By Amin Kef (Ranger)
The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has begun urgent recovery and rehabilitation efforts following a fire incident that destroyed the office of its Deputy Director General, Mohamed Asmieu Bah, at the national broadcaster’s headquarters in Freetown. The fire, which occurred on Wednesday 8th April 2026 at about 11:30 a.m., has been described by Management as a serious incident that could have escalated into a far more devastating disaster if not for the swift intervention of staff and the timely response of emergency services.
Speaking in separate exclusive interviews with The Calabash Newspaper, both Director General, Josephine Fatima Kamara and Deputy Director General, Mohamed Asmieu Bah, gave a detailed account of the incident, the suspected cause, the scale of the destruction and the urgent need for institutional support.
According to Director General Josephine Kamara, the incident occurred while she and the Deputy Director General were engaged in an official meeting with officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission’s Risk Assessment and Prevention Unit, who had visited the Corporation on a follow-up mission regarding governance and audit recommendations.
After the meeting, the Deputy Director General escorted the visiting officials to the Boardroom on the ground floor for a separate session with the Internal Auditor. As the Director General was proceeding downstairs to join them, two technical engineers suddenly rushed down the staircase shouting that there was a fire in the Deputy Director General’s office upstairs.
Josephine Kamara said her immediate response was to ensure the rapid evacuation of all staff from the affected floors in order to prevent casualties.
She commended SLBC staff for their courage and quick thinking, explaining that in the absence of readily available firefighting resources, some members of staff fetched water from nearby bathrooms and immediately began efforts to contain the flames.
According to her, the affected office door was forced open to allow staff gain access and fight the blaze, while others concentrated on moving personnel away from danger zones.
The fire service reportedly arrived within 15 to 18 minutes, but by then much of the visible flames had already been brought under control by SLBC’s technical staff, although smoke and heat continued to smolder inside the damaged office.
The fire officers subsequently carried out a cooling process and sprayed additional water to suppress remaining hotspots. However, Management later had to call them back for a second cooling operation after parts of the wooden roofing and planks continued to smolder.
The Director General revealed that the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) also visited the scene and conducted a preliminary assessment, with a formal report expected to guide the next phase of rehabilitation.
On the likely cause of the incident, both Management officials pointed to an electrical fault, with early indications suggesting that the fire may have originated from the air conditioning system or its electrical wiring.
Director General Josephine Kamara revealed that staff in an adjacent office heard a strange drilling-like sound inside the wall moments before a loud explosion was heard, after which flames rapidly engulfed the office.
She explained that the Corporation’s operations rely heavily on complex electrical systems, with thousands of cables powering studios, offices and technical installations across the building, making electrical safety a major concern.
Deputy Director General, Mohamed Asmieu Bah, whose office was destroyed, described the incident as deeply traumatic, noting that he remains in shock after losing virtually everything in the blaze.
According to him, he was seated in the Boardroom at the time of the incident when he suddenly heard a loud sound outside, followed by colleagues shouting “Fire, Fire…”
He said it was only after rushing upstairs that he discovered the fire had engulfed his office.
Mohamed Asmieu Bah disclosed that the blaze destroyed his laptop, phone, bag, furniture, office fittings and critical work materials, leaving him without a functional workspace.
He further noted that before the incident, the institution had been experiencing intermittent electricity fluctuations, with the power repeatedly going off and returning after short intervals.
Those unstable power conditions, he believes, may have contributed to a power surge, which investigators now suspect may have sparked the blaze.
Visible signs around the wall where the office air conditioner was mounted, he added, strongly suggest that damaged wiring or an electrical surge may have been the trigger point.
On the scale of the loss, Mohamed Asmieu Bah said Management is still carrying out a full assessment, but preliminary estimates indicate that the destruction runs into thousands of Leones, considering the damage to office infrastructure, electrical fittings, furniture and structural components.
Management, however, expressed relief that the flames did not spread into the adjacent engineering department, where critical broadcasting infrastructure is housed.
Both officials agreed that the immediate priority is to secure and reroof the damaged section, protect high-end equipment from further exposure and commence full rehabilitation of the upper floor.
Director General Josephine Kamara confirmed that the Minister of Information and Civic Education and his Deputy have already visited the scene and assured Management of Government’s support for the recovery process.
She also disclosed that the institution has started receiving support from well-wishers and partners, with some making cash contributions while others donated computers and office equipment.
The Deputy Director General also appealed to businesses, patriotic Sierra Leoneans and development partners to support the rebuilding of the institution.
He stressed that SLBC belongs to the people of Sierra Leone and therefore deserves collective support to restore its infrastructure and sustain uninterrupted national broadcasting services.
Despite the destruction, the incident has also highlighted the dedication and bravery of SLBC staff, whose rapid intervention prevented what could have been a catastrophic loss for Sierra Leone’s public broadcaster.
