First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatima Bio has gently warned school-going pupils especially girls to restrain from taking their teachers’ mobile phone numbers (especially male teachers) with the objective of calling them off-school hours as this would be very detrimental to their future.
She warned that the dangers of this is that most times, schoolgirls who indulge in such, end up visiting the teacher at home and eventually end up pregnant; become dropouts or end up worse. She admonished schoolgirls especially to always be wary and focused on what would develop them for a better and brighter future when they would have completed their education.
The First Lady was delivering her Keynote address on Tuesday 5th February, 2019 at the Atlantic Hall, Stadium Hostel, in Freetown, where the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with SALCAB and NATCOM staged the first-ever Safer Internet Day (SID) celebration in Sierra Leone.
The First Lady went on to warn school children on the uses and abuses of the Internet. She called on them to be agents of change and consider themselves as the next generation of leaders and in that direction they should ensure they use the internet to their best and positive advantage in conducting research and exploring other educational pursuits.
She went on to say that improper use or abuse of the Internet by school children can result in regrettable results such as attracting unwanted attention into one’s privacy or presenting oneself as prey to pedophiles.
Earlier, a power-point presentation done by MIC ICT guru, Mrs. Mariama Yormah explained the Safer Internet Day objectives and singled our four thematic areas she described as the 4Rs school children should consider when using the Internet, namely: Respect, Responsibility, Reasoning and Resilience.
Several other speakers including the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swarray made similar sentiments. The Minister emphasized that the Safer Internet Day (SID), is an annual landmark campaign celebrated worldwide since 2004 and that February of each year, SID is organized to encourage safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially among children and youths across the world. He added that although the campaign started in Europe, it has continued to grow and was celebrated in more than 140 countries in 2018 and this year, Sierra Leone launched its first SID campaign.
Other speakers were NATCOM DG Mr. Maxwell, a representative from the Ministry of Social Welfare, National Children’s Commission Director Mrs. Olayinka Laggah among others.
The ceremony attracted a galaxy of government officials, children drawn from various schools, the press and many others distinguished guests. The climax of the celebration was a performance by Vicky the Poet, Wilma C.E. Knuckles from Methodist Girls Secondary School and a short skit by comedian Vamboi and his team.

The fundamental principle of natural justice is the right of an accused to be heard in his/her own defense either by self or with the help of a lawyer.
For the next six months, the three judges heading the three Commissions of Inquiry will be sifting through documents and other evidences to know what transpired amongst officials in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), in the execution of their official responsibilities.
President Bio has said he is keen to recover stolen money for use in the development of the country, a move that has been well received by the people and the International Community.
Well-meaning Sierra Leoneans are hopeful that the Commissions of Inquiry would help serve as deterrent against the reckless and brazen abuse of office by public officials to acquire ill-gotten wealth. But again, the fairer the process, the more credence it would get.

However, the now opposition APC members are raising concerns on issues bordering on evidences and are threatening not to cooperate, if those concerns are not addressed.
Whilst it is the right of the accused not to put in an appearance before the Commission, and one of the judges having stated that nobody will be compelled to appear, many legal minds have opined that it would be prudent for those summoned to respect the Commissions, as there are legal sanctions for not doing so.
However, it would be counter- productive on officials of the past regime to attempt snubbing the Inquiry should they be summoned, as there are enforcement measures in place, to institute compliance.
Where there was any doubt about the integrity and uprightness of the judges, Lawyer Charles who worked with one of them in the Law Officers Department has vouched that Justice Thompson is an independent incorruptible jurist; even though he, the Bar Association and some other concerned individuals and corporate bodies have called on the Government to heed to the APC’s concerns which the judges at the opening ceremony sought to allay by stating that they will be guided by established legal principles guiding Commissions of Inquiry in Sierra Leone..
We assume that Justice Thompson’s two other colleagues are of the same cloth as him.
Hon. Justices Biobele Georgewill, William Annan Atuguba and John Bankiole Thompson must not allow themselves to be influenced by opinions or claims posted on social media or articles written under the guise of Concerned Citizen, which could be baseless and malicious attempts to unlawfully implicate persons because of reasons listed above or else at the end of the day, posterity will not treat them kindly for wrongfully implicating people of corruption.
The three men must instead look at convincing elements surrounding a particular matter and use their legal experiences to arrive at a judicious conclusion, rather than on hearsay.
This is of great importance as the recommendations they as Commissioners would compile and present to the Government, would have far reaching implications in the lives of individuals named, and society as a whole.

The three Commissions of Inquiry set up by President Bio to look into the activities of all former Ministers and their Deputies that served under President Koroma after receiving evidences from the Attorney General and her panel of assistant State Counsels in presenting the state’s case has now officially written to erstwhile President Koroma, Vice Presidents Sam Sumana, Victor Bockarie Foh, all former Ministers and their Deputies summoning them to appear before the Commissions.
The directive from the Commissions’ Secretariat asks all those invited to send to the Secretariat their current addresses and telephone contact numbers.
Last week Tuesday 29th January 2019 before the Commissions adjourned to today February 11th 2019, the State tendered witnesses from the Auditor General’s Office, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Government Printer.
In the main, the Attorney General and her team will try to convince with documentary evidences drawn from several sources, but mainly from the Auditor General’s Reports from 2007 to 2017 alleging that the former Government engaged in large scale theft of state properties, assets, resources and funds.
At the opening of the commissions, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice said the COI was established to combat impunity as waging war against corruption is a constitutional mandate enshrined in Sierra Leone’s Constitution.
She said information and evidence against a person of interest over a specific period of time from November 2007 to April 2018, will be presented and probing will be done on the activities of the President of the past administration, Vice President, Ministers, heads of ministries, departments and agencies and Board Chairmen of various institutions.
As such, the Commissions seek to inquire about governance systems, assets owned by former government officials, whether they are commensurate with their earnings.
With the All Peoples’ Congress stating that it would not subject itself to what Secretary General Ambassador Yansaneh called a kangaroo court, citing that it is not properly constituted and has no formal rules of evidence.
However, during their first sittings, the three judges sought to allay the fear of those that will be invited to face the Commission that they will go by the Sierra Leone High Courts Rules of 2007 as a guide in conducting the proceedings of the inquiry.
The judges noted that they took into consideration based on the contentions that they heard.
The judges also pledged that the hearings will follow the rules of natural justice and far hearings, in as much as the hearings would not be strictly bound by the rules of evidence as found in the High Court.
What however remains uncertain is whether the APC party will permit its former officials to subject themselves to the investigations as last week, the party filed a petition with the Supreme Court calling the court’s attention to lack of rules of evidence and also complaining violation of human rights.
Meanwhile, the nation is split between those who stand with President Bio in demanding for democratic accountability from officials of the former Government and those who maintain that the inquiry is targeted at discrediting APC and therefore deem it as a witch hunt.

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Many have acclaimed the Africa Young Voices and Africell for initiating a transformative input in Sierra Leone’s entertainment landscape with the rolling out for the first time in the history of this country a Television Reality Show branded Big Brother 2019.In a positive light the prime objective is geared towards youth empowerment as the main trust is showcasing natural in-built talents in multi-faceted ways as well as providing polish for them.
The 14th February 2019 will be a watershed as twenty successful contestants will finally enter the Big Brother House for six weeks where they will be thoroughly assesses by competent Judges until finally the winner emerges to bag a prestigious prize of one hundred million Leones (Le100,000,000) .
Already, country- wide auditions have been completed and by estimation they were very interesting as some of the contestants left viewers laughing their sides out because of the funny ways they responded to questions, some out of ignorance, nervousness and others comically.
Without any iota of exaggeration some of the competitors captivated brilliance by responding intelligently to the questions posed by the Judges even having a blind girl in Makeni who through her expressions held viewers spellbound.

Those interesting aspects of the auditions have now whetted the appetite of fans or viewers to really see how their favorite would-be housemates will convincingly display their God-given talents.

It is interesting to note that after the end of the auditions in various parts of the country the Judges shortlisted 40 contestants setting the stage for another phase where the public were given the opportunity to vote via Africell Toll Number 5500, which is totally free, for 20 out of the aforementioned shortlisted names (10 male & 10 female) to enter the House. What is so ironical about Big Brother as opposed to Big Sister is the fact that the former is going to be a combination of male and female housemates were as Big Sister was exclusively a female event.

AYV and Africell are working behind the scenes to give Sierra Leoneans here and abroad the best in entertainment as many are eagerly looking forward to an interesting thrill.

Sierra Leoneans in-country and overseas, who will be fortunate to tune in to AYV Television are of course going to stay glued to their TV sets to watch the six weeks series of performances by the housemates who are expected to impressively display their natural talents in different ways to fit into the stipulated criteria that the Judges will be looking forward to in order to making their assessments.

It is important to note that Big Brother is highly competitive and is an elimination contest with the determinant factor having to do with the number of votes that a particular housemate pulls. However, for each day a housemate stays in the House he or she is entitled to the sum of One Hundred Thousand Leones (Le100, 000).

Certain analysts have postulated that with the successful organization of two outstanding TV Reality shows such that will really put Sierra Leone on the international entertainment pedestal and showcase the country’s young talents.

Against that backdrop, a foreign diplomat commended the organizers for taking the bold steps in rolling out the two events Big Sister and Big Brother.
Amb. Anthony Navo Jr, disclosed that on day one of the show (i.e. 14th February 2019 – St. Valentine’s Day) the first eviction will be done and this will be the 20 unlucky aspirants out of the 40 shortlisted contestants that the public had voted for, who were unable to poll the votes to qualify. They will receive Le 1 million each and other prizes like data, phones etc. The Le20 million was set aside by the AYV, whilst the other prizes will be offered by Africell.
All the 40 shortlisted candidates are qualified to be in the House, but only 20 housemates are needed, hence the turning of the choice over to members of the public to choose. This is to show how transparent the selection process has been. He also disclosed that all 40 aspirants will be showed to the public and take part in a float parade to end at the National Stadium on a seven day calendar which started on Wednesday 6th February 2019 and will end on Wednesday 13th February 2019 during which there will be a Pick up Point & Checking at 5 pm to finally enter the House.
On the 14th February all the aspirants will enter the House and on the same day the 20 who failed to poll the votes polled by the other 20 aspirants will then be evicted and handed their packages. He further disclosed that anxious time awaits the other housemates who will remain in the House, as during the week there will be what is called Valentine week eviction. The contestants will be paired and the first pair will be evicted over that weekend based on the number of votes as earlier stipulated.
From what was learnt after series of investigation conducted Sierra Leoneans in and out of the country have commended AYV and Africell for rolling out what they have described the first ever Reality TV show that will show case the talents of young male and female Sierra Leoneans saying that such is a real demonstration of boosting the entertainment industry in the country.

1
Saturday 27th January 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. East End Lions
National Stadium
2
Friday 1st February, 2019
Bo Ranger vs. FC Kallon
Bo
3
Friday 1st February, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. Diamond Stat
Kenema
4
Saturday 2nd February 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. Central Parade
Wellington
5
Saturday 2nd February 2019
Freetown City vs. Ports Authority
Cline Town
6
Saturday 2nd February 2019
East End Lions vs Old Edwardians
National Stadium
7
Saturday 2nd February 2019
RSLAF vs. East End Tigers
Makeni
8
Wednesday 6th February 2019
Central Parade vs. Mighty Blackpool
Freetown
9
Wednesday 6th February 2019
FC Kallon vs. Anti-Drugs
National Stadium
10
Wednesday 6th February 2019
Port Authority vs. Bo Rangers
Cline Town
11
Friday 8th February, 2019
Diamond Star vs. Freetown City
Kono
12
Saturday 9th February, 2019
East End Tigers vs Kamboi Eagles
Lungi
13
Saturday 9th February, 2019
Old Edwardians vs RSLAF
National Stadium
14
Saturday 9th February, 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. East End Lions
Wellington
15
Saturday 9th February, 2019
Bo Rangers vs Central Parade
Bo
16
Sunday 10th February, 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. FC Kallon
National Stadium
17
Wednesday 13th February, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. Ports Authority
Kenema
18
Wednesday 13th February, 2019
Freetown City vs. East End Tigers
Cline Town
19
Wednesday 13th February, 2019
RSLAF vs. Diamond Stars
Makeni
20
Wednesday 13th February, 2019
FC Kallon vs. Old Edwardians
National Stadium
21
Saturday 16th February 2019
Port Authority vs. Anti- Drugs
Cline Town
22
Saturday 16th February 2019
East End Tigers vs. Mighty Blackpool
lungi
23
Saturday 16th February 2019
Central Parade vs. Kamboi Eagles
Freetown
24
Saturday 16th February 2019
East End Lions vs. Bo Rangers
National Stadium
25
Saturday 16th February 2019
Diamond Stars vs. FC Kallon
Kono
26
Sunday 17th February 2019
Old Edwardians vs. Freetown City
National Stadium
27
Wednesday 20th February, 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. RSLAF
Wellington
28
Wednesday 20th February, 2019
Bo Rangers vs. Kamboi Eagles
Bo
29
Wednesday 20th February, 2019
East End Tiger vs. East End Lions
Lungi
30
Wednesday 20th February, 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. Ports Authority
National Stadium
31
Wednesday 20th February, 2019
Freetown City vs. Central Parade
Cline Town
32
Saturday 23rd February, 2019
RSLAF vs FC Kallon
Makeni
33
Saturday 23rd February, 2019
Old Edwardians vs. Anti-Drugs
National Stadium
34
Saturday 23rd February, 2019
Ports Authority vs. Diamond Stars
Cline Town
35
Saturday 23rd February, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. Mighty Blackpool
Kenema
36
Saturday 23rd February, 2019
Central Parade vs. East End Tigers
Freetown
37
Sunday 24th February, 2019
East End Lions vs. Freetown City
National Stadium
38
Wednesday 27th February 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. Bo Rangers
Wellington
39
Wednesday 27th February 2019
FC Kallon vs. Ports Authority
National Stadium
40
Wednesday 27th February 2019
Diamond Stars vs. Old Edwardians
Kono
41
Wednesday 27th February 2019
Freetown City vs. Kamboi Eagles
Cline Town
42
Friday 1st March 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. RSLAF
National Stadium
43
Friday 1st March 2019
East End Tigers vs. Anti- Drugs
Lungi
44
Saturday 2nd March, 2019
East End Lions vs. Central Parade
National Stadium
45
Saturday 2nd March, 2019
Bo Rangers vs. Diamond Stars
Bo
46
Saturday 2nd March, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. FC Kallon
Kenema
47
Sunday 3rd March, 2019
Old Edwardians vs. Mighty Blackpool
National Stadium
48
Wednesday 6th March 2019
RSLAF vs. Freetown City
Makeni
49
Wednesday 6th March 2019
Ports Authority vs. East End Tigers
Cline Town
50
Wednesday 6th March 2019
Diamond Stars vs. East End Lions
Kono
51
Wednesday 6th March 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. Kamboi Eagles
Wellington
52
Wednesday 6th March 2019
Central Parade vs. Old Edwardians
Freetown
53
Wednesday 6th March 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. Bo Rangers
National Stadium
54
Saturday 9th March 2019
Ports Authority vs. RSLAF
Cline Town
55
Saturday 9th March 2019
FC Kallon vs. Freetown City
National Stadium
56
Saturday 9th March 2019
East End Tigers vs. Diamond Stars
Lungi
57
Saturday 9th March 2019
RSLAF vs. Central Parade
Makeni
58
Sunday 10th March, 2019
Old Edwardians vs. Bo Rangers
National Stadium
59
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
Freetown City vs. Mighty Blackpool
Cline Town
60
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
East End Lions vs. Ports Authority
National Stadium
61
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
Diamond Stars vs. Anti-Drugs
Kono
62
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. Old Edwardians
Kenema
63
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
Central Parade vs. FC Kallon
Freetown
64
Wednesday 13th March, 2019
Bo Rangers vs. East End Tigers
Bo
65
Saturday 16th March 2019
RSLAF vs. East End Lions
Kenema
66
Saturday 16th March 2019
Anti-Drugs vs. Freetown City
Wellington
67
Saturday 16th March 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. Diamond Star
National Stadium
68
Saturday 16th March 2019
Ports Authority vs. Central Parade
Cline Town
69
Saturday 16th March 2019
East End Tigers vs. Old Edwardians
Lungi
70
Sunday 17th March, 2019
East End Lions vs. Kamboi Eagles
National Stadium
71
Wednesday 20th March, 2019
Freetown City vs. Bo Rangers
Cline Town
72
Wednesday 20th March, 2019
Mighty Blackpool vs. Anti-Drugs
National Stadium
73
Wednesday 20th March, 2019
Diamond Star vs. Central Parade
Kono
74
Wednesday 20th March, 2019
Old Edwardians vs. Ports Authority
National Stadium
75
Friday 22nd March, 2019
Kamboi Eagles vs. RSLAF
Kenema
76
Saturday 23rd March, 2019
FC Kallon vs. East End Tigers
National Stadium
77
Friday 29th March,2019
Bo Rangers vs. RSLAF
Bo
78
Saturday 30th March, 2019
FC Kallon VS. East End Lions

Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Her Excellency Mrs. Fatima Bio recently officially launched the International “Safer Internet Day‟ (SID) at the Atlantic Hall, Freetown. The event was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Delivering her keynote address to mark the official launch of the Safer Internet Schools Awareness Clubs Initiative on the theme “Together for a better internet”, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatima Bio called on all stakeholders to join and play their part in creating a better internet for everyone especially young users.
Mrs. Fatima Bio whilst underscoring the significance of the internet maintained that protecting children from potentially harmful things on the internet until they learn about the need for safety and security online is incredibly important, particularly because, as a society, we increasingly spend more and more time online. “Remember that enforcing safety isn’t necessarily just putting up a wall between the world and your child it’s teaching them a set of core values and behaviours which will enable them to go online with awareness and knowledge, so that ultimately they’ll be able to thrive on their own as fully fledged adults,‟ she added.
“Your child, pupil or student might not like it, but let them know that this isn’t forever, and that once they’ve proven themselves as responsible users of the web, the training wheels will come off,‟ Mrs. Fatima Bio concluded.
According to the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swarray, the significance of this event is to ensure that as a responsible nation, his Ministry champions awareness raising among the citizenry which focuses on pupils in primary and secondary schools on safer internet use and to further encourage internet users to apply positive online practices.
Various distinguished speakers include the Chairman for the Board, Sierra Leone Cable Limited, Mr. Ishmael Kebe; the Acting Director of Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Joyce B. Kamara, the Director General for NATCOM, Mr. Maxwell Massaquoi; the Chief Executive Officer for Orange, Aminata Kane Ndiaye, representatives from the Children’s Commission and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. The welcome statement was delivered by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Mr. Augustine S. Sheku.
The event brought together mostly primary and secondary school pupils and teachers.

In a latest development the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) on Tuesday 5th January 2019 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
At the signing of the MOU, the Director General of SLCAA, Moses Bawoh described the event as the beginning of a beginning, as they are hopeful that more could be benefited by Sierra Leoneans out of this agreement.
NCAT is an approved training organization which is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that is certified to conduct Aviation courses leading to licenses and Aviation Diploma courses accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in Nigeria.
DG Bawoh stated that they are desirous to collaborate with NCAT for the training of students and other personnel in Aviation related courses both in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
NCAT is responsible to conduct technical and non-technical aviation courses available in the Nigerian Aviation Technology; issue certificates and facilitates the issuance of accredited certificates to students under the Sierra Leone Government sponsorship upon their successful completion of the relevant Aviation courses; provide medical and Aircraft Accident Insurance for the said students during their training; provide feeding and accommodation for the duration of the training period for the students; provide off-site training for selected short-duration courses in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The government of Sierra Leone will provide in advance, agreed payment for the training, feeding, accommodation and miscellaneous needs of the sponsored students; provide payment in advance for the relevant permits required for entry and stay in Nigeria of students under their sponsorship at NCAT.
Bawoh maintained that there is lack of technical and skilled personnel to perform the activities of the Civil Aviation Authority as Civil Aviation professionals are very hard to get.
There is the need to train Sierra Leoneans with the relevant skills and knowledge to enable them acquire the international standard of Civil Aviation Authority, he added.
According to the Rector of NCAT, Abdulsalami Mohammed, their focus has been Nigeria and now they are going beyond to other countries.
Sierra Leone is the first country they have signed an MOU with and this will open opportunities for Sierra Leone because once the word is out that they have signed an MOU with Sierra Leone, Arab countries will be looking at the opportunity of signing the same with Sierra Leone, he stated.

During a well-attended ceremony yesterday 7th February 2019 held at State House His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio officially declared a National Emergency on Rape and Sexual Violence, as a major step towards addressing rape and all forms of sexual violence in Sierra Leone.

In his keynote address, to a well-attended event at State House, President Bio said that each month hundreds of cases of rape and sexual assaults were being reported against women, girls and babies with some of the fatalities being as young as three months old and that 70% of survivors of the traumatic experience being under the age of 15.

He said, on a sad note, thousands more cases of rape and sexual violence were unreported because some families and communities practice a culture of silence or indifference about sexual violence, leaving victims traumatised. He noted that alarmingly, the perpetrators were getting younger and their acts getting more violent and bestial.

“Of nearly 3,000 reported sexual assault cases, 602 of the survivors became pregnant; 7 of them contracted HIV/AIDS; 2,404 had STDs; thousands more were scarred and traumatised by the ordeal. Only 39 of these 3,000 reported cases were successfully prosecuted whilst 2,961 of the survivors of sexual violence were denied justice,” he disclosed.

“My government will continue to work with civil society organisations, development partners, and community stakeholders to address gaps and deficiencies in the Sexual Offences Act of 2012. I am directing close interagency collaboration in ensuring that the full cycle of services from reporting, investigation, treatment, after-care, and prosecution is free, uncomplicated, and delivery speedily,” he said.

President Bio also stated that his Government would invest in training specialised Police personnel, providing adequate forensic facilities, collecting and collating comprehensive sexual violence data, delivering free medical services to survivors, and catering for safe homes and psychosocial care for survivors.

He said that Government would engage communities and civil society in dialogues to eliminate the culture of compromise and silence around sexual violence, adding that the country must put an end to the scourge that was slowly wrecking the nation.

“On this note, I therefore declare rape and sexual violence as National Emergency. With this declaration, I have also directed the following. That ALL Government Hospitals MUST provide FREE Medical Treatment and certificate to every victim of rape and sexual abuse.

“That a Special Division for Rape and Sexual Penetration of Minors be created by the Sierra Leone Police to speedily handle all cases of Rape and Sexual Penetration of Minors. This new Special Division will be separated from the Family Support Unit; that the Chief Justice consider creating a Special Division with assigned judges to deal with cases of Rape and Sexual Violence.

“That with immediate effect, sexual penetration of Minors is punishable by LIFE IMPRISONMENT; that the High Court should consider 136 Proceedings in the High Court in order to speed up prosecution and trail of ALL new cases of Rape and Sexual Violence.

“That Law Officers Department should consider to charging all persons accused of Rape and Sexual Violence with an offence of “Aggravated Assault”. Finally, a dedicated National Emergency Telephone Number for reporting Rape and Sexual Violence would be made available to the public,” he closed.

Chairperson of the Rainbo Initiative, Dr Olabisi Claudius Cole, said the historic declaration was a landmark in tackling sexual and gender-based violence in the country, adding that had been made possible through the tireless voices of survivors and activists who had been working on the issue away from the spotlight without resources or resources.

She said they were thankful to the President for listening to the voices and acknowledging the urgency of the issue, saying that the declaration was sending a strong message that the country was entering a phase of zero tolerance wherein the laws of the land would bite perpetrators.

First Lady, Her Excellency Madam Fatima Bio, who delivered the vote of thanks, said rape and all forms of sexual violence were unacceptable in society and that they were menaces to the society that people should not encourage. She expressed thanks and appreciation to the President for his brave steps in tackling rape and sexual assaults in the country.

What is the legal concept of evidence? When lawyers talk about evidence, what is it that they are referring to? What is it that they have in mind? What are the conditions that the law imposes and must be met for something to be received by the court as evidence?
The legal concept of evidence is neither static nor universal. Medieval understandings of evidence in the age of trial by ordeal would be quite alien to modern sensibilities. What however is certain is that there is no approach to evidence and proof that is shared by all legal systems of the world.
Even within Western legal traditions, there are significant differences between Anglo-American law and Continental European law.
It may seem obvious that there must be a legal concept of evidence that is distinguishable from the ordinary concept of evidence. After all, there are in law many special rules on what can or cannot be introduced as evidence in court, on how evidence is to be presented and the uses to which it may be put, on the strength or sufficiency of evidence needed to establish proof and so forth. But the law remains silent on some crucial matters.
In resolving the factual disputes before the court, the jury or, at a bench trial, the judge has to rely on extra-legal principles. While evidential reasoning in law and in other contexts may share certain characteristics, there nevertheless remain aspects of the approach to evidence and proof that are distinctive to law.
The focus is on how the court weighs the evidence in reaching the verdict. In this connection, three properties of evidence will be discussed: probative value, sufficiency and degree of completeness.
What does Evidence Refer to in Law?
Stephen (1872: 3–4, 6–7) long ago noted that legal usage of the term “evidence” is ambiguous. It sometimes refers to that which is adduced by a party at the trial as a means of establishing factual claims.
“Adducing evidence” is the legal term for presenting or producing evidence in court for the purpose of establishing proof. When lawyers use the term “evidence” in this way, they have in mind what epistemologists would think of as “objects of sensory evidence”. Evidence, in this sense, is divided conventionally into three main categories:
Oral evidence (the testimony given in court by witnesses), documentary evidence (documents produced for inspection by the court), and “real evidence”; the first two are self-explanatory and the third captures things other than documents such as a knife allegedly used in committing a crime.
The term “evidence” can, secondly, refer to a proposition of fact that is established by evidence in the first sense. This is sometimes called an “evidential fact”. That the accused was at or about the scene of the crime at the relevant time is evidence in the second sense of his possible involvement in the crime. But the accused’ presence must be proved by producing evidence in the first sense. For instance, the prosecution may call a witness to appear before the court and get him to testify that he saw the accused in the vicinity of the crime at the relevant time.
The concept of relevance plays a pivotal role in legal fact-finding. Success in proving the presence of the accused (the evidential fact) will depend on the fact-finder’s assessment of the veracity of the witness and the reliability of his testimony. (The fact-finder is the person or body responsible for ascertaining where the truth lies on disputed questions of fact and in whom the power to decide on the verdict vests. The fact-finder is also called “trier of fact” or “judge of fact”. Fact-finding is the task of the jury or, for certain types of cases and in countries without a jury system, the judge.) Sometimes the evidential fact is directly accessible to the fact-finder. If the alleged knife used in committing the crime in question (a form of “real evidence”) is produced in court, the fact-finder can see for himself the shape of the knife; he does not need to learn of it through the testimony of an intermediary.

At last the much talked about three Commissions of Inquiry commenced formal sittings at the former Special court building in Freetown, on Monday 4th February 2019. The Parliament of Sierra Leone approved the holding of the Inquiry to look into the stewardship of individuals who served in the past All Peoples Congress (APC) led government from 2007 early 2018.
The three Judges (two foreign and one local) appointed by the government of His Excellency the President, Julius Maada Bio, have more than a century of experience shared amongst them and are highly respected personalities.
For the next six months, they will be sifting through documents and other evidences to know what transpired amongst officials in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), in the execution of their official responsibilities.
Already the now opposition APC members are raising concerns on issues bordering on evidences and are threatening not to cooperate, if those concerns were not addressed.
However, it would be counter- productive on officials of the past regime to attempt snubbing the Inquiry should they be summoned, as there are enforcement measures in place, to institute compliance.
This therefore brings us to the need for the three Commissioners to be very prudent in what they do over the next 6 months.
That they are all Africans, obviously gives them deeper insight into the general attitude of the typical African when it comes to protecting interests due to relational or socio-political lineages. This the African can do by whipping up varied sentiments to safeguard age-old traditional, political and socio-economic interests.
Already the court of public opinion is inundated with intriguing allegations, here and there even before the Commissions started work, something the three Learned Judges must not lose sight of.
Hon. Justices Biobele Georgewill, William Annan Atuguba and John Bankiole Thompson must not allow themselves to be influenced by opinions or claims posted on social media or articles written under the guise of Concerned Citizen, which could be baseless and malicious attempts to unlawfully implicate persons because of reasons listed above or else at the end of the day, posterity will not treat them kindly for wrongfully implicating people of corruption.
The three men must instead look at convincing elements surrounding a particular matter and use their legal experience to arrive at a judicious conclusion, rather than on hearsay. This is of great importance as the recommendations they as Commissioners would compile and present to the government, would have far reaching implications in the lives of individuals named, and society as a whole.
Some years ago, a contracted British Judge sitting over a Freetown High Court corruption matter involving an indicted civil servant, before his ruling, drove all the way to Kenema in Eastern Sierra Leone to see whether claims against the accused, of him not buying the office furniture were true or not. He found the furniture intact and in good order, despite the litany of demeaning allegations levied against the poor fellow. Upon his return to Freetown, he promptly set the accused free. Pure Class!
Recounting that scenario is necessary; as we expect our Commissioners to carry out their work diligently, and forward their findings to the government which would in turn decide what best to do, in the interest of the general citizenry.
President Bio is keen to recover stolen money for use in the development of the country, a move that has been well received by the people and the International Community.
Well-meaning Sierra Leoneans are hopeful that the Commissions of Inquiry would help serve as deterrent against the reckless and brazen abuse of office by public officials to acquire ill-gotten wealth. But again, the fairer the process, the more credence it would get.