Sewa News Stream

Latest reports from Sierra Leone say the All People's Congress (APC) political party has chosen Samura M. Kamara as their presidential candidate. The APC held its national convention this weekend, allowing for party leaders, activists, and supporters to select their nominee for the upcoming elections.  General elections will be held in Sierra Leone on March 7, 2018, to elect the president, Parliament, and local councils. Incumbent President Ernest Koroma is not running, as he is constitutionally ineligible, having served the maximum ten years in office. Can Samura Kamara win?   When Kamara, then Sierra Leone's foreign minister ran for the top jo b at African Development Bank, Sierra Leoneans around the globe rallied behind their man. Radio listeners registered their support through text messages, while those on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook posted messages of solidarity. "Dr. Samura our prayers are with you, we believe you will emerge victorious,”...

Yusuf Bangura is a Sierra Leonean-born United Nations economist who resides in Switzerland. Dr. Bangura is a Muslim. Here he comments on the sermon that recently sent ripples through the small West African nation which suffered almost a decade of war. Sierra Leone has long prided itself as a country that has maintained authentic religious harmony because of positive attitudes to faith among its citizenry.  Victor Ajisafe’s sermon of 25 September 2017 in which he denounced Islam as a religion of terror and denied Islam’s existence in Sierra Leone infuriated the nation, with many calling for a complete shutdown of his church, an apology, and his deportation. The government acted swiftly by arresting Ajisafe, temporarily suspended all activities in the six branches of his church (Christ Revival Evangelistic Ministries), and closed down his radio station. As Andrew Keili observed in his usually razor-sharp reflections, Ponder My Thoughts , even though our politics is oft...