The Cuban Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Her Excellency Mrs. Clara Margarita Pulido Escandell and Finland’s Head of Mission in Addis Ababa, Mr. Leo Olasvirta (photo) on Tuesday 17th January 2012 expressed their intentions to hold bilateral meetings with Sierra Leone’s Minster of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Joseph Bandabla Dauda on the margins of the forthcoming African Union (AU) Summit. This year’s Summit is holding (...)

Commentary By Dr. Cecil Blake, USA. The scenes on television are scenic. Happy and proud Chinese faces celebrating their New Year. This is the year of the Dragon. Reports abound about families planning to have children during this year because Dragon children are supposed to be gifted among other qualities. Many of the Chinese interviewed by international news outlets demonstrated a strong sense of nation and pride — beyond patriotism to the level of complete ownership of the means (...)

Commentary By Cillaty Daboh, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Hello, Wonde Gboyama. Happy New Year, Sierra Leone. Like in politics, everything to me is local. So why not start my New Year salutation to my country with my place of birth, the Great Wonde chiefdom? Thank God, I have done it and I hope all is well out there as we look forward to the rest of the New Year, while reflecting on the one we have just let go. A New Year is time for reflection. That may be the reason the month of January (...)

Sierra Leone’s Majority Leader in the House of Parliament, Hon. Sheku Dumbuya of the governing All People’s Congress (APC) led the country’s delegation to the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Second Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) currently underway at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia from 16th – 20th January, 2012. The event is organized by PAP and the latter is one of the ten Organs of the African Union Commission (AUC) (...)

By Dennis Kabatto, PV Correspondent, New York. Residents of Freetown’s Ward 369 in Constituency 104 where local by-election violence erupted on Saturday say relative calm has returned to their Fourah Bay neighborhood, east of the capital Freetown (photo) after police used live bullets and tear gas to put down rioting between supporters of Sierra Leone’s two main political parties. The riot left members of both parties with stab wounds, including Lansana Fadika, (a former (...)

2012 Easter Project for young people with needs in Sierra Leone. Organiser: Making a Difference Easter Friends UK Salone In collaboration with Community Reliance Approach (COMRA UK) and Smilephotos.com The 2012 Easter Project is a two day event starting with a fellowship service on Easter Sunday at the United Methodist Church, Yonibana, and party and games Easter Monday at the UMC Primary school Macorgba – Yoni Chiefdom. The programme has been carefully drawn up: To reflect the (...)

Justice Richard Brunt Lussick of Samoa has been elected Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber II of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He succeeds Justice Teresa Doherty, whose one-year term ended on 17 January 2012. Pursuant to Rule 27 of the Special Court’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber is elected for a renewable term of one year. It has, however, been the practice of the Trial Chambers to rotate the position of Presiding Judge at the end of (...)