TRACE JOENAL

By Mohamed Jaiah Now that the Supreme Court has thrown the matter between Dr. Bu- Buaki Jabbi and the SLPP out of court, the membership of the party has finally slated July 29, 30 and 31 as the “D Day” for the long awaited convention in which 19 aspirants will vie for the flagbearership of the party. All 19 aspirants are very much resourceful to the party, though opinion poll among members of the party and Sierra Leoneans both at home and abroad view Andrew K. Keili as the most suitable person for the flagbearership of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the only candidate who will give President Ernest Bai Koroma the run for his money. Speaking to most Sierra Leoneans from all walks of life, Andrew Keili is the only SLPP aspirant on whom they prefer to entrust the leadership of this country, after the manner in which the Government of President Ernest Bai Koroma and his APC have wrecked our economy and continuously creating untold hardship on the people of this nat...

Staff members at the Immigration Department in the country's second city of Bo south of Sierra Leone have vacated their dillapidated office and relocated to the Permanent Secretary's building. Their relocation came about as a result of series of publications by SALONE TIMES on the state of the building they occupied which was described as a death trap, to say the least, unbefitting such a reputable institution. Speaking to the Public Relations Manager of that Department Michael M. Bassie but for the timely intervention of the Internal Affairs Minister Musa Tarawallie who was resident Minister South they would have still been in that deadly building. “The new office is fully equipped with constant electricity,” he said. Despite the billions of Leones generated Immigration Department is denied access to utilize it to transform their Department to a modern one and they have to rent a few of their departments . “We are generating the money but all what we are generating is...

Subscribers of Sierra Leone number one GSM operator africell have expressed joy and satisfaction over the africell fun ring. The service which was launched a year ago provides subscribers a way to express their emotions to their callers through their phone. According to the subscribers the advance service the company has added made the service more exciting. “Conventionally my callers used to hear a boring ring tone when they call me. Now with africell fun ring, the boring old tone has been replaced with any music I like my callers to hear when they dial my number,” said Fanta Koroma. The company recently reached the third stage of this service by opening 443 dial codes for free customers service to assist subscribers. This service is now enjoyed by most subscribers especially those that cannot read or write. Some subscribers say they have no doubt over africell creativities in the country. According to them since africell's inception in the country the services and promotion...

While congratulating all on Shaban that is coincide 17 of 20011 is Imam Muhammad Mahdi (AS) birthday, the Cultural Consulate of the Islamic Republican of Iran in Sierra Leone Muhammad Gazel Sofla have said they are awaiting the global government of justice. “Certainly, we had written in the Psalms, after the Torah, indeed my righteous servants shall inherit the earth. (Holy Qur’an 21:105) whatever God has promised is the absolute truth and whether one likes it or not, it will materialize,” Mr. Sofla made these remarks in an interview with SALONE TIMES in his Cultural Office in central Freetown. He went on to say that the planet, after all that it has been through since Cain killed his brother Abel, and the tyrants that have terrorized mankind in every age and clime, including the use of weapons of mass destruction such as the atomic bombs in their times. “Does it mean that the devils in human form who are responsible for the past, present and future misery of mankind, would have ...

By Komba Fillie The Imam Khoneini Relief Foundation in Sierra Leone over the weekend awarded one hundred and fifty students who completed computer studies in different programs at the Iranian Cultural Center Howe street in Freetown. The ceremony went along side the birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi on the theme: the Philosophy and awaiting and Development . At the awarding ceremony held at Staco Hall Kissy road in Freetown, the Cultural chancellor of Iran Mohamed G. Sofla stated that at the end of history Imam Mahdi came to save mankind on earth. He noted that upon his arrival he established justice and peace for all. He added that his return is a blessing and peace will rain in the societies and people will be categorized into materials blessing and spiritual blessing. He called on people t change their attitudes for development and to be useful in their respective society. In his contribution, Alpha Jalloh spoke on the significance of the training and impact its will create in...

By Komba Fillie The Imam Khoneini Relief Foundation in Sierra Leone over the weekend awarded one hundred and fifty students who completed computer studies in different programs at the Iranian Cultural Center Howe street in Freetown. The ceremony went along side the birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi on the theme: the Philosophy and awaiting and Development . At the awarding ceremony held at Staco Hall Kissy road in Freetown, the Cultural chancellor of Iran Mohamed G. Sofla stated that at the end of history Imam Mahdi came to save mankind on earth. He noted that upon his arrival he established justice and peace for all. He added that his return is a blessing and peace will rain in the societies and people will be categorized into materials blessing and spiritual blessing. He called on people t change their attitudes for development and to be useful in their respective society. In his contribution, Alpha Jalloh spoke on the significance of the training and impact its will create in...

Residents of Kabala in the Koinadugu District North of Sierra Leone are currently facing the worst fuel crisis in their lives despite the huge quantum of fuel in the country. Investigation carried out by SALONE TIMES indicates that the usual consignment of fuel usually assigned to that region to serve that populace did not usually reach them directly. SALONE TIMES learnt that whenever the allocated supply reaches that community the two fuel stations in that community - National Petroleum (N.P.) and Safecon at Makeni road in Kabala divide the fuel. Part of the supplied will go to the fuel stations while the other half be sold at black-market rate to the Gold Mining companies and other big buyers. At Safecon we discovered dozens of five gallons loaded with fuel waiting for buyers who will pay extra. At black the markets, the fuel is sold at six thousand Leone’s (Le 6000) per liter while the official price is four thousand five hundred Leone’s (Le 4,500) some dealers at the black-...

By Thomas Dixon The Open Government Initiative on Friday the 15th of July took people all over the country to interface with the Parliamentarians and the Local Councils at Parliament Building. The Director of the Open Government Initiative Khadija Sesay said that it would be important for the people to ask their Parliamentarians and councilors question as to what they are doing. Khadija Sesay said that the mandate of the OGI is to make sure that the people are informed about the functions of the government and to create a participatory kind of government. She also opined that the OGI will continue to bring the government closer to the people so that they will have their say in governance. The Speaker of Parliament thanked the OGI for such a wonderful imitative and said that it is good for people to ask their Parliamentarians questions so that they will be well informed. His Excellency the President Ernest Bai Koroma commended the OGI for such a wonderful job and told Parliamenta...

As part of it Corporate Social Responsibility Sierra Leone’s biggest GSM operator africell, joined other partners in preparing unemployed graduates for a brighter future in a day’s job creation workshop. The event which took place at the British Council over the week brought together over three hundred graduates from various institutions has as its theme “Employability and Economic Productivity takes more than a University Degree” Africell Corporate Affairs Officer Joe Abass Bangura in his statement said the investments africell have made in the country have created more than 800 direct employments and more than 5,000 indirect employments. That he said includes dealers, security companies, maintenance companies and several other institutions that provide services to africell. “The direct and indirect economic effect of africell’s investment in the country is also very huge,” He went on to say human investment through training of personnel in the practical application of knowledg...

Football fans all over the country have commended the Premier League Board for successfully ending the one leg round Premier League. The above league initially met a stumbling block due to lack of sponsorship thus causing the board to scale down the usual two legged competition to a single leg. Even at this the fans commended the Premier League Board for ending the league without a single team boycotting the league as had been done in previous years. This, the fans said was due to good administration. It could be recalled that when Rodney Michael was appointed as Chairman of the Board, most fans stated that it was a test case for him as he intends to replace Nahim Khadi as Chairman of SLFA come 2012. Alhaji Komba a member of the Board’s Media Committee told SALONE TIMES that the secret behind the Board’s success was due to the timely intervention of Africell and Mercury International the league’s major sponsors. Komba said africell which a few years suspended their sponsorship came ...

The executive of the Western Area Football Association WAFU has suspended the association’s acting Secretary General Thomas Collins for six months Sources state the executive of Brookfields United filed a protest against Shefield United for using two unregistered players during their match in the ongoing Division 1 league. The sources further states that Brookfields United paid a protest fee of Le 100,000 to Collins. Collins did not pay the money into the association’s account which is the normal procedure. It was when the verdict was delayed that it was found out that he never paid the money into the said account. This was why the Vice Chairman of the board Nasiru Deen Othman wrote a letter suspending the acting secretary for six months. According to the letter Collins is being suspended from being a member of the executive from Friday 8th July 2011. The executive made it known to the Collins that the action is without prejudice. The executive also asked for a replay of the match i...

The conviction on Monday of the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) Philip Lukulay spelt another disaster for the Anti Corruption Commissioner and his team. This time around out of a one hundred and ninety four (194) count indictment charges levied against Mr. Lukulay by the ACC only thirteen were found tenable. Mr. Philip Lukulay was charged by the Anti-Corruption Commission on charges including indictment for wilfully failing to comply with rules and regulations relating to the management of public funds, misappropriation and conspiracy. He was barely convicted of twelve (12) counts of misappropriation of public funds and one (1) count of failing to comply with a requirement under the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 by the High Court of Sierra Leone. The Hon. Justice Browne-Marke fined the accused a total of One Hundred and Twenty Five Million Leones (Le125, 000,000) and ordered him to repay the misappropriated sum of One Hundred and Thirty Nine Million...

What should have been a morale booster for the country turned out to be a disappointment especially the Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation Tamba Bobor Sawyer. The Deputy Minister who served as the Keynote speaker at the West African Health Organisation’s (WAHO) 24th anniversary celebration waited for over an hour waiting for the programme to kick off. The minister though visibly agitated, waited patiently until he was given the microphone to officially launch the celebration. It was then that he lambasted the organizers. “I am not impressed with the way things happen here. We all aware of what is happening in the Health sector especially on the Free Health Care service,” he said. The first statement of the deputy Minister made his audience pay more attention to him. The deputy minister went on to say since he was appointed as deputy Minister of that ministry over five events he had attended had turned out to be not only a disappointment but a disaster. He said the message...

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) over the weekend celebrated the 24th anniversary of WAHO at the Atlantic Hall National Stadium in Freetown. The theme of the programme was Attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), the challenge of Multisectoral Approach. The celebration brought together stakeholders from all sectors of the society. In his address the Chairman of the event Dr. Samuel Kargbo said the organization was born due to the misunderstanding of the English and French speaking countries in addressing health issues in the West African region. He said WAHO is a collection of 15 West Africa countries that came together to help achieve the MDGs. He emphasized that the MDG’s will not be achieved if the country continues to get bad roads as bad roads lead to health problem among other things. “We will not achieve the MDG’s if we continue to have bad roads in the country. We need to look at all area related to health and ...

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has described waiting for the re-appearance of Imam Mahdi (AS) as an integral part of Mahdaviat. Ayatollah Khamenei said Mahdaviat is among the main religious teachings of Islam, adding the main goal of sending prophets was to establish a world based on monotheism, justice abd all capacities that human beings enjoy. “The era of Imam Mahdi’s re-appearance is the era of establishing the genuine rule of monotheism, spirituality, religion and justice over the different individual and social aspects of the life of human beings.” The Leader said, “If Mahdaviat did not exist, all efforts and struggles of divine prophets would be fruitless and futile.” Ayatollah Khamenei said, “In all divine religions general points have been mentioned about the essence of Mahdavit, but in Islam this issue is among undeniable realities. “And among Islamic denominations Shia Islam discusses the issue of Mahdaviat with clear examples and detai...

In a message to the International Conference on the Global Fight against Terrorism, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei referred to hegemonic powers’ history of terrorist acts and their support for the terrorist Zionist regime and their long list of monetary and propaganda support for organized terrorists and at the same time their current meeting is providing a clear and precise definition of terrorism and the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the fight with this evil phenomenon as unavoidable responsibility and will continue with strength its efforts inthis great fighting.” The full text of the Leader’s message reads as follows: “It gives me great pleasure to express to you all my sincere welcome and utmost appreciations for your participation in this importanct gathering to discuss and examine terrorism which has turened to be one of the most disastrous phenomena in the world community. “Undoubtedly, meetings and events like this must continue to prep...

The incidence of military officers taking the law into their hands is becoming more and more rampant these days. One day they will be beating up innocent civilians, the other day they will be acting unruly. Reports have been made over and over to the authorities that be but this eyesore continues. Peaceful citizens were left awestruck last Wednesday when a military officer fully clad in military fatigue, driving a military truck with registration 14 SL 16 was seen unashamedly harassing and insulting youths at PZ in the central business district of Freetown. Witnesses told SALONE TIMES that the officer having noticed a temporary road sign put up by the Traffic Police indicating no entry into Sani Abacha Street via PZ forcibly tried to enter the no go area. When his attention was drawn to the sign by pedestrians and traders he started insulting the youths, proceeded to remove the road sign board and drove his vehicle along Abacha Street despite the intervention of the traffic p...

As part of their contribution to the community , one of Sierra Leone’s finest modernized digital sound system Vibrator Power Mix in celebrating the country’s 50th anniversary awarded 50 members of the Wilberforce Community for their proficiency and outstanding performance in the municipality during the course of 2010 to 2011. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vibrator Power Mix Alexander Elick Ayodele-Manley said Vibrator power mix is a social and entertainment registered youth organization with its main operations in Wilberforce Community and its environs. He went on to say in the past month, they have completed their first project, which is the acquisition of a modernized digital musical system. “Over the years there have been people, organizations and groups that have worked tremendously for the development of the community. In this light as a social organization, we decided to acknowledge fifty (50) individuals and organizations for proficiency and outstanding performance in ...

Staff members of the Freetown City Council practically have their hearts in their mouths this rain season as the two storey building which was constructed nearly two years ago has turned into a death trap. The ‘new’ building which was constructed during the tenure of Mayor Herbert George Williams and his Chief Administrator Bowson Philips currently displays numerous cracks from within and without. Most of the windows are in a deplorable state while the floor tiles have been uprooted making it extremely difficult for one to take a smooth walk to any of the offices. Rust has overtaken the railing especially the top floor of the building which can fall at any time from now. The roof leaks profusely leading to the destruction of document belonging to the Validation department. Toilets are in deplorable state due to lack of water supply, improper electrification has left half of the offices in the building without power. The air conditioners work intermittently, more off than on, causin...

Millions of Muslims over the world yesterday marked the appointment of Holy Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessing be Upon Him) by Allah the creator of the universe as the seal of all prophets in the world. In Sierra Leone hundreds of Muslims converged at the Islamic Republic of Iran Cultural Centre for a day seminar in observance of the day. Speaker after speaker gave their contributions on the theme ‘The Philosophy of MAB’ATH’ and spoke about the Holy Prophet and the importance of that day. In his address to the congregation, the Iranian Cultural Consul to Sierra Leone Mohammed Sofla described the teaching of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (SAW) as one that is done in stages. He pointed out that Allah sent different prophets because of the nature of human and their growth. “All of the other 11 Prophets came to prepare the ground for the Holy Prophet Mohammed who is the last and the seal of all prophets Almighty Allah sent in the world,” he said. He further pointed out that each...