Sewa News Stream

  A new report released Tuesday by an anti-transnational crime group has identified the core chemical components of kush. This synthetic drug has swept through Sierra Leone and the region in the past few years. The report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime conducted the first known testing of the most common varieties of kush available in Sierra Leone and neighboring West African countries. The research confirms that kush is composed of synthetic opioids, some of which are 25 times stronger than fentanyl, and synthetic cannabinoids commonly found in European drug markets. Nitazenes are deadly synthetic opioids that have spread across global retail drug markets, including European countries, particularly since 2022, the report reads. One of the nitazenes detected in Kush is 25 times more potent than fentanyl. One of the report's authors described the path that Kush is taking to arrive in West Africa in a statement to the international press. Increasingl...

Hawa Hunt is being held indefinitely in Sierra Leone, as there has been no trial or court appearance since December 2024.  This week, David Pratt, a former defense minister in Canada and the honorary consul of Sierra Leone for over a decade, submitted a letter of resignation in protest to Sierra Leone's High Commissioner to Canada. In his resignation letter , dated February 19, 2025 , the former consul expressed deep concern about the continued detention of Hawa Hunt, a Canadian citizen born in Sierra Leone. Hawa was jailed for old social media posts criticizing Maada Bio and his wife. Since her arrest, she has not been seen except for a live television appearance, during which she was forced to apologize shortly after her detention.  According to the Calgary Herald , which reported the honorary consul's resignation in protest, multiple bail requests have been denied.  Last week, Dutch journalist Sophie van Leeuwen was also detained briefly in Sierra Leone while she was ...

  Last week, Thomas Dixon, a journalist from Sierra Leone with  17,500 followers on X (formerly known as Twitter), reported that the police in Sierra Leone confiscated a secure digital (SD) card from Dutch journalist Sophie van Leeuwen after deleting everything on her personal computer and mobile phone. Unnamed sources familiar with the police's actions claimed that the SD card was held for security reasons. Dixon stated that human rights activists demanded the return of the SD card and a public apology for the journalist's harassment.  In a post  on X (formerly known as Twitter), Sophie shared a photo of herself looking distraught, peering out of a ferry window as it made its way across the lagoon. " My work has been destroyed, and my colleague Joseph Turay fears for his life, " she wrote, adding that there was no press freedom in Sierra Leone. On Facebook, Sophie is listed as a freelance journalist and RTL Nieuws's African correspondent, with ties to BNR Nieu...

West Africa has a rich rice cultivation history, making it an excellent region for growing this crop. Yet, experts point out that the increasing dependency on rice imports stems from a need for more significant agricultural investment, rapid population growth, and low-cost rice availability from Asia.  European colonialists once referred to parts of West Africa as the Rice Coast (Sierra Leone) and the Gold Coast (Ghana). Today, however, these regions are often called  cocaine coasts, particularly in countries like Colombia. Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated during a live government meeting that cocaine is viewed as "no worse than whiskey" and is only considered illegal because it originates from Latin America.  Colombia is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocaine, primarily supplying the United States and Europe. The country has spent decades battling drug trafficking. During the war in Sierra Leone, abducted kids were often supplied with drugs. Marijua...