News

Sierra Leone’s “Goodwill Ambassador”, now in a Panamanian jail and fighting extradition to Canada to answer to allegations of criminality, claims his arrest was illegal.
Arthur Porter, who flashed a diplomatic passport from Sierra Leone when he was arrested, says he was on a “diplomatic mission to Antigua” as Sierra Leone’s “ambassador plenipotentiary.”
However, a high-ranking official in the government of Antigua and Barbuda told The Gazette in Montreal, Canada that her country was unaware of any imminent diplomatic visit by Porter.

By Jenneh Braima
Minister of youth, Alimamy Kamara, has told the weekly press briefing at the Youyi Building in Freetown that his ministry will soon get a youth village with offices in all the provincial towns.
He said they would be working in consonance with the national youth commission to implement this project which was mainly created by the government to develop the potential of young people in the country.

Enumerators and drivers recruited by Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL) for the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) say they are being asked by management to give them kickbacks for their recruitment into the job.
Some of them who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity alleged that they were asked to pay about 40% of their earnings from their assignments.
The drivers also say they are being asked to pay between Le 200,000 and Le 300,000 every month for the one-year contract they signed with Statistics Sierra Leone.

By Crispina Cummings
Representative for constituency 91 in Pujehun district, Sidi Tunis, MP has strongly criticised the American oil company, ANARDACO for “abandoning the community people during the exploration phase of their operations”.
According to the MP, the company which is prospecting for oil in the Sulima area of Pujehun district claimed that they were not required to undertake any corporate social responsibility program during the period of exploration.

By Richard Ngevao in Bo

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament yesterday ordered the detention of William Alpha, chief administrator of the Bo City Council at the Bo west Police Division, accusing him of “perjury”.

According to the committee chairman, Hassan Sheriff, MP, they handed the chief administrator over to the police because he failed to comply with their directives regarding the ministry of agriculture and for failing to produce some delivery notes on procurement during a parliamentary public hearing on the council.