Author: gleanernewspaper

Dr Sao-Kpato Hannah Isatta Macarthy, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, will visit Stockholm to participate in a high-level session at World Water Week 2026 (August 23-27) to share a country perspective on improving monitoring of the Means of Implementation for Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). The session “Catalysing Action: Strengthening Monitoring of SDG 6 Means of Implementation” will convene national governments, UN agencies, development partners and water sector practitioners to discuss how improved monitoring of financing, governance, institutions, capacity and data can accelerate progress on water, sanitation and hygiene. Organisers hope the session will build on…

By: Fatmata S. Kargbo and Humu Koroma (Intern) Mercury International, Sierra Leone’s leading sports betting operator, has launched a major end-of-year double promotion through its online betting platform, offering six grand prizes totaling $120,000. The company launched the Vegas and Sports raffles at a ceremony at Gigibonta on Lumley Beach Road on August 24. The campaign is positioned as a high-value opportunity to provide festive season uplift to Sierra Leonean customers.Mercury’s Managing Director, Martin E. Michael, stated that the promotion is part of their ongoing efforts to increase customer rewards and provide life-changing opportunities. “We just finished our last launch, where we gave away a house, and…

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has urged the youth to embrace integrity as a daily practice and find the courage to speak out against corrupt behaviour wherever they find it, saying that the fight against corruption starts with individuals, and has to be nurtured from young.The appeal was made during a Peace, Integrity and Leadership Training held on Thursday, 20 August 2026 under the theme “Catch Them Young: Combating Corruption Through Educational Debates and Peace & Integrity Training” – a social change initiative led by Rotary Peace Fellow Alex A. Bah. The event was held at the ACC’s Conference Room, Integrity…

By Austine Luseni August, 2026– The Honourable Cyril Arnold Grant, Minister of Energy, today announced the permanent absorption of half of the contract staff of Sierra Leone’s Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA). The declaration in the Ministry’s conference room in Freetown is in fulfilment of the Minister’s promise when he assumed office to protect and reward those who have kept the country’s power distribution system running under often precarious working conditions.The move to permanent status is for all staff in all departments and regions of EDSA, from field technical crews and distribution teams to customer service and administrative staff.…

President Julius Maada Bio Since taking office in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio has presided over a presidency of ongoing crises rather than peaceful progress. Three issues in particular – a protracted economic crisis, an explosive scandal involving a convicted European drug kingpin reportedly hiding in Sierra Leone, and a divisive constitutional amendment – are likely to outlast his administration and shape how history remembers his time in office.  The most enduring and visible challenge, arguably, has been economic turmoil. For much of Bio’s tenure, ordinary Sierra Leoneans have been grappling with rising food prices, a depreciating exchange rate and…

By Frederick V. Kanneh Jr. FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE – August 20, 2026 – Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, has called on government institutions to enhance policy coherence and coordination to ensure that national strategies bring about tangible improvements in the lives of citizens. “The problem in the country is not lack of policies but the implementation flaws caused by the fragmented action across ministries, departments and agencies that has led to the failure of policies,” he said on Thursday, speaking at the Foreign Affairs Academy’s National Symposium on Policy Coherence, Coordination and State Effectiveness.VP Jalloh stressed the…

Freetown, August 20, 2026 – Abu Martin Kanneh, the new Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), has promised a leadership agenda of teamwork and transparency as he takes over an agency he has served for more than two decades. In a rare act of transparency, the new CG voluntarily declared his and his family’s assets to the Appointment Committee while being vetted, a first in the history of public appointees, according to the Leader of Government Business.”You have to get your team working, and the challenges of the Authority are something I want to solve as a collective,”…

Magbirie, Marampa Chiefdom, Port Loko District – August 2026. The National Steering Committee (NSC) of the National Development Induced Resettlement Directorate (NDIRD), led by Development Secretary Ambrose James, has paid a monitoring visit to Magbirie Village after a visit to the Baomahun FG Gold mining operations in Bo District. The inspection formed part of the committee’s routine monitoring activities to engage project-affected persons independently, assess resettlement processes and verify compliance with the National Development Induced Resettlement Act 2023.The NSC, during the visit, interacted with the chiefdom speaker, town chief, community elders and a cross-section of residents. Community members had varied…

Baomahun, Valunia Chiefdom, Bo District | August 2026 — Rev. Dr Jonathan Titus-Williams, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, led the National Steering Committee of the National Development-Induced Resettlement Directorate (NDIRD) on a monitoring visit to the FG Gold Mining Company Limited’s Baomahun Gold Project in a key oversight exercise at Sierra Leone’s first large-scale commercial gold mine.The mission was conducted in partnership with several government ministries and agencies and assessed FG Gold’s compliance with the National Development-Induced Resettlement Act, 2023, and applicable international safeguards and standards, including those of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Food and Agriculture…

On Thursday, 20 August 2026, the Parliament of Sierra Leone unanimously voted to approve the First Report of the Committee on Appointments and Public Service, endorsing a list of 12 presidential nominees for key ministerial and agency positions. The report of the committee, which sat in Committee Room One at Parliament Building, Tower Hill, Freetown, was chaired by the majority leader and leader of government business, Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma, and recommended the confirmation of the nominees. The report was adopted by the full house of Parliament without dissent on the nominees’ experience, track records and articulated visions for their…