TIG Post

Tag: Sierra Leone

  • Africa’s matches to watch

    Nigeria’s visit to Algeria will provide a good test for the Super Eagles with Ghana vs Brazil the glamour fixture involving a team from the continent.

    Nigeria’s clash with Algeria in Oran headlines a number of high-profile friendly matches involving African countries during this international break.

    The Super Eagles will visit Algeria next Tuesday as Jose Peseiro tests a host of players but that will come after Ghana have faced Brazil in France on Friday.

    The Black Stars will use the match to prepare for the 2022 World Cup with the Samba Boys set to stretch them to the limit.

    Looking at the facts and numbers ahead of Nigeria and South Africa‘s opening match at the 2002 Women Africa Cup of Nations

    African champions Senegal have a date with Bolivia on Saturday while South Africa host Sierra Leone in another friendly encounter the same day.

    Nigeria, Super Eagles
    Getty Images | Super Eagles

    Algeria vs Nigeria

    Nigeria coach Peseiro will seek to make it three straight wins when the Super Eagles take on the Desert Foxes in Oran next Tuesday.

    Nigeria beat Sierra Leone 2-1 before thrashing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June but the 2019 African champions will provide a different kind of test.

    Nigeria and Algeria have faced each other six times with the Super Eagles winning thrice while the North Africans have managed one victory, the win coming during the 2019 Afcon semi-final when they won 2-1 en route to the final.

    Both teams missed out on a ticket to the World Cup in disappointing fashion during the playoffs, Nigeria falling to Ghana on away goals, while Algeria were edged out courtesy of a last-minute goal by Cameroon, having looked like they had sealed their ticket to Qatar.

    For Peseiro, it will also be an opportunity to test a host of new players, especially upfront, where captain Ahmed Musa, Samuel Chukwueze and Emmanuel Dennis were the latest to withdraw from the squad due to injuries, joining long-term injury absentees Victor Osimhen and Umar Sadiq.

    That leaves Lorient striker Terem Moffi, Cremonese’s Cyriel Dessers, Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi and Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City to battle it out for a starting berth.

    • Ghana
      BlackStars of Ghana

      Brazil vs Ghana

      The glamour tie involving an African team, the five-time world champions will certainly provide Ghana with the one of their biggest tests in recent years during Friday’s meeting at the Stade Oceane in Le Havre, France.

      Brazil lined up with Thiago Silva and Marquinhos at centre-back with Alex Telles (left-back) and Eder Militao (left-back) as Casemiro and Lucas Paqueta were paired in central midfield while Neymar played just behind Richarlison as Vinicius Jr and Raphinha occupied the wings during Tuesday’s training.

      That might give Ghana coach Otto Addo a hint on how to line up or where to exploit as he prepares his charges for the high-profile encounter. Ghana have conceded five goals without reply in their three meetings with Brazil, losing 1-0 twice in 2007 and 2011 as well as 3-0 defeat in the 2006 World Cup at the Round of 16.

      While history favours the South Americans, Addo has a number of experienced players in his squad who can hold their own against the Selecao such as Thomas Partey, Daniel Amartey and the in-form Mohammed Kudus.

      He was also recently boosted by the availability of Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey and Mohammed Salisu who switched allegiance to the Black Stars in June.

      Ghana have Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in their World Cup group and after falling to Japan and Chile in their last two matches, Brazil should give them a taste of what to expect in Qatar.

    • Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos.
      Safa | Bafana Bafana

      South Africa vs Sierra Leone

      Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos can get some of his critics off his back with a victory against Sierra Leone in a friendly match at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

      Broos was criticised for his selection and tactics following South Africa’s 2-1 loss to Morocco in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers in June and had to apologise for saying the PSL’s lack of ‘quality’ was the reason for the national team’s struggles.

      The Belgian coach has included Mamelodi Sundowns talisman Themba Zwane into the squad that has several newcomers, among them Melusi Buthelezi (TS Galaxy), Sibongiseni Mthethwa (Stellenbosch FC), Luke le Roux (Varbergs), Cyprus-based Mihlali Mayambela and Orlando Pirates marksman Zakhele Lepasa.

      Zwane was among the players Broos was criticised for not including and he will hope the 33-year-old can replicate his good club form with national team against the Leone Stars, whose last game was a 2-1 loss to Nigeria three months ago.

    • Sadio Mane of Senegal during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
      BackpagePix | Sadio Mane

      Senegal vs Bolivia

      France will also host another top African nation this weekend as Senegal take on Bolivia at the Stade de la Source in Orleans, using the match as a tune up for the World Cup.

      Aliou Cisse’s men will face the Netherlands, the hosts and Ecuador in Group A in Qatar and the tactician has called up five new players, including Noah Fadiga, the son of Khalilou Fadiga, and Nottingham Forest defender Moussa Niakhate, as he looks to shake things up.

      Eight players from the victorious 2021 Afcon squad are missing due to injuries or a lack of game time with right-back Bouna Sarr out of the World Cup with a knee injury and left-back Saliou Ciss without a club. Spartak Moscow forward Keita Balde has also been handed a three-month ban due to a doping violation.

      However, with Chelsea pair Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, Everton’s Idrissa Gueye, Crystal Palace midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, Watford’s Imaila Sarr and Bayern Munich superstar Sadio Mane available, the Teranga Lions have enough to cause Bolivia problems.

      Mane became his country’s top scorer with 33 goals when he scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Benin before his penalty earned a 1-0 over Rwanda in the Afcon qualifiers in June and despite his goal drought at Bayern, he is still the man to watch against the South Americans.

      Cameroon 2022
      Getty Images | Vincent Aboubakar

      Cameroon vs Uzbekistan

      The Indomitable Lions are under pressure to improve following their lacklustre 1-0 win over Burundi in June’s 2023 Afcon qualifiers when Fecafoot boss Samuel Eto’o read the riot act to the players for taking their positions in the team for granted.

      Rigobert Song’s men can start righting those wrongs against Uzbekistan in South Korea’s northern city of Goyang on Friday with Vincent Aboubakar set to captain the team.

      Song has handed Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo his first call-up after he switched allegiance from France to Cameroon in August and he will likely make his debut against Uzbekistan.

      Cameroon are in a race against time to be ready for their return to the World Cup after missing the 2018 edition and have Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil to contend with in their group in Qatar.

    • Morocco
      Getty Images | Hakim Ziyech

      Morocco vs Chile

      Another World Cup-bound side taking on a South American team in this window, the Atlas Lions are under new management after former Wydad Casablanca coach Walid Regragui replaced Vahid Halilhodzic this month.

      Regragui’s first task was to repair strained relationships between players and the technical bench and that was seen from his selection of Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech, who had retired from international duty after falling out with Halilhodzic, and the inclusion Bayern Munich full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

      Morocco will also have a number of youngsters for Friday’s friendly against Chile in Barcelona in what will be the first meeting between the two countries as the North Africans prepare for the global tournament in Qatar where they have Croatia, Belgium and Canada in their group.

      Source: goal.com

  • Sierra Leone to begin voter registration over the weekend

    The electoral body of Sierra Leone will this weekend begin its new voter registration exercise.

    All eligible voters are required to register again with their national identity cards.

    Over 3,500 centres have been mapped for the exercise across the country.

    Phase one of the exercise runs up to 17 September with the second phase expected to begin on 20 September to 4 October, the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) wrote on Twitter.

    Meanwhile, President Julius Maada Bio has urged Sierra Leoneans aged 18 years and above to come out and register to vote.

    Sierra Leone is expected to hold its general election on 24 June, 2023.

  • Sierra Leone violence condemned as curfew imposed

    Leaders of the West African regional bloc Ecowas have condemned the violence that erupted in various parts of Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

    Sierra Leoneans have been rallying against the high cost of living, corruption and police brutality. There are also calls for President Julius Maada Bio to step down.

    Some protesters and policemen were killed on the third day of violent protests that have taken place in the capital, Freetown, as well as several other towns.

    The government on Wednesday imposed a nationwide curfew in response.

    In a statement in Abuja, Ecowas called on all to obey law and order and for the perpetrators of the violence to be identified and brought to justice.

    Protesters on Wednesday blocked off the main entrance into the country’s Lungi airport and clashed with security agencies.

    President Bio is currently out of the country with his family and has left Vice-President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in charge.

    The vice-president announced the curfew on Wednesday in a short state broadcast.

    He said security forces had been authorised to deal with lawbreakers, accusing the protesters of destroying and burning down public facilities.

    Sierra Leone is due to go to the polls next year to elect a new president. The protesters say that President Bio should not seek re-election.

    Source: BBC

  • Ukraine war: First grain ship leaves under Russia deal

    The first ship carrying grain has left a Ukrainian port under a landmark deal with Russia.

    Turkish and Ukrainian officials say the ship left the southern port of Odesa early on Monday morning.

    Russia has been blockading Ukrainian ports since February, but the two sides agreed on a deal to resume shipments.

    It is hoped the deal will ease the global food crisis and lower the price of grain.

    In a statement issued ahead of the ship’s departure, Turkey said the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel would dock in Lebanon, adding that further shipments were planned over the coming weeks.

    The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul set up under the deal said the ship was carrying some 26,000 tonnes of corn and was expected to arrive in Turkish waters for inspection on Tuesday.

    “Today Ukraine, together with partners, takes another step to prevent world hunger,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov wrote on Facebook.

    “Unlocking ports will provide at least $1 billion in foreign exchange revenue to the economy and an opportunity for the agricultural sector to plan for next year.”

    Mr. Kubrakov added that 16 other ships were waiting to depart in the ports of the Odesa Region in the coming weeks.

    Last month’s deal – brokered by the UN and Turkey – took two months to reach and is set to last for 120 days. It can be renewed if both parties agree.

    The blockade of Ukraine’s grain has caused a global food crisis with wheat-based products like bread and pasta becoming more expensive and cooking oils and fertilizer also increasing in price.

    Under the terms of the deal, Russia has agreed not to target ports while shipments are in transit and Ukraine has agreed that its naval vessels will guide cargo ships through waters that have been mined.

    Turkey – supported by the United Nations – will inspect ships, to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.

    Three ports in southern Ukraine – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdenny – are expected to be the focal point of the exports.

    But the deal was thrown into chaos less than 24 hours after it was announced that Russia had launched two missiles at Odesa port.

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike showed that Moscow could not be trusted to stick to the deal.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Ukraine war: First grain ship leaves under Russia deal

    The first ship carrying grain has left a Ukrainian port under a landmark deal with Russia.

    Russia has been blockading Ukrainian ports since February, but the two sides agreed a deal to resume shipments.

    It is hoped the deal will ease the global food crisis and lower the price of grain.

    In a statement issued ahead of the ship’s departure, Turkey said the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel would dock in Lebanon, adding that further shipments were planned over the coming weeks.

    The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul set up under the deal said the ship was carrying some 26,000 tonnes of corn and was expected to arrive in Turkish waters for inspection on Tuesday.

    “Today Ukraine, together with partners, takes another step to prevent world hunger,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov wrote on Facebook.

    “Unlocking ports will provide at least $1 billion in foreign exchange revenue to the economy and an opportunity for the agricultural sector to plan for next year.”

    Mr Kubrakov added that 16 other ships were waiting to depart in the ports of Odesa Region in the coming weeks.

    Last month’s deal – brokered by the UN and Turkey – took two months to reach and is set to last for 120 days. It can be renewed if both parties agree.

    The blockade of Ukraine’s grain has caused a global food crisis with wheat-based products like bread and pasta becoming more expensive, and cooking oils and fertiliser also increasing in price.

    Under the terms of the deal, Russia has agreed not to target ports while shipments are in transit and Ukraine has agreed that its naval vessels will guide cargo ships through waters that have been mined.

    Turkey – supported by the United Nations – will inspect ships, to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.

    Three ports in southern Ukraine – Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny – are expected to be the focal point of the exports.

    But the deal was thrown into chaos less than 24 hours after it was announced that Russia had launched two missiles at Odesa port.

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike showed that Moscow could not be trusted to stick to the deal.

    Source: BBC

  • Sierra Leone tanker explosion: Survivors try to rebuild lives

    In the wake of the fuel tanker explosion that killed 115 people in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, survivors and their families are left wondering how to rebuild their lives, as BBC West Africa correspondent Mayeni Jones reports.

    In the mid-afternoon heat, health workers in protective clothing nail Sierra Leonean flags to wooden coffins. In the middle of the flags are the words “Rest in Peace”.

    A crowd gathers to watch them work – a mix of bystanders and medical staff from the Connaught Hospital in downtown Freetown, where the bodies are being loaded.

    Some of the onlookers cover their noses. The smell of the bodies hangs in the hot, humid air.

    At the sight of the coffins being loaded onto the truck, a woman whose nephew is being treated for severe burns in the hospital bursts into tears.

    “Oh God, eh God!” she repeats, holding a handkerchief to her face and wiping away her tears, her shoulders shaking as she sobs.

    Between a civil war, a range of natural disasters and the Ebola crisis of 2014, Sierra Leoneans have been through more collective grief than most.

    The country ranks 182nd out of 189 in the UN’s Human Development Index, which measures countries’ levels of social and economic development based on four criteria: life expectancy at birth, average years spent in school, expected years of education and gross national income per capita.

    Despite its abundant mineral wealth, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries on earth, and its population has had to learn resilience.

    Still, this latest tragedy has left many shaken.

    “A medical emergency of this magnitude I’ve never experienced before in all my career as a medical doctor,” says Dr Mustapha Kabbah, a surgeon at Connaught Hospital with 20 years’ experience.

    He moved back to Sierra Leone with his family from Germany in 2018.

    “This is big, it’s really massive. On that day when I saw the incident, I was really taken aback. We’re still yet to understand what happened, because it’s just too soon.”

    ‘We thank God for my brother’s life’

    In the corridors of the hospital, I speak to 25-year-old Victoria Fornah, a student at the historic Fourah Bay College, founded almost 200 years ago. Her older brother Ibrahim got caught in the blaze while coming home on Friday night.

    She found out he had been in the accident on social media.

    “I was sleeping, so my sister called me and said ‘just check your phone’. When I opened it I saw pictures of my brother lying on the ground, everywhere was burned.”

    Ibrahim has severe burns on his arms, face and feet. Victoria says he’s been responding well to treatment. “Although his injuries were many, we thank God for his life.”

    At the scene of the accident, in Freetown’s eastern suburb of Wellington, the smell of burnt rubber still hangs in the air more than 48 hours after the blaze.

    In a local bar, smoke rises from a pile of ashes. Blackened cars and engines are a reminder of the horror that took place here on Friday.

    Members of the community and local business owners stand around surveying the damage. Many used their life savings to open these businesses. Now they have nothing left.

    ‘Everything is gone – all our money is burned’

    Twenty-eight-year-old orphan Aisatu Sesay is a nurse at a local hospital. She opened a small pharmacy with her sister to supplement her income.

    Back in July they lost their house in an electric fire. They had moved their savings, as well as the donations they were given to help with the loss of their home, to their pharmacy. Now that’s gone too.

    “Everything is gone, my documents, the pharmacy documents, it’s all burned. I have no idea what I’ll do,” Ms Sesay says.

    First responders dressed in uniform at the scene
    Image caption, A total of 115 people are now known to have died in the tanker explosion in Sierra Leone’s capital

    She was getting back from work when she saw people running with the spilt fuel from the truck. When the fire started she tried to run away but got pushed to the ground by people fleeing the scene. She shows me her bandaged calf and a bruise on her thigh.

    “Lots of people died because they fell and simply couldn’t get back up.”

    She’s worried about her future. Her whole family has had to move back to the orphanage where she grew up because they have nowhere else to go.

    “It was so difficult for us to open our business because we didn’t have much money and no family to help us, but we raised it over time.

    “But now all of our money is burned.”

    During a mass burial for victims on Monday night, President Julius Maada Bio reiterated his promise that a thorough investigation would be conducted to make sure something like this never happened again.

    But for the victims and their families, surviving is more important than promises.

    Map showing location of the explosion
    Source: bbc.com

  • How Sierra Leone endured weekend of fire, mass deaths and destruction

    2-3 minutes

    A fuel tanker collided with a truck in a central part of Freetown late last week.

    The capital of Sierra Leone was subsequently hit by a fire that has so far claimed over 100 lives and left mass destruction in its wake.

    President Julius Maada Bio cancelled engagements abroad to lead the response. His first reaction to the crisis was via a tweet.

    “Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life around the Wellington PMB area. My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result. My Government will do everything to support affected families,” he tweeted on November 6.

    According to reports, fuel spilled from the tanker before igniting and the resulting inferno engulfed bystanders and vehicles at a busy junction.

    Some reports say people who had gone to siphon fuel from the tanker were killed whiles buildings meters away were also engulfed by the ensuing blaze.

    Three days of national mourning has been declared starting today and injured persons numbering over 100 will receive free medical treatment, President Maada Bio has said.

    Police and emergency service workers arrived at the scene and took hours to bring the blaze under control. The place was subsequently cordoned off by police for investigations.

    “I cut short all Foreign engagements and the ECOWAS summit to return home and lead our nation in mourning, visit the wounded and burned in hospitals, and do all we can do as a nation to support victims and their families,” President Maada Bio tweeted on the 7th.

    “Today, I was deeply disturbed to see first hand the loss we have suffered as a country. This is a difficult time for us all. As we mourn our loss together, let us stay resolute and we will come out of this stronger than ever and ensure that this never happens again,” another tweet on Sunday, November 7 read.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • In Sierra Leone, families are marrying off underaged girls due to pandemic

    In a remote corner of Sierra Leone, a man caught a glimpse of 16-year-old Marie Kamara as she ran past his house. Soon after, he proposed to her.

    “My family does not have money so when he told me he wanted me, I said ‘yes’, said Kamara.

    The financial pressure on her family felt more pressing than her wish to continue her education and become a nurse.

    Her family needed the money. Her stepfather runs a tailoring shop in Komao, but the coronavirus pandemic meant there were few customers.

    Kamara’s suitor was a miner in his mid-20s. His parents could provide rice for Marie’s four younger sisters and access to their watering hole – and they could pay cash.

    When her now-husband met with Kamara’s family, she was asked if she agreed with the proposal.

    Thinking of the dire economic situation of her family, she accepted.

    Kamara hopes her younger sisters won’t have to go through the same experience. She advises them to make sure they stay in school.

    Marriages of underage girls like Kamara are on the rise as the coronavirus pandemic deepens poverty around the world, threatening to undo years of work by activists trying to stop the tradition in countries such as Sierra Leone.

    The United Nations estimates that hardships resulting from COVID-19 will drive 13 million more girls to marry before the age of 18.

    Statistics, though, are hard to come by as most families carry out such weddings in secret.

    In most cases, needy parents receive a dowry for their daughter, a bit of land or livestock that can provide income, or cash and a promise to take over financial responsibility for the young bride.

    The girl, in return, takes on the household chores of her husband’s family and often farm work too.

    Marriages conducted in secret

    In Sierra Leone, the rate of marriage under 18 had dropped from 56% in 2006 to 39% in 2017, a major achievement in the eyes of child protection activists.

    Then COVID-19 hit, schools closed in March, and child marriages accelerated.

    It wasn’t clear when or even if the school ever would resume, and many parents feared their idle daughters would get pregnant out of wedlock, said Isata Dumbaya, from Partners in Health Sierra Leone, whose clinics provide health services to teenagers.

    Many of the girls’ mothers were themselves married off as teenagers, she explained, and see early marriage as normal.

    “They do not see it as harming their children,” Dumbaya said, but rather an investment in securing their daughters a future.

    It’s a mindset that Sierra Leone’s first lady, Fatima Maada Bio, has been working to change with her “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign.

    Bio herself managed to escape to the United Kingdom as a teenager after learning her father intended to marry her off to someone.

    She now has made it her life’s work to help other underage girls. “If you force a child to be married at a very early age, you are legalizing the rape of that child,” she told the Associated Press.

    ‘Hands off our girls’

    While sex with underage girls is illegal in Sierra Leone, it is rarely enforced.

    Police say cases aren’t reported because the families already have agreed to the marriage, whether the brides have or not.

    Billboards with the first lady’s image reading “Hands off our girls” still line the roadsides, but COVID-19 precautions mean the campaign has had to scale back many of its outreach efforts.

    Like Bio, to become the first lady of Sierra Leone was the dream of Mariama Conteh, whose estimated age is 17. She’s expecting a baby within the next two months.

    Conteh had left her remote village near the border with Guinea to live with an aunt in Koidu and attend school.

    Then in April a 28-year-old man in their compound expressed interest in her.

    “I told my aunt that I did not want to get married,” said Conteh, but her aunt replied that if she did not get married, she’d have to return to her home village.

    Conteh figured out that if she refused the proposal, her own parents would try to marry her off once she got home anyway.

    Source: africanews.com

  • Sierra Leonean minister suspended over graft report

    Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has suspended civil servants who were implicated in a graft report.

    Those suspended include the Minister of Agriculture Dennis Vandi and the secretary to the vice-president, Baba Fortune.

    The graft report by a special commission of inquiry implicated several former and current civil servants in the theft of public funds.

    Minister Vandi has said he is innocent and was never given an opportunity to defend himself by the commission of inquiry.

    All those implicated have been given three months to appeal.

    Several former ministers and officials have been banned from leaving the country over their alleged role in corruption.

    The former president, Ernest Bai Koroma, is on the list of 102 people implicated in graft scandals that was published by the Sierra Leone Telegraph.

    President Bio has pledged to recover funds allegedly misappropriated by his predecessor.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Ernest Bai Koroma: Sierra Leone ex-leader banned from leaving country

    The authorities in Sierra Leone have imposed a travel ban on former President Ernest Bai Koroma and several officials who served during his term over allegations of corruption.

    Mr Koroma and more than 100 people will not be allowed to leave the country. They have been ordered to pay back stolen money, forfeit their houses, or they will be further investigated.

    Mr Koroma’s opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party has dismissed the allegations.

    A lawyer for the party has said that they will go to court to challenge the travel ban.

    Last week President Maada Bio said the commission of inquiry, led by foreign judges, was a major breakthrough that would help make corruption unfashionable and risky.

    “We have to draw the line… we cannot be this corrupt as a nation and expect to develop,” he told the BBC.

    The commission identified 111 individuals consisting of former heads of parastatals, bankers, and businessmen as “people of interest”

    The BBC’s Umaru Fofana in the capital, Freetown, says the instruction signed by the attorney general and minister of justice instructs the country’s chief immigration officer and inspector general of police to not allow them to leave Sierra Leone by air, land or sea until they have clearance.

    The development has divided Sierra Leoneans down the middle, our reporter says.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Sierra Leone journalists welcome end to libel law

    The International Federation of Journalists has called the repealing Sierra Leone‘s criminal libel law is a “great victory for freedom of information”.

    The law, which meant people could be jailed for libellous statements, was repealed on 23 July.

    Before that, people could be jailed for up to three years, whether or not what they wrote was true.

    That’s because the law did not allow truth as a defence, unless you can prove that publishing the truth is in the public interest.

    Campaigners have been arguing for more than a decade for the law to be repealed.

    Among their complaints was that it was actually used to gag journalists and repress independent and opposition voices.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Coronavirus lockdown: Sierra Leone ‘role model’ minister carries baby and holds Zoom meeting

    At first it looks like a cute Twitter picture to cheer us up in these uncertain times.

    But as the man sharing the image of his 10-month-old daughter tied to his back during an online meeting was Sierra Leone’s education minister, the conversation turned to gender roles.

    David Moinina Sengeh said he wanted to set an example for other men.

    He told the BBC that it was very rare to see a child on a father’s back in his country.

    Of course, a picture of a woman with a baby on her back would have barely raised an eyebrow, something which the 33-year-old acknowledges.

    Zoom multi-tasking

    “Many women do this daily, but it is so normalised that we don’t talk about it at all. If it was my wife who did it then this would not have been a viral tweet,” he told the BBC’s Newsday programme from Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, where there is a partial lockdown to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

    The education minister was in the kitchen at home feeding Peynina when he started taking part in a Zoom meeting. He noticed that she looked sleepy, so decided to tie her on his back in order to carry on with the meeting.

    This image “forces men to think about themselves, it shows them that it is possible to take care of their child”, Dr Sengeh said.

    “I have friends who have never ever changed a diaper and they have several children, and they don’t even understand how that is possible,” he added.

    Some men responded to his tweet with pictures of their own childcare efforts.

    Role model

    He has also been applauded by some activists.

    “He is a role model to other men in Sierra Leone and in Africa,” Sierra Leonean women’s rights campaigner Nemata Majeks-Walker told the BBC.

    “He is somebody who does not believe that it is only a woman who should take care of her children.”

    The education minister also wanted to encourage leaders, particularly his male counterparts, to share their family lives. He thinks that it has helped him better understand and empathise with other parents and should lead to better policy making.

    David Sengey
    Before becoming education minister Dr Sengeh helped develop prosthetic limbs| TED

    The UN’s population fund says that “gender inequality and denial of women’s rights are still prevalent at all levels in Sierra Leonean society”. An assessment that Dr Sengeh agreed with.

    He said that more girls than boys drop out of education before the end of high school and he was developing policies, which he described as “radical inclusion”, that should boost the number of girls who stay at school.

    A month ago, he was instrumental in overturning the country’s ban on pregnant girls going to school.

    Sierra Leone has 124 confirmed cases of coronavirus and has recorded seven deaths from the disease.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Sierra Leone’s first couple to tie the knot… again

    Wedding bells will ring in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, on Friday as President Julius Maada Bio waits for his lady love to walk down the aisle.

    President Bio and First Lady Fatima Bio will be exchanging their vows again in a Catholic Church.

    The couple were married in a civil ceremony in the UK seven years ago, before the former army general became president.

    The first lady is Muslim but such mixed faith marriages are common in the country.

    Reporter Umaru Fofana told BBC Newsday that the president’s ex-wife claimed to have wedded him before a Catholic priest in the east of the country, but that the marriage register in the church does not have any such record.

    Friday’s wedding has been a big topic of discussion on social media in the country.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Pretty 20-year-old prisoner wins beauty pageant for prisoners

    A lady prisoner from Sierra Leone has won a beauty pageant that was held for prisoners all over the country.

    BBC reported on their Focus on Africa programme that the contestants all looked well-fed, happy and excited.

    Out of the 10 contestants that were selected from prisons across the country, eight were imprisoned for manslaughter. The reports explain that other inmates were brought out to witness the joyous moment.

    Read:Kanye West moves prisoners to tears with powerful worship

    The winner whose full name was withheld was a 20-year-old from the south of the country. She got crowned as Miss Correctional.

    In an interview with the BBC, the winner narrated how she was convicted, the crime she committed and her hopes and plans for the future, and how the crown made her feel. “I am very happy about winning.

    Now I know society considers us even though we are in jail. It gives me hope. The crown makes me feel like I am out of prison. We know that when we eventually get released, we will become better people.

    Read:Sudan to release all prisoners

    “I want to go and show off with the crowd but I am in prison. When I get out of prison, I want to return to school and also make peace with the family whose son I killed. It was a mistake but I know I have wronged them.”
    The beauty queen is serving a five-year jail term for killing her partner with whom she had a two-year-old child. She has 15 months of her jail term remaining.

    Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a very touching tribute, a lady by name Dzifa has stirred social media with her brave heart as she posed happily in her graduation picture with her father who lost his life just two weeks earlier.

    Source: Yen.com.gh

  • Sierra Leone fans attack player’s house after penalty miss

    Angry fans of Sierra Leone’s national football team have attacked a player’s house after he missed a decisive penalty.

    Captain Umaru Bangura failed to convert a stoppage-time spot kick in front of a huge crowd on Sunday.

    It meant Sierra Leone failed to get through to the next stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

    Liberia qualified, winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate. After the game fans pelted Bangura’s home with stones.

    The windows and doors of his residence in the capital, Freetown, were left badly damaged. A song has even been released mocking his penalty miss.

    “[It was] one of the worst days of my life,” Bangura told the BBC on Monday while holed-up in his bedroom. “I can’t even go outside because I didn’t expect this kind of hostility towards me.

    Read:Sellas Tetteh unveiled as Sierra Leone coach

    “I did my job by stepping up as the captain to take the spot kick,” he added. “I am really disappointed. But at the same time I wish to say sorry [and] beg for their forgiveness.”

    Had Bangura scored, Sierra Leone would have levelled the two-legged tie 3-3 and gone through to the next stage on away goals.


    Fans also threw stones at Red Cross ambulances after the match

    Red Cross staff also came under attack outside the stadium after they were accused of whisking Bangura away from fans, the BBC’s Umaru Fofana says.

    Read:Sierra Leone declares rape emergency

    Four Red Cross volunteers were injured in the unrest. People also threw stones at their marked ambulances, which were later pictured with smashed windows.

    “I was really disappointed with the Sierra Leoneans,” the country’s sports minister, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh, told the BBC.

    “Some disgruntled hoodlums went to [Bangura’s] house and pelted stones at it,” he said. “It is not good for the game. He is our captain [and] football is a game of chance.”

    Mr Nyelenkeh added: “[Hooliganism] is becoming unprecedented. I think measures should be put in place to combat it.”

    Source: bbc.com