Vol 53 No 20 | SIERRA LEONE Election tax axed 5th October 2012 A major electoral controversy came to an end in mid-September when President Ernest Bai Koroma reversed the decision of the National Electoral Commission Chairwoman, Christiana Thorpe, to raise...
Vol 52 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE Not so golden jubilee 13th May 2011 Freetown’s independence celebrations said much about the parlous state of the country and looming difficulties for the government When Sierra Leone gained Independence from Britain in 1961, the event was so peaceful that one foreign observer described it as ‘independence without pain’. On 27 April this...
Vol 41 No 12 | SIERRA LEONE Kabbah, the survivor 9th June 2000 Sankoh's absence - even if temporary - boosts Kabbah but the soldiers manoevre The arrest and detention on 19 May of Corporal Foday Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Front, strengthened President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's weak and too conciliatory government. Kabbah...
Vol 48 No 16 | SIERRA LEONE Personal not proportional 3rd August 2007 In these elections, the proportional representation system is replaced by voting in first-past-the-post constituencies. This makes personalities more important and increases the sway of paramount chiefs, almost all...
Vol 53 No 12 | SIERRA LEONEBRITAIN Faultlines in the foundations 8th June 2012 As Western governments cut aid to Africa, private foundations run by politicians and business people take on an increasingly politicised role Private foundations such as those run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and financier George Soros can marshal funds in Africa to rival the aid budgets of agencies such...