Author: Tunde

Protests are occurring across France today as various groups, including fishermen, police officers, energy workers, and university staff, voice their concerns over pay, working conditions, and the high cost of living. Fishermen began blocking an oil depot at 3am in Fos-sur-Mer, disrupting around 50 tanker lorries. This action follows previous demonstrations in Sète and Port-Vendres. They are demanding discussions with Fishing Minister Catherine Chabaud, citing rising fuel costs and increasing regulations as significant issues affecting their livelihoods. Meanwhile, thousands of police officers are set to march on the Champs-Élysées to the National Assembly, following a call to protest from the…

Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, has announced a new agreement with Guinea to create mechanisms for addressing migration and integration issues. This follows the Tripartite Border Security Communiqué signed by the Presidents of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia on 26 March 2026. Dr Jalloh made the announcement during a meeting with the Sierra Leonean community in Conakry, where he was hosted by Guinea’s Prime Minister, Amadou Oury Bah. He explained that the new mechanisms would provide a structured approach to tackling challenges faced by Sierra Leoneans in Guinea, enhance border security cooperation, and ensure that commitments made…

Julius Mkhwanazi will continue to stay in custody following a ruling by the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court, which denied him bail in connection with the murder of businessman Emmanuel Mbense. Mkhwanazi appeared in court with five co-accused as the judge decided on their bail applications. The court refused bail for all six individuals and adjourned the case until 24 November for further investigation. The charges against Mkhwanazi and his co-accused include murder, aggravated robbery, and obstructing justice. While the state has opposed their release, the accused maintain their innocence and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. This decision comes just a…

What Makes a Sierra Leonean a Sierra Leonean? If you’ve ever spent real time in Sierra Leone, or grown up around Sierra Leoneans, you’ll know there’s something about them that’s hard to put into words but impossible to miss. It’s not just the accent, or the food, or the way a conversation can stretch three hours past when it was supposed to end. It’s something underneath all of that. The Thing About “We Are One” Sierra Leone’s national motto is Unity, Freedom, Justice. Fine words. Most countries have fine words. But Sierra Leoneans have a phrase they actually use: “We…

If you’ve been reading about Sierra Leone and something isn’t adding up between the beach photos and what you’re actually seeing on the ground, you’re not imagining it. This is the article that says the quiet part out loud. Sierra Leone Isn’t Waiting to Be Discovered. It’s Waiting to Stop Being Robbed. Sierra Leone is one of the most naturally gifted countries on the planet, and it’s also one of the most consistently let down by the people who run it. That combination, of real beauty and real institutional failure sitting right next to each other, is what makes this…

If you grew up in Sierra Leone or spent enough time there to actually get it, you already know. And if you know, you know you’ve been trying to explain these things to outsiders for years and failing completely. This one’s for you. EDSA Has “Taken Light” and Somehow It’s Fine The electricity authority has a name. It’s EDSA. But across Freetown and beyond, it’s better known by the sentence it inspires dozens of times a week: “EDSA has taken light.” Not “the power’s out.” Not “there’s a blackout.” EDSA has taken the light. As if it walked into your…

Sierra Leone is enhancing its investigation capabilities for financial crime as INTERPOL experts advocate for increased collaboration with the national police on complex fraud cases. INTERPOL representatives Kiyotaka Sekine and Carios Gonzales Yepes met with Inspector General of Police William Fayia Sellu to discuss training, intelligence sharing, and strengthening investigative skills. This cooperation aims to better tackle financial crimes that often cross borders. Sekine announced that Sierra Leone had been chosen from 18 countries to participate in an INTERPOL initiative designed to boost national responses to financial crime, although details about the project’s funding and timeline were not disclosed. He…

If you’re seriously thinking about moving to Sierra Leone, or you’ve already accepted a job there and you’re trying to figure out what you’ve signed yourself up for, this is the article I wish someone had written for me. Not the diplomatic version. The actual version. Sierra Leone doesn’t get much airtime in expat circles. It tends to get lumped in with a vague sense of “West Africa” that tells you almost nothing useful, and the little that does get written tends to be either catastrophically negative or suspiciously cheerful. Neither is honest. What Nobody Tells You About Freetown Before…

Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote has launched the public ownership phase of his refinery, aiming to raise $1.6 billion in Africa’s largest initial public offering (IPO). The IPO allows retail investors to purchase a 10-share bundle for 5,250 naira (£4), making it accessible to a broader audience. Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest man, emphasised that this is a “people’s IPO,” and he retains 87% ownership of the continent’s largest refinery. The excitement among retail investors stems partly from rising global oil prices linked to geopolitical tensions, particularly the US-Iran conflict. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Dangote remarked, “We are all going to…

A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone over Lithuania on Tuesday night after it entered the country’s airspace from Belarus. The drone was reported to have flown over Lentvaris, near the capital Vilnius, before being downed close to the village of Pratkūnai, according to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre. This marks the first instance of a drone being shot down in Lithuanian airspace. The incident highlights concerns about Belarus’s involvement in drone attacks against Ukraine and raises alarms about drone threats to NATO territory. This follows Ukrainian claims that Russia is using Belarusian mobile networks…