It is still early on a hot and dusty Wednesday morning, but the temperature is already above 35 degrees centigrade. Residents say that it rained just a month ago, although there is no evidence of this. Plants have shed their leaves and all the green vegetation has now changed colour. Seven-year-old Moli Kituvi strides with [...]
South Africa is joining Brazil, Russia, India and China in the BRIC group of economies – which, from 14 April 2011, will be the BRICS group of economies. Since hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 – an event that surprised the country’s many critics with its success – South Africa has scored another goal [...]
New Africa Analysis got the opportunity to speak to the head of Sierra Leone’s Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), Joseph Fitzrald Kamara. Here’s what he had to say about his work, the relationship with the government, the NASSIT case and the public’s perception of the ACC. On taking the role six months ago he says ‘I [...]
‘I have declared the whole country a works yard…’ said President Koroma at the Open Government Initiative (OGI) session. And it is clear to see that Sierra Leone is currently undergoing major regeneration. The race is on to rid the country of old, unfit road networks and in its place establish a reliable connection throughout [...]
The UK government continued to licence significant amounts of arms for export to Libya till the end of 2010 according to Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The figures are contained in the 2010 fourth quarter report listings in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Strategic Export Control Reports. The figures reveal licences were approved for military [...]
The acclaimed British photojournalist and film maker, Tim Hetherington, died in a mortar attack in the besieged city of Misrata, Libya, on 20 April. He was aged 40. I had the privilege of knowing and working with him during my time as the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and subsequently. His death came as [...]
Officials at UN headquarters in New York have been cock-a-hoop about the apparent decisive role the world body’s peacekeepers in Cote d’Ivoire played in swinging the balance of power in favour of Alassane Ouattara in the battle over the presidency of the country. The international community is also exultant, with headlines the world over screaming: [...]
For many outside Sierra Leone, their knowledge of the country is based on the bloody civil war between ‘91 and ‘02, which led to 50,000 deaths and the displacement of two million people. During the war the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) used the country’s diamond resources to fund its campaign, which was based on [...]
After a promising start to their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign defeat to Niger makes qualification look distant. Sierra Leone were drawn in arguably the most difficult qualifying group for the 2012 African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Alongside Niger, they were drawn with Reigning champions and seven times winners Egypt [...]
As independence approached in 1961 Ron Fennell was a young British colonial servant working in Sierra Leone. He, and his wife Liz, knew the country well having served in several districts and provincial capitals – Moyamba, Pujehun, Bo, Kenema, Kono, Kailahun and Makeni, and he was fluent in two of Sierra Leone’s main languages – [...]
