The Sierra Leone Telegraph

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: In a strategic effort to strengthen Nigeria’s response to evolving security challenges through sustained international defence collaboration, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General OO Oluyede on 6 February 2026, received Dr Richard Montgomery, the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria at Defence Headquarters, [Read More]

Nigeria and UK deepen defence cooperation to mitigate contemporary security challenges

Sierra Leone – the irony of APC’s 2028 elections bid – Op ed

Alusine sesay: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: At the All People’s Congress (APC) party’s mammoth gathering held at the Atooga Stadium in Freetown, one striking feature of the address delivered by the party’s Acting Chairman, Pa-Yansaneh, was his persistent and emphatic invocation of a single term: TRIPARTITE. Indeed, the [Read More]

Freetown’s electricity conundrum – Op ed

Trevor Young: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: I had a very promising and honest conversation with Edmond B Nonie – Deputy Minister of Energy I. It was good news mixed with hard truths about why electricity remains unstable in Freetown, the Western Area, and across Sierra Leone. Freetown’s population [Read More]

Sour relationship as Sierra Leone Electoral Commission bars elections watchdog

Kelvin Jay (Voices of Salone): Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: Tensions between the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) and National Elections Watch (NEW) have reportedly deepened following the controversy surrounding the 2023 General Elections, with NEW accusing the Commission of deliberate exclusion and attempts to silence independent election [Read More]

ECOWAS and African Development Bank hold high-level consultation meeting to deepen regional integration

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Commission) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have ended a high-level consultation meeting on the extension of the Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) for West Africa (2020–2027). The three-day meeting, which took place from 4 to [Read More]

Nigeria signs electric vehicle factory agreement with South Korea

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: Nigeria has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s Asia Economic Development Committee to establish an electric vehicle manufacturing plant and nationwide charging infrastructure. The project is intended to support local EV production with a planned annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. According to [Read More]

Seychelles signs grant agreement with Abu Dhabi Fund to advance social housing needs

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 February 2026: The 8.7 million Dollar Grant Agreement aimed at advancing Seychelles’ Social Housing Programme, was signed last week between the Government of the Republic of Seychelles and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), reinforcing strong bilateral cooperation in support of Seychelles’ national social housing [Read More]

The silence of the lambs: Why Sierra Leone’s legal guardians must not stand aside

January 18, 2026 2

Yoni Emmanuel Sesay: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 18 January 2026: In Sierra Leone’s debate over the 2025 Constitutional Amendment Bill, the most troubling feature is not the substance of the proposals themselves but the silence that has settled around them. Institutions that traditionally speak during constitutional moments — the judiciary, the [Read More]

Masakhane Hub announces funding to bridge the AI gap for 50 African languages

January 16, 2026 0

Sierra Leone Telegraph; 16 January 2026: The Masakhane African Languages Hub (the Hub) has announced a major Request for Proposals (RFP) to address the severe underrepresentation of African languages in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Hub invites African researchers, linguists, startups, technologists and community organizations to build high-quality, inclusive and community-driven [Read More]

Sierra Leone’s unfinished Constitution and the cost of ignoring national wealth

Yoni Emmanuel Sesay: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 January 2026: Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution was drafted to dismantle the 1978 one-party state and restore multiparty constitutional rule. That transition was necessary and widely welcomed. Yet, from its very inception, it was fragile. That fragility soon became evident when, barely a year [Read More]

President El-Sisi receives United States Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 January 2026: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi yesterday received U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos. The meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Dr. Badr Abdel-Atty, Head of the General Intelligence Services Major General Hassan Rashad, Deputy Chief [Read More]

African Union Commission welcomes African Growth and Opportunity Act extension

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 January 2026: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has welcomed the overwhelming passage by the United States House of Representatives of a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Chairperson commends the bipartisan support demonstrated by Members of [Read More]

Sierra Leone’s office of the president excluded from audit report

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 January 2026: Many in Sierra Leone have expressed dismay, following the release of the country’s 2024 Auditor General’ Report, which shows that one of the key institutions they anticipated would be implicated in the embezzlement of public funds – the Office of the President, was not [Read More]

Sierra Leone: Pro-poor budget in an economy of enduring constraint

Mahmud Tim Kargbo: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 January 2026: At first reading, Sierra Leone’s 2025 National Budget presents itself as an instrument of compassion. Framed around improving the wellbeing and quality of life of citizens, it adopts the language of inclusion, social protection, food security and human capital development. It [Read More]

Sierra Leone’s 2024 Auditor General Report needs urgent attention by parliament

January 11, 2026 1

Alieu Kay: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 January 2026: The much-discussed 2024 Annual Audit Report has been released, and public reaction suggests deep concern, as the report appears to record the highest level of misappropriation of public funds in the country’s history. (Photo above: Minister of Health and Sanitation – Dr [Read More]

African Union – China strategic dialogue promises closer cooperation

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 January 2026: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, and Member of the Political Bureau of China’s CPC Central Committee, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi, held the 9th China–African Union Strategic Dialogue at the African [Read More]

Sierra Leone’s judicial system fails to deliver: Commission of inquiry cases lag at appeals and supreme court

CHRDI: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 January 2026: CHRDI is deeply concerned and disappointed by the prevalence of endemic problems, including corruption, inadequate resources, low interest in human rights protection, judicial uncertainty, a lack of transparency and accountability, and growing distrust of the justice system. In 2018, Sierra Leone’s President Julius [Read More]

Sierra Leone: When institutions fail, nations fracture – Op ed