The West Africa Logistics Solution Ltd SL (WALS) has declared bankruptcy as conditions in the mining industry deteriorate and their sole customer remains out of business operations.

WALS is a clearing company in Sierra Leone and does most of the clearing for Shandong Steel in their Tonkolili Iron Ore mining project. Shandong Steel stopped all mining operations in November 2017.

That resulted in WALS not receiving any income but continue to support their local staff for five months until the company ran out of funds. In March 2018, the board of directors of WALS decided to close their sole office at 20 Siaka Stevens Street in Freetown, Sierra Leone due to lack of funds to run the day-to-day operations of the office.

Since the company was not in operations for over a year and not generating any income, that combined with accumulating interest on debt legally secured with their financial institution the company has no option, but to file for bankruptcy liquidation.

The company will dilute all shareholders, dissolve the board and discharged all debts. WALS was one of the leading logistics company in Sierra Leone with over 60 employees. The company went above and beyond expectations to keep the business solvent.

However, a drop in the price of Iron Ore in the financial market led the shutdown of mining operations of their sole customer Shandong Steel, which had a negative and devastating effect on WALS that resulted into bankruptcy due to insolvency.

The decision by the First Lady to lead the important campaign of “hands off our girls” is a momentous one. Rape and Sexual Abuse of women and girls in Sierra Leone is now of epidemic proportion.
Only a collective effort by the Police, Doctors, Lawyers, Social Welfares Officers and the Judiciary can crush this Malady in our society.
Our laws against Sexual Offences have to be amended so that severe and maximum punishment have to be inflicted on sexual predators or miscreants that prowl our villages, towns, streets and houses, looking for victims.
Life imprisonment sentences or very long years in prison should be regularly imposed on those found guilty of these terrible offences.
The long years in prison should serve as a deterrent to possible future offenders.
Sierra Leone needs a State of the Art and Modern Forensic Laboratory. To carry out a variety of tests for blood, urine, semen and other tests related to sexual crimes.
Another major problem in Sierra Leone is that we have no Laboratory to undergo DNA Tests
A private laboratory in Freetown assists in getting “DNA TEST” sent to other African countries for such tests to be carried out. In any case Sierra Leone needs a LAB or centre where DNA tests can be carried out in the country. This LAB will greatly help investigations as quickly as possible to fast track prosecutions and eventual trial of suspects and offenders.
The Medical School should train Sierra Leoneans in modern laboratory technology and methods to tackle sexual diseases such as AIDS, sexual transmitted diseases, syphilis, hepatitis A, B, C & D and other venereal diseases.
A good and modern LAB will greatly assist in the fight against Sexual and Rape offences.
Hospitals and clinics should stop requesting for money from victims of Rape and Sexual offences. This corruption should stop now. Victims of sexual abuse should not pay a cent for medical reports from medical centres. The reports should be free and Doctors should not withhold these reports from victims. This practice should change also now.
A lot of sensitization should be done to educate and explain to some of our men that it is wrong, immoral and illegal to have sex with young girls and babies for cultural, tribal cult or ritual reasons.
These outdated myths should now be considered dead and buried; and men who rape and violate young girls for these reasons should be prosecuted and locked up for a very long time to isolate them from society at large.
Finally, we should train more pathologists or encourage those abroad to return home.
I don’t know whether we have a Sierra Leonean Venerologist to help our Doctors with specialized knowledge in venereal diseases, but this a Specialty that needs to be encouraged.
The sooner some of these reforms are addressed, the better the situation for women in Sierra Leone.

Madam Fatmata Abe-Osagie, who is the Acting General Manager of the National Tourist Board (NTB), last week updated journalists on their activities at her Head Office, Aberdeen in Freetown.
According to her tourism is the movement of people from one cultural, economic, social destination to another within the same country or from one country to another for different proposes.
She informed that they have reviewed a lot of policies within the tourism sector and the Tourism Acts to match present tourism developments and that they have a lot of activities outlined for 2019 which would soon be implemented.
She furthered that to align with the vision of the New Direction Agenda, the Ministry of Tourism, NTB and partners prepared a five-year strategic plan which contains all the activities to be implemented, assuring that Sierra Leone is ready for business.
Madam Abe-Osagie disclosed that they have done a lot of structural reviews which include tourism infrastructural reviews, marketing and re-branding, capacity and products development classification reviews.
She underscored that in the area of product development, the National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs were able to launch the Adopted Booth geared towards community development and to also promote Eco-tourism development in the country.
To ensure effective tourism in the country, she said the National Tourist Board and it supervising Ministry have done a lot of engagements with other line Ministries. “Tourism cannot stand on its own; that is why we are collaborating with all MDAs and also the private sector,” she pointed out.
She informed that in the area of environment protection, NTB, in collaboration with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), has recently launched the Smart City Campaign which aims to sensitize communities that are touristic attraction areas on the impact of climate change and what they can do to ensure that they protect the environment and how to make good use of the products they have in their communities.
She urged all hotel owners in the country to comply with the EPA Act on the protection of the environment and to also pay their EPA licences.
She noted that there has been regularization along the beaches regarding policy implementation that would bring sanity in all the beaches in the country.
Madam Abe-Osagie made it cleared that NTB is an important institution with the core mandate to promote, market and brand Sierra Leone tourism, emphasising that a lot of promotions and marketing have been made in both national and international platforms to attract more tourists to come to Sierra Leone and invest.
As part of their 2019 activities, she disclosed that the institution has linked up with huge tourism destinations like The Gambia and Kenya to make sure that Sierra Leone tourism develops, adding that they would continue to attract other tourist operators to come to Sierra Leone.
‘Sierra Leone tourism must boom,’ she noted, reiterating that Sierra Leone is ready for business, urging all to market and promote Sierra Leone’s tourism both at national and international levels.
She further called on people to invest in Eco- villages which is to promote tourism investment in the country.

Hussein and Faisal Antar, two hardworking and serious businessmen, who have been doing legal business in Sierra Leone for over 40 years, now have become the latest victims of outright calumny for no justifiable reason rather than only one bordering on outright and wicked blackmailing. These two fine gentlemen, according to thorough investigations conducted, have very good track records earning them good reputations. They have never been found wanting for any wrong doing, not even at any point in time named for involvement in shady or dubious deals and activities.
It must be highlighted that because of their outstanding performances, certain unscrupulous business rivals have gone to the extreme extent of paying or hiring some unprofessional journalists to churn out unsubstantiated stories, full of fabrications, about Hussein and Faisal Antar just to tarnish their hard-won reputations, but such a diabolical plan will surely boomerang.
Contrary to what the haters concocted or painted that Hussein and Faisal were, in the past, awarded contracts by past Governments, our fact findings confirmed and ascertained that never had such transpired. To put it simplistically, these two successful businessmen have never being awarded Government contracts, nor had they ever bid for one in the past. Rather, they have purely concentrated on their business activities. As a matter of fact, they have been paying hefty income taxes to Governments. Besides, they have provided job opportunities for Sierra Leoneans who were previously unemployed thereby paving the way for them to live improved standards of living.
It is totally erroneous and misleading to mention that these two successful personalities will face the Commissions of Inquiry for alleged corruption and siphoning of State funds during the period that the deadly Ebola virus was claiming innocent lives. It must be strongly stated that their business entity was never awarded a contract during the Ebola Outbreak. It must be reiterated that never did that transpire.
To claim that these two businessmen are using ill-gotten wealth accumulated through fraudulent means to live luxurious life styles here or in Lebanon is far, far away from the truth, a wicked fabrication. This is a calculated lie borne out of malice, jealousy and a deadly ploy to dent their image and credibility.
It is advisable that media practitioners refrain from being manipulated by ill-motivated persons to dent the personalities of credible people in society. Such is bad journalism which will be seriously frowned at. Let us be fair, objective rather than being unprofessional.
Hussein & Faisal Antar are highly respected and far above reproach. Their good image remains intact.

Freetown 29th January – The National Secretary General of the Majority Party in Sierra Leone’s House of Parliament , the All Peoples Congress(APC), has said that, the Party, as a democratic political institution, is fully ready to comply with the Bio led government for the judge led commissions of inquiry to go on as planned…, should the government adhere to constitutionality.

Ambassador Dr. Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh while addressing a news conference on Tuesday affirmed that the three instruments, which passed into law through the House of Parliament by, contradict Section 150 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.

*Yansaneh said the country, as far as the APC is under Constitutional rule and that the APC will obey the rule of law and not the rule of man. He said the APC having rolled out development projects across every nook and cranny of the country cannot be a party to war rather It is ready to face the full penalty of the law for constitutionality.*

The Party, in a press conference on Tuesday, signed by the National Secretary General, says ”its notes with utmost dismay that the Government of H.E. Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio has today, Tuesday 29th January 2019, launched the Commissions of Inquiry (COI) without taking due note of the concerns raised by the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party and other bodies including the Sierra Leone Bar Association, other Political Parties, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the Inter-Religious Council, All Political Parties Association (APPA) among others.”

”The APC Party hereby wishes to reiterate its concerns relating to the constitutionality or otherwise of the COI,” the release states, highlighting the concerns of the APC which include but not limited to ” That the instruments establishing the COI are not consistent with the provisions of Section 150 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone which states “Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the Rules of Court Committee shall, by constitutional instrument make rules regulating the practice and procedure of all Commissions of Inquiry.”

The APC Party is of the view that this committee was not constituted prior to the enactment of the Constitutional Instruments referred to, according to the release.

The release adds: ”What is more worrisome is that in Section 6(1) of the Constitutional Instruments 64, 65 and 67 the Commissioner has powers to modify, adapt and except himself from abiding by the practice and procedure in force in the High Court if he so feels like it. ”

This, according to the release, is in sharp contrast with the provisions of Section 150 of the Sierra Leone Constitution.

The APC Furthermore, according to the release, cited Section 6(2) of the said Instruments, it is stated that “the Commissioner shall not be bound by the Rules of Evidence in civil or criminal proceedings”.

This, the release affirmed, is also against the spirit and content of Section 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

”We also note with concern, that Section 149, subsection 4 of the 1991 Constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone, provides that “Where a Commission of Inquiry makes an adverse finding against any person which may result in a penalty, forfeiture or loss of status, the report of the Commission of Inquiry shall, for the purpose of this Constitution, be deemed to be a judgement of the High Court of Justice and accordingly, an appeal shall lie as of right from the Commission to the Court of Appeal”.”

”The APC Party is concerned that this provision gives the Commission the status of a High Court which can recommend penalties that are enforceable by law. The Rules of Evidence applicable in the High Court should therefore apply.”

The APC, according to the release believes that the source document for the Commissions of Inquiry, ie, the Governance Transition Team (GTT) report 2018, is replete with tribal, regional and partisan sentiments and incitement and therefore poses a serious national security threat.

”The APC Party is even more appalled that in his statement at the launch of the Commissions of Inquiry, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone, who is expected to be the custodian of the Rule of Law in the country, has seemingly taken a partisan position that is firmly consistent with that already taken by the President and his Government.”

The release is concluded by stating APC’s unrelenting wishes to reiterate its position on the Commissions of Inquiry, ”that its membership is ready and prepared to fully support and cooperate with the Commissions if the aforementioned concerns are addressed.”

In related development, Civil society activists who have contacted We Yone this evening have raised concerns over what they described as a disturbing situation.

The civil society activists, who prefer condition of anonymity as that last evening said even the judges that are ferried into the country for the commissions of inquiry have not been briefed.

They are of the view that the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone should be considered given the public has every right to know the academic and moral credentials of the judges, in that, several state institutions of Sierra Leone will be probed. They also cited reference to Section 23 which had to do with the protection under the law. They say anyone going through the commissions of inquires as constituted presently by the Bio led government will not be protected under the law, which they say is a fundamental requirement in any democratic country.

Section 23 is a rigid entrenched clause in the constitution which cannot be changed by anyone not even the President or Parliament. Section 108 of the same constitution clearly states so.

They stressed that the right to fair trials as in Section 23 of the 1991 Constitution is also an absolute right that is recognized in international and national human rights laws.

”In no circumstance can any Sierra Leonean be subjected to an unfair trial as fair trial is the hallmark for Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Laws in the world,” they concluded, while calling on the judiciary to save the country from what they described as constitutional crisis.

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has paid a working visit to the Bunumbu Teachers College and assured that his Government will start the reconstruction of the college, as part of his ongoing thank-you tour in that part of the country.

The institution and Government Technical Institute are constituents of the Eastern Polytechnic in Kenema, with a third campus in Woama, Kono district. It’s legacies in teacher training and origin date back to 1924 with the opening of a Catechist Training Centre in Bunumbu by the Methodist Mission.

In his welcome address, Paramount Chief Member of Parliament, Cyril Foray Gondor, said they were excited to receive the President for the first time since his assumption to office last year. He said President Bio was a visionary and God-sent leader who was ready to deliver on his promises, adding that was why the people of Kailahun district overwhelmingly voted him.

He said the Bunumbu Teachers College was the second oldest higher institution of learning in the country that had produced lots of reputable citizens in the country and therefore commended the Government for wanting to take the bold step to revive the institution.

Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Professor Aiah Gbakima, said the President had promised, in his New Direction manifesto, to increase the number of qualified teachers in schools, adding that it was, therefore, imperative on the Government to restart the college and to offer quality training for teachers across the country.

He disclosed that the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) was in consultation with the Government of Sierra Leone to reconstruct the college, while assuring the gathering that classes were expected to commence in the next academic year.

In his keynote address, President Bio said his Government had placed priority on education because it was the foundation on which to improve the lives of Sierra Leoneans. He noted that the college had contributed a lot to the development of the country and therefore needed the urgent attention of Government.

He also said that the people of Sierra Leone had suffered for far too long and that the only way to change that narrative was through the provision of quality education for the future generation.

“This year, we will start the reconstruction process and we hope that classes will start in the next academic year. We want to give the necessary skills to our children to enable them navigate this difficult and competitive world. We are giving our children everything to make sure that they succeed in life,” he assured.
In another engagement at the Kailahun mini-stadium, President Bio said he was thankful to the people of Kailahun for always standing by him and the Sierra Leone People’s Party. He said his main motive of visiting the district was to say thanks to the people for overwhelmingly voting him into office.

He mentioned that Kailahun was a neglected and deprived district within the country that lacked basic social amenities, saying that his government was into a series of negotiations to bring development to the district.

President Bio also noted that the Pendumbu-Kailahun road project had delayed because his Government did not meet funds for the project but said that the Ministry of Finance is working out modalities to restart and complete the project.

“As a caring Government, we are doing our best to better the lives of our citizens. This, we are doing through offering quality education, providing improved healthcare services and food security for our people. This year, we will start the rehabilitation of the Kailahun Government Hospital and the Nixon Memorial Government Hospital to improve the healthcare services in this part of the country,” he assured.

Chairman of the Kailahun District Council, Kekeh Sahr, said that the people of Kailahun were grateful to President Bio for introducing free quality education for the first time in the history of the country. He added that Kailahun was a deprived district but expressed optimism that with the new administration, the district would be able to catch up with the rest of the country in terms of development.

Already the writing is on the wall depicting that Big Brother 2019 is going to bie a big and very interesting social event in the entertainment landscape of this country. Currently, free voting is competitively ongoing to convince the judges to select the deserving competitors that will take them to the final stage. As of now 40 of them have been shortlisted but when the voting comes to an end it will be 20, 10 male and 10 female, who will qualify to enter the House on 14 February 2019.
It worthy to note that, for transparency sake, the organisers of this Big Brother TV Reality Show decided to avail the general public the opportunity to participate in the selection of the 20 contestants who should enter the House by voting through the Africell Sierra Leone TOLL FREE LINE – 5500.
When voting comes to an end the first twenty participants with the highest number of votes will emerge as winners to enter the Housemates Salone 2019 House. It is important to note that voting, via 5500, is absolutely free.

It is important to note that the Big Brother Reality Show is going to be first in this country but paradoxically despite the name, Big Brother,, it will be a combination of male and female housemates in the House that will exhibit their talents in different ways.
Every housemate will receive Le100, 000 for every day he or she stays in the House with the exception of the winner but the criterion for staying in the House depends on the amount of votes for a housemate polls.

For now housemates are encouraged to spur their fans and supporters to be in readiness to cast their votes for them if they fall in the number of the 20 housemates selected to be in the House.

The competition is going to be captivating and interesting especially after Sierra Leoneans have enjoyed a successful Big Sister Salone and saw the handing over of the star prize to the eventual winner.

The show is another opportunity for the Africa Young Voices Media Empire (AYV), one of the organisers, to not only entertain, but to empower young people to showcase their talents and at the same time create new millionaires among Sierra Leoneans.

After the just concluded auditions, the Judges of the Housemates Salone 2019 Television Reality Show released the list of Top 40 contestants.

Below are the names of the 40 shortlisted contestants out of which 20 will be finally selected:.
1. Abu Turay
2. Affise Odubella
3. Alusine Kamara
4. Amina Konneh
5. Aruna Lamin
6. Bintu Kaba
7. Derick Kelvin
8. Diana Decker
9. Dwight Smith
10. Dyllis George
11. Emmanuel Coker
12. Enid Boston-Jones
13. Fatmata Sankoh
14. George Wyndham
15. Habbi Jalloh
16. Hassan Hallowell
17. Henry Fonah
18. Monica Yeani Ghaliwa
19. Ibrahim Shuhab
20. Ibrahim Sorie Barrie
21. Isata Marion Musa
22. Ishmael Mauzi
23. Jalikatu Conteh
24. Jennifer Jabba
25. Jonathan Fitz John
26. Kenchine Palmer
27. Kariatu Mansaray
28. Magdalene T Williams
29. Marvina MK Davies
30. Mohamed Alie Jalloh
31. Moriana Walker
32. Precious Kamara
33. RaIford Rollings-Bull
34. Rashid Dyfan
35. Regina B Jombo
36. Saheed Komkanda Bangura
37. Salamatu Kargbo
38. Salim Sahid Kamara
39. Sebatu Bright
40. Suad Koroma

The Government of President Bio should not turn blind eyes to the long standing palaver between the land owners of Sahn Malen Chiefdom in Pujehun district and SOCFIN; a matter which so far mediation by both Vice President Juldeh Jalloh and President Bio has failed to resolve.
Sahn Malen where the palm oil producer – Socfin is located, has become a ghost town as local people flee for their lives, after the death of two young men in the community.
It is still not certain who committed the murder. Many in the community accuse the police of shooting the two men, but others – including the Paramount Chief, say they were killed by men belonging to the traditional Poro Society with instigation from Independent MP Hon. Siaka Sama who has all along championed the cause of the people who maintain that Socfin has robbed them out of their only means of survival by expropriating to itself virtually all the communal lands that they own for their huge plantation. Hon. Sama was detained, is now out on bail.
However, it has emerged that the recent eruption of violence in Sahn Malen has little to do with Socfin and accusation of land grabbing, but a battle for the assertion on power between the Paramount Chief and the local MP. This is unconfirmed though.
Meanwhile, Socfin has made a statement. Excerpts…
“The management of Socfin Agricultural Company Sierra Leone wishes to inform the public on the events which took place over the last few weeks on the Socfin plantation and surrounding areas in the Malen Chiefdom in Pujehun District.
On Wednesday 16 January 2019 the Company’s Agricultural Department closed down just after the arrival of the Member of Parliament for constituency 104, due to no workers turning up for work.
Workers informed management that they would not come to work due to the intimidation from gangs of youths, many fuelled with drugs and which many were not from this Chiefdom.
These gangs were planning to invoke the secret society in various parts of Malen without the authorization of the Paramount Chief. Havoc and chaos pursued over the following days and during all this period mass organized fruit theft continued and many areas of the plantation where no-go zones even for the police.
On Sunday 20 January the Resident Minister came to Sahn Malen to look into the elevated issue of a dispute on a plot of land in Sahn town, which the Member of Parliament wanted to build a constituency building on his private land. The Minister’s visit was a result of the tension that had escalated to such a high level and required his intervention.
On Monday 21 illegal and misuse of the secret society, which has revealed after investigations that a large number of illegal processing mills are placed within the secret society bushes. By the afternoon a huge gang of youths attacked the military and police stationed at the Socfin installation at Jao Junction in upper Malen, which is encompassed and protected by a strong fence with gates.
The attacking gang pushed and damaged a section of fence, broke all windows of the office complex from stones and other objects being thrown and set fire to the security post within the installation. As a result of this unfortunate incident two people died and one member of the police was seriously wounded from being shot at from within the gang attacking the installation.
The injured policeman was conveyed to Bo hospital using the Socfin ambulance stationed at the medical clinic in Sahn town. On the same day, a statement from the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development issued an instruction to all Resident Ministers nationwide making an immediate ban on initiation by secret societies.
Socfin has now started to resume operations, however are concerned these issues do not repeat themselves and that these gangs in weeks prior to this incident who were intimidating workers, resisting and blockading police movements, having organized operations stealing and processing fruit and taking out hundreds of 20 litre containers (batas) of palm oil each day, are stopped.
The management of Socfin want to thank his Excellency, President Maada Bio, his Government and the law enforcing organizations for stepping in and restoring law and order and look forward to a peaceful path ahead, to allow Socfin to continue to grow and contribute to the development of Malen and the country, creating employment, revenue generation from taxes and precious hard currency earnings through exports.”