Author: gleanernewspaper

Freetown, Sierra Leone, April 2026- Sierra Leone’s judiciary will host the ECOWAS Judicial Council for the first time in history, when the regional judicial body meets in Freetown from April 20 to 24, 2026. The five-day conference will be held at the Atlantic Hotel on Lumley Beach and is expected to draw a high-level delegation from throughout West Africa.The organisers anticipate the attendance of approximately 12 Chief Justices, 15 Judges, and numerous senior judicial officials from ECOWAS member states. The meeting will be chaired by the Honourable Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, His Lordship Justice Komba Kamanda, who has positioned…

Dr Isata Mahoi, Chair of the ECOWAS Ministers of Gender, made a pointed call to eliminate the financial barriers that prevent many West African women from participating in politics at a side event held in New York during the Commission on the Status of Women’s 70th session. Speaking on the theme “Breaking the Financial Barriers – Addressing Women’s Political Leadership in West Africa,” she emphasised that, while women are the backbone of communities and economies throughout the region, the costs of candidacy and campaigning, limited access to finance, and entrenched cultural biases continue to limit their political participation.Dr Mahoi argued…

The Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) have formed a strategic partnership to improve national road safety and emergency medical response. The two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the SLRSA headquarters on Kissy Road in Freetown, establishing a collaborative framework to improve accident response, first aid capacity, and public awareness of safe driving.The SLRSA and SLRCS will collaborate on several priority areas, including providing first aid training to responders and members of the public, improving coordination during road traffic crashes, and sustaining road safety education campaigns. The agreement is…

The Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) has increased its efforts to improve emergency care for victims of traffic accidents by inviting Inspector General of Police (IGP) William Fayia Sellu to a strategic meeting aimed at strengthening early response and coordination along the country’s major highways.On Tuesday, senior SLRCS officials met with the IGP to discuss how the humanitarian organisation and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) can collaborate more closely to provide timely life-saving assistance at crash scenes. The meeting is part of a larger SLRCS strategy to reduce fatalities and long-term injuries in road traffic accidents by implementing faster,…

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, led a high-level delegation to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC (April 13-18, 2026), to advocate for support measures to mitigate the economic impact of the ongoing Middle East crisis. The delegation included senior government and central bank officials such as the Ministers of Energy and Basic and Senior Secondary Education, the Financial Secretary, the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, and Chief Economists from both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra Leone.Minister Bangura began a series…

April, 2026 — The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TiKA) has provided comprehensive training to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), with the agency’s Country Director describing Sierra Leone as one of Africa’s most peaceful nations. The offer, made during a courtesy visit to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), reflects a growing collaboration aimed at increasing the police force’s capacity and professionalism. When TiKA’s Country Director in Sierra Leone, Mirzet Muezzinoglu, met with IGP William Fayia Sellu at Kingtom, he shared the agency’s assessment of the country’s security situation. Muezzinoglu stated that during his recent visits to ten African countries,…

Development Secretary Ambrose James received a delegation of Chinese technical experts to discuss the detailed planning of a nationwide solar streetlight installation that will deploy 1,500 units throughout Sierra Leone. The meeting, held in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development’s conference hall, reviewed previous feasibility studies, refined installation designs, and addressed operational issues such as equipment storage, expatriate staff documentation, and duty-free clearance for imported materials.Mr Li led the visiting team, which laid out a phased schedule. They will remain in the country for two months to conduct field assessments in all sixteen districts. They expect to complete their…

John Howard’s proverb, “You can’t fatten a pig on market day,” sums up a straightforward but timeless political reality: long-term planning, consistent delivery, and steady work, rather than last-minute antics, are what build success. This lesson is especially relevant to Sierra Leone’s current opposition, the All Peoples Congress (APC). The APC seems content to fight on the edge. At the same time, the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), led by President Julius Maada Bio, struggles with several worsening failures that impact many citizens’ lives, wasting a clear chance to make those failures the central topic of political sermons. Bio successfully turned public…

Andoh Obed Mensah, the newly appointed Country Manager for the African Development Bank Group in Sierra Leone, began his duties on March 22 by presenting his Letters of Credence to Francess Piagie Alghali, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Deputy Minister Alghali welcomed Mensah and reaffirmed Sierra Leone’s strong and long-standing partnership with the African Development Bank Group. She emphasised the Bank’s important role in advancing national priorities, drawing attention to interventions in a variety of critical sectors, including agriculture, transportation, energy, and water and sanitation. Alghali stated that the Bank’s programmes are closely aligned with the priorities outlined…

Soko M. Kai-Samba, Director of Partnership at the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), is representing Sierra Leone at the 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP16) of the African Risk Capacity (ARC), which begins on April 8, 2026, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The continental forum brings together African policymakers, development partners, and technical experts to promote collaborative approaches to climate resilience, disaster risk management, and insurance-based financial protection. CoP16, organised by the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission and convened as a “Common African House,” provides a collaborative space for Member States to address climate-related hazards and improve cross-border responses. The conference’s…