Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Hundreds of people demonstrated in Freetown on Saturday against sexual violence against women, days after the Sierra Leone government promised a crackdown on rape and sexual abuse. Among the estimated 300 to 400 demonstrators was the country’s first lady, Fatima Bio, who on Friday …
Read More »Sierra Leone’s chimpanzees pay price of human expansion
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | They have their hands full at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where record numbers of orphaned chimps are being delivered to their care, victims of the relentless expansion of human activity. Poachers hunt them for their meat, farmers shoot them to protect their crops and …
Read More »Sierra Leone new president announces free education for kids
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s new President Julius Maada Bio on Thursday announced the introduction of free education for both primary and secondary school age children, in line with a major campaign pledge. “Free education will be introduced effective September 2018 for all primary and secondary schools …
Read More »Beaten S.Leone candidate offers backing to new leader
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s beaten presidential hopeful Samura Kamara, who narrowly lost a run-off vote, congratulated victor Julius Maada Bio Saturday and vowed to throw his party’s support behind a new administration. “I’m here to congratulate our new president with executive members of my party,” Kamara …
Read More »‘No witchhunt,’ new Sierra Leone president promises civil servants
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s new president, Julius Maada Bio, on Friday promised civil servants they need not fear a purge despite a historic shift in the country’s politics. Bio, whose election has ended decade-long rule by the All People’s Congress (APC), praised state workers and “gave them …
Read More »Former soldier Bio wins Sierra Leone vote
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s opposition challenger Julius Maada Bio secured his first term in office as a civilian Wednesday when he was declared the winner of a controversial presidential run-off — but his opponent vowed to contest the result. Bio, a former soldier who briefly …
Read More »Former soldier Bio wins Sierra Leone presidential vote
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s opposition challenger Julius Maada Bio secured his first term in office as a civilian Wednesday when he was declared the winner of a controversial presidential run-off. Bio, a former soldier who briefly led a military junta more than two decades ago, won …
Read More »West African bloc satisfied’ with S. Leone vote
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | The West African bloc ECOWAS declared itself “satisfied” with Sierra Leone’s run-off presidential vote, as vote counting continued Sunday, while noting intimidating levels of security at some polling stations. The second round vote pitted challenger Julius Maada Bio of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s …
Read More »Sierra Leone votes in delayed presidential run-off
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Voting began Saturday in Sierra Leone in the final round of a delayed run-off presidential election after a campaign marked by verbal sparring, sporadic violence and a last-minute legal battle. A wafer-thin margin separated the two frontrunners after the first round on March 7, …
Read More »Samura Kamara: man of the shadows eyeing S. Leone presidency
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Veteran politician Samura Kamara, seen as a shrewd political operator, hopes to take up the mantle of outgoing president Ernest Bai Koroma as his hand-picked successor. An economist by training, the 53-year-old Kamara was foreign minister until last year when he stepped down to pursue …
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