Bankasoka River is a major source of water for Port Loko residents

Residents of Port Loko Town and its environs are currently facing acute shortage of clean water for both drinking and domestic purposes thereby forcing inhabitants to use contaminated sources of water at the Bankasoka River. According to AWOKO investigations most of the hand dug wells and water pumps have run dry, since the commencement of the dry season resulting in the use of harmful sources of water that can cause serious health hazards. Mohamed Sesay a father of five Awoko that his children are carrying hourly burden to fetch unsafe water from the Bankasoka River, adding “we have less than a dozen water wells in Port Loko Town and most of them have gone without chlorine for years.” Sesay said “my children are spending most of their time fetching water than doing other domestic work at home and sadly people are suffering from water borne diseases like cholera and diarrhea.” The lack of safe drinking water is causing undue suffering and negatively impacting on residents daily activities Mohamed Sesay explained. Another resident Morlai Kamara who had earlier suffered from diarrhea said “since then I now rely heavily on packet water for drinking purposes to avoid frequent stools but it is causing serious financial burden on my earnings.”

Testifying at the High Court presided by Justice Mary Sei past Friday Magistrate Adrian Fisher who is facing 20 count charges of misappropriation of public funds made a number of  allegations against the Paramount Chief of Kakua Chiefdom and the State Counsel in Bo, Monfred Sesay. Before the start of the hearing Justice Sei asked Adrian Fisher if he relied on the statement he made to the A.C.C. or if he intends to make a fresh testimony and he decided to make a fresh testimony. According to Adrian Fisher, he was officially transferred to the Bo Magistrate court on the 15 April 2008. He testified that on his first day at work, he went with the P.C. of Kakua Chiefdom.

Some 15 Chinese volunteers arrived recently in Sierra Leone from China under the Sino Sierra Leone Friendship to help in the area of Education, Martial Arts and Chinese Medicine. In a short conversation with them at the Lumley Beach on Friday, they said they were happy to be in Freetown to work with Sierra Leoneans. The leader of the team Wan Hongwei said three teams are in town and they will be around for some time. Wang Hongwei is from the Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and he is currently working with Chinese and Sierra Leonean doctors at the Satellite Clinic, Kingharman Road. Also he said they have Chinese teachers who are teaching Chinese language and a team of Kung Fu trainers who are teaching Kung Fu to Sierra Leoneans.

The Annie Walsh Old Girls Association (AWOGA) has been rewarded by the Africell’s Cash Chamber Promotion Programme with the sum of Le1, 280,000 (One million two hundred and eighty thousand Leones). The promotion programme is purposely designed to increase Africell’s customer care and satisfaction agenda. The Cash Chamber programme does not only promote individuals but equally targets charitable and meaningful organizations to help them attain their corporate objectives. During each of the Cash Chamber Draw, Africell’s Management selects one among the many charitable organizations in the country to enter the Cash Chamber with a cheque amidst the millions of Leones scattered in the Chamber.   

Three children from an orphanage in Sierra Leone paid a visit to a snowy Mearns on Friday. The young people were visiting Mearns Academy, a school which has supported their orphanage for a number of years through the charity Kids in Action. With the help of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Robert Smith, the young people who lived at the orphanage and are now working there or at college, paid a visit to Aberdeenshire and were delighted to visit the school which has done so much to support them. Sir Robert and the children spoke to pupils and staff and met members of the charities group headed by Lorraine Francis.

The Youth Justice in Action Campaign conducted a youth and civil society conference at the YMCA Hall past weekend. The objective of the conference was to identify primary injustices facing youths when they are presumed perpetrators against Constitutional rules and regulations. Since its inception as a YMCA programme, the project has been working ardently towards improving the condition and prospect of young people and juveniles in conflict with the law by effecting positive changes in policy, laws and practices. The campaign creates a platform of opportunity for young people to air their views on issues regarded as youth injustice and submit tangible solutions to address them.

The Ecobank Group has extended its Africa continental foot print to 29 countries with the formal opening of Ecobank Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. Ecobank Tanzania follows just few months after the recent commencement of the Group’s operations in Zambia and Paris of EBI S.A., the group’s very first operational subsidiary outside the African continent, bringing Ecobank’s affiliates to 30 countries. Arnold Ekpe, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Groups said:  “Ecobank is delighted to start operations in Tanzania. We intend to bring the same commitment to serving both retail and corporate customers that has characterized our operations in other countries. We would be particular keen to bring our expertise in regional trade, cards and payment products to the Tanzania market and the growing East Africa economic region”.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) operating in the Eastern region has donated equipment and medical supplies worth millions of Leones to 65 Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) in Kenema District for Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC). The donation took place at the under five clinic hall at the Government Hospital compound along Combema Road in Kenema city. In her statement the IRC National Health Coordinator Sue Clarke said the donation is to enable the PHUs to continue to give emergency care to pregnant women in the district. She stated that the donation is part of a series of donations IRC had done in the past.