Blog

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leoneans chose Saturday between keeping an incumbent president who has expanded health care and paved roads or electing an opposition candidate to lead this war-scarred nation still recovering a decade later despite its mineral riches. The election marked the third presidential vote since the West African nation’s 11-year conflict ended […]

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday congratulated the people of Sierra Leone for the peaceful and orderly elections held yesterday, the first one run entirely by the Government since the end of the West African nation’s brutal civil war 10 years ago. The voter turnout was reportedly high for the four elections – presidential, parliamentary, local […]

Electoral officials tallied votes from general elections seen as a key test of the west African nation’s post-war recovery as it looks towards greater development thanks to a mining boom. After a peaceful day of voting in the presidential, parliamentary and local elections on Saturday, locals crowded around crackling radios releasing unofficial results from individual […]

Vote counting is underway in the West African nation of Sierra Leone after a calm, but enthusiastic, day of polling for presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Polling stations opened more or less on time to long lines of voters in the capital, Freetown, Saturday. Voters said peace and progress were on their minds. “I’ve got […]

A coalition of non-governmental organisations, National Election Watch, said the voting went well, with some delays in opening polling stations. Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma faces eight candidates, including ex-military leader Julius Maada Bio.The poll was being closely monitored by several thousand local observers.Voters were choosing a new president, parliament and local councils. The results […]

Hopes are high and the pressure is on as Sierra Leoneans get ready to elect a new president and parliament on Saturday. The country’s third national election since the end of its decade-long civil war in 2002—and its first independently organized election since that conflict—many hope the contest will cement the country’s democratic standing and […]

Voting in the General Assembly to elect 18 members of the UN Human Rights Council. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas The General Assembly today elected 18 countries to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2013. Argentina, Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, […]

Former presidentRupiah Bwezani Banda Tuesday morning left for Sierra Leone to lead the Carter Foundation international election observer mission for that country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The former president says he is looking forward to his role in the November 17 elections and has described the assignment as challenging. “It’s a difficult assignment. Sierra Leone […]

Without a single blade of grass, and with a crease that has to be drawn in the dirt with a stone, Sierra Leone’s national cricket pitch is a far cry from Lord’s. But the team nurture dreams of one day taking on the greats of world cricket.

Suba Ranka picked up his cutlass, wiped the blood with his fingers and smiled. He had killed again. Only this time, the victim was a goat. He meticulously picked his nose and looked around. He was getting really good at this; chasing goats and chickens around the barre and killing them one after another. Last […]