone underwent a brutal eleven-year civil war, Rwanda’s war culminated in the genocide of 1994 that claimed about one million lives. But the Southern African country has long moved on in terms of development at all levels, compared to the rest of the continent.
The Sierra Leonean delegation was scheduled to visit the Rwandan Genocide Memorial, among various other landmarks in the country, with a view to sharing best practices.

Sierra Leone is on a diplomatic offensive to rebrand its image as a “perfect destination for investment” with such things as the investment forum it organized in Accra, ADV has learnt here.
A statement from Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner in Ghana, Frances Anderson said Over 200 companies and business think tanks from Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States were attracted to the forum on Wednesday.
Ms Anderson said the event was “in furtherance of President Julius Maada Bio’s broad vision of rebranding the country as a perfect destination for investment.”
Dr Toni Aubynn, President of African Institute of Extractive Industries, Ghana who served as guest of honor, described the event as “timely” and expressed hope that Sierra Leone would develop its economy through trade and investment as well as through strong partnership with other African countries and the private sector.
Ghana was apparently chosen to host the event because of the country’s strong experience in the extractive industry which Sierra Leone relies on heavily for foreign investment.
The Director General of Sierra Leone’s National Minerals Agency, Julius Mattai made a presentation entitled: ‘What investors can take advantage of in the Minerals Sector in Sierra Leone’.
He listed the mineral resources available in Sierra Leone for exploration including diamonds, gold, iron-ore, bauxite, rutile and coltan and noted that the ongoing airborne geophysical survey of the country is expected to determine the true picture of the country’s mineral deposits.
“Sierra Leone wants to attract reputable investors with transparent processes and procedures that will contribute more to the country in the long-term, and has taken steps to provide a conducive environment which will be easy to do business,” Mr Mattai said.
Speaking further, he hinted on the major reforms ongoing in the sector “geared towards making the experience of investors less stressful and rewarding”.
In her statement, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner, Frances Anderson, expressed delight for the massive turnout. She thanked the Ghanaian government for providing the platform.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Alie Kabba, said Sierra Leone and Ghana have a common and shared vision in the areas of economic development and cooperation amongst African countries.
He added that the long standing relationship between the two countries will be strengthened as the country, under the leadership of President Bio, was determined to change its narrative from one of civil war to one of peace and potentials for investment opportunities.
Also in attendance were key government officials of Ghana and Sierra Leone and the Archbishop of Accra and the former First Lady of Ghana, Mrs Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, as well as the country’s Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ghana.

Questions about who polices the Police have been answered with the raid of the Congo Cross and Lumley Police stations by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission last week. Acting on intelligence of a police racket in operation at the two stations, the commission launched a surprise raid and arrested 8 police officers on allegations of extorting money from Motor Drivers across the country and the payment for Land reports on requests sent to the station from the Lands Ministry for members of the public.

According to sources the drivers are requiring on a daily/weekly basis to pay a logging fee of up to Le50,000.00, and payment for land reports requests sent to the police by the Ministry of Lands for members of the public. Similar raids and arrests were made at Shell in the East of Freetown, where a collection racket similarly existed.

Reports received by the ACC further establish that the police have, for over a decade, been illegally demanding that vehicle drivers pay the amount of Le50,000.00 weekly or similar amount daily, as logging fee (booking). This in effect renders those drivers who comply with this demand, immune from being held liable for any offenses, thereby giving them a carte blanche for crime. The ACC Intelligence team has been surveillancing police stations for weeks and they confirmed that the traffic Section at various police stations and posts were in deed engaging in this illegal activity. It is alleged that the said activity has been happening to the knowledge and sanctioned of the top hierarchy of the police, who also had their share in the corrupt cartel. The ACC will also probe into this allegation.

The raids and arrests were carried out by the ACC with the support of the CDIID (the Ethics wing of the police) and all exhibits are with the ACC. It is believed this is the beginning of a nationwide clamp down on police illegality and corruption by the ACC. The 8 police officers have all been detained, including a pregnant officer.

Lance Corporal 18181476 Abdullah Jalloh of the Republic Of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, who is alleged to have shot his superior, Sergeant 18166763 Issa Kamara, at the Nitty Shipping Harbour, Vimetco at the Sierra Rutile axis, is presently at the Bo West Station helping the police in their investigations into the killing.
According to eye witness accounts, the incident happened at between 21.00 – 22.00 hours GMT on March 24th, 2019 at the Sierra Rutile axis. They intimated that the incident took place hours after an argument ensued between the suspect and the deceased over food.

According to police sources, the suspect in his voluntary cautioned statement, said he mistakenly touched the safety and trigger on his rifle, which unavoidably led to the death of his colleague.

The deceased, Sergeant 18166763 Issa Kamara had his head, chest and stomach perforated 26 times by the suspect.

Regional Police Media Officer, Inspector Foday M. Fofanah said on the advice of the State Counsel, they will charge the suspect on the count of murder contrary to law.

The rifle with a 30 rounds magazine is now in the custody of the Police investigators.

27 rounds were fired. 26 empty bullet shells were found by the police. The whereabouts of the last bullet shell is yet unknown.