On August 25, 2025, Walk With Web, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Public Archives (SLPA), held an official launch ceremony for the SLPA’s new website at the University Committee Room, University Building, Fourah Bay College (University of Sierra Leone), in Freetown. The launch is a significant step forward in Sierra Leone’s efforts to digitise and broaden access to its archival collections, strengthen national digital capacity, and make government and historical records more accessible to researchers, students, and the public.
Senior archive employees, government representatives, academic leaders, students, and international collaborators all attended the event. Walk With Web’s CEO, Kartikay Chadha, attended the ceremony with the SLPA’s Director and Senior Government Archivist, Mr. Albert Moore, and his team. Key officials from several ministries, departments, and agencies emphasised the initiative’s cross-institutional support.
Mr. Ibrahim S. Kamara, Director of Corporate Strategy & Administration, represented the Human Resource Management Office’s (HRMO) Director-General. Mr. Kamara, the most senior civil servant in attendance, was given the honour of officially launching the website on behalf of the Sierra Leone Government and People. Mr. Allan-Lafia Conteh of the Directorate of Technology represented the Ministry of Communication, Technology, and Innovation (MoCTI), while Mrs. Khalila J. Thomas, Deputy Director of Records and Archives at MoCTI, represented the Permanent Secretary of Local Government and Community Affairs.
Mrs. Adama Alima Kamara, Deputy Director of Records and Archives at the Office of the President, State House, represented the presidency, Mr. Saidu Kargbo, Deputy Director of Records and Archives at HRMO, attended on behalf of HRMO, and Mrs. Ernestina Berri, Deputy Director of Records and Archives at the Ministry of Health, represented her ministry. Mr. Yankuba Bangura, Senior Librarian at the National Library’s Africana Collections, was representing the Sierra Leone Library Board.
Fourah Bay College also participated actively in the event. Mr. Solomon Sellu, Head of the Department of Information Studies and Knowledge Management (DISKM), joined senior lecturers such as Barrister Umaru Bangura Esq., Mrs. Winstona Ama Taylor, and Mrs. Vanessa O.C. Pratt, as well as Rev. Oliver Harding, Head of Fourah Bay College Library and Senior Lecturer at DISKM. Mr. Michael A. Sam, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and African Studies, represented his faculty. Final-year DISKM students, SLPA staff, and other information management professionals from various government and education sectors were in attendance, demonstrating their shared commitment to digital preservation and archival access.
Fourah Bay College, the country’s oldest and most prominent institution of higher learning, was chosen as the venue, reinforcing the symbolic and practical connections between Sierra Leone’s academic community and its national archival infrastructure. The new website, according to organisers, is part of a larger strategy to protect records while also providing citizens, students, and researchers with digital tools for teaching, study, and public engagement.
The collaborative, multi-sectoral effort that enabled the site was acknowledged during the launch. The project was guided by the SLPA team’s leadership, particularly Mr. Albert Moore and Mr. Aiah Yendeh, Senior IT Officer. The Sierra Leone Public Archives is overseen by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education and the Ministry of Communication, Technology, and Innovation, which provide institutional support for the website. The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education was also thanked, with the Public Archives Office being a subvented agency since 1965.
International partners and grant funders were critical in digitising and building capacity. Prof. Paul Lovejoy (York University), Prof. Suzanne Schwarz (University of Worcester), and Dr. Érika Melek Delgado (King’s College London) provided funding for the digitisation of fragile documents as part of the British Library Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) grants. Additional technical and research contributions were made by the University of Waterloo’s DRAGEN Lab, led by Prof. Steven Bednarski, and Trent University’s REACH Studio, led by Dr. Katrina Keefer. Susquehanna University in the United States hosted a training workshop on June 11-12, 2025, led by Prof. Mégane Coulon; certificates of participation were presented during the website launch. The project’s research foundations were strengthened further with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), through the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas at York University, and the Department of History at the University of Worcester.
Aside from the technical implementation, the SLPA’s new website aims to increase public engagement with Sierra Leone’s historical record, facilitate research and education across the country, and promote international scholarly collaboration. The digital platform will improve the discovery of government and private records, maps, photographs, and other materials about Sierra Leone’s political, social, and economic history.
With the official launch complete, SLPA and its partners see the website as the start of a long-term effort to digitise more collections, provide archival management and digital stewardship training, and ensure Sierra Leone’s documentary heritage is preserved and accessible to current and future generations. The ceremony at Fourah Bay College commemorated not only a website but also a renewed commitment to preserving the nation’s memory through technology, collaboration, and education.
