Sierra Leone President wins re-election, says electoral commission
Freetown, Sierra LeoneReuters Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio secured victory in the West African country’s presidential election with more than 56 per cent of the votes to avoid a run-off against main rival Samura Kamara, the electoral commission said on Tuesday. Bio, 59, was running for re-election after a first term marred by growing […]
Sierra Leoneans vote in election with cost-of-living centre stage
Freetown, Sierra Leone Reuters Sierra Leone voted on Saturday in a national election which the main opposition party hopes will see public frustration with deep economic hardship foil President Julius Maada Bio’s re-election bid. About 3.4 million people were registered to vote in the presidential and legislative ballot after a campaign marred by tensions that […]
Five nations elected to UN Security Council, but Belarus denied
United NationsReuters The United Nations General Assembly elected Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and South Korea to the UN Security Council on Tuesday for two-year terms starting on 1st January, 2024, while Belarus – allied with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine – was denied a spot. Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and South Korea ran […]
Storm fells Sierra Leone’s historic cotton tree, a symbol of freedom
Freetown, Sierra LeoneReuters A giant tree that towered over Sierra Leone’s capital for centuries and symbolised freedom to its early residents crashed down overnight during a heavy rainstorm. President Julius Maada Bio called the toppling of the famed tree “a great loss to the nation” as crowds gathered to look at the wrecked trunk. An […]
Freetown in shock after dozens killed in Sierra Leone protests
Freetown, Sierra Leone Reuters Dozens died in anti-government protests in Sierra Leone, police and other sources said on Thursday, sharply raising the death toll from the previous day’s clashes as shocked citizens stayed mostly behind closed doors in the capital Freetown. Six police officers and at least 21 civilians were killed, the sources said, as […]
Sierra Leone imposes nationwide curfew amid deadly anti-government protests
Freetown, Sierra Leone Reuters At least two police officers and one civilian died after a day of anti-government protests in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, staff at the city’s main mortuary said on Wednesday. Sierra Leone’s government previously said there had been deaths, but did not say how many, as protesters threw rocks and burned tyres […]
Sierra Leone passes new laws to boost landowners’ rights
Freetown, Sierra LeoneReuters Sierra Leone’s parliament on Monday passed two laws that lawyers say will help boost the rights of rural landowners and women against land grabs by big mining and agribusiness firms. The West African country has a history of sometimes deadly conflict between local communities and foreign companies that have cleared huge tracts […]
Climate migration: From Dhaka to Freetown, cities on alert
KIM HARRISBERG and CAREY L BIRON, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on calls from city mayors in climate vulnerable nations for cash and a bigger say in forging policies to deal with displacement caused by drought, storms and flooding…
Coronavirus vaccines: When Africans asked for COVID shots, they didn’t get them. Now they don’t want them
EDWARD MCALLISTER and COOPER INVEEN, of Reuters, report…
Invest in nature and reap cash benefits, World Economic Forum urges cities
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation After a landslide in 2017 killed 1,141 people and left more than 3,000 homeless in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, the recovery plan included training residents to plant 21,000 native trees to reduce the risk of future disasters on bare hillsides. Amid erratic and unusually heavy rains, as well as urban expansion, […]