Sierra Leone to Become Self-Sufficient
in Rice Once Again
The promise of rice
self-sufficiency has been dangled many times over the decades. Sierra
Leone, with the highest rainfall in West Africa, should be well-placed
to even be a net exporter of rice..Today Sierra Leone's annual rice imports cost the
nation some two hundred
million US dollars. This same drama, or tragedy, has been repeated to a
greater or lesser extent in most other West African countries...Now comes a new scheme with a new
prospect of rice self-sufficiency. In September this year contracts
were signed between the Sierra Leone government and a Turkish company,
SALA Group...projected export surplus based on this new Torma Bum
investment appears at first sight wildly optimistic...
In West
Africa as a whole the
yield has been measured at 2 MT/ha...
Land Tenure in Sierra Leone
...These two
definitions of “Native” and “Non-Native” meant, in effect, that Creoles
were non-natives for the purpose of owning land in certain areas...No
land in the Provinces shall be occupied by a non-native unless...But
let us move on to the major question, which is, how does one acquire
the fee simple estate in landed property? As I intimated above, one
could acquire it by adverse possession, in which case, the Law says
that the original owner’s title to the property has become extinguished
by the passage of time...The case also made it clear, that a deed of
conveyance is not superior in quality to a statutory
declaration...(even though) It is widely thought that statutory
declarations are somehow inferior to deeds of conveyances, and as such
should be rejected by the Courts...One would also ask, what is the
length of time a prospective purchaser must look for in the title of
prospective vendor? This is what we refer to as a ‘good root of title’.
Section 1 of the Vendor
and Purchaser Act,1874, puts it at 40 years...But the fight to achieve
or attain a unified system of land tenure goes on...
Does Any
West African Government Subsidize Fuel?
For decades, West African governments, when they
agree to do the IMF's bidding or when they themselves decide they need
to raise cash, have declared that they are ending, wholly or in part,
subsidies on petrol, diesel and kerosene. The IMF and West African
governments have, at the very best, been stretching the truth on this
issue for decades.
Freetown
Population Increase, 1901 - 2015
...The added data reveals a very
sharp increase in the rate of growth of
Freetown's population after about 1960, ie at the dawn of
Independence...
Freetown
Population Increase, 1963 - 2015
...Conventional wisdom
has it that Freetown's population ballooned as a result of the 11-year
rebel war from 1991 to 2002. The figures, from Statistics
Sierra Leone, do not support this
conclusion...the slowest
period of Freetown's growth was the
intercensal period that included the war years.
1000
Feared Dead in Sierra Leone Mudslide and Flooding
In the early hours of
Monday, August 14, heavy rains triggered flooding in Freetown and a
catastrophic landslide on one of the hills that tower above the city. A
torrent of mud and rock swept down from a section of Mount Sugar Loaf
onto a new community, Mothema, in the Regent mountain village...
The
Folly of Uncritical Road Construction
The most prominent agricultural feature along the
route are tall and very old coconut trees, apparently the dying
remnants of some ancient plantation. The hope that a new highway on its
own, absent other enabling conditions, might stimulate agricultural
production appears to be a forlorn one. Sierra Leone has several other
highways, including the Masiaka-Waterloo road that completes the
journey into Freetown, that prove this point.
Coming
Back from the Brink in Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah - A Review
Once the issue of the seized property (returned to him by President
Momoh in 1988) is out of the way, Mr Kabbah moves speedily to the main
substance
of the book - events associated with his Presidency of Sierra Leone. He
flees the APC of Siaka Stevens...
Sierra
Leone's Population Increases 42% in 11 Years
...The results indicate a sharp increase in the population growth rate
in recent years...
Will
Large Agri-Investments Rescue Africa
African agriculture is bedeviled not only by the bush fallow system but
by archaic traditional land tenure systems...nothing seems to have
worked...Yields in the major African food crops, maize,
millet, sorghum, rice
are a
fraction of
Krio Descendants Union Presents
Proposals on Sierra Leone Constitution
The Krio Descendants Union,
KDU,
representing a cross section of the Sierra Leone Krio community, today
met with the Constitutional Review Committee and presented their
position paper relating to the ongoing review of the Sierra Leone
Constitution.
Suddenly,
Sierra Leone Government Faces a Vast, New Challenge
On Wednesday, September 16
this
year, a heavy downpour flooded Freetown. An unknown (or unannounced)
number of people lost their lives, some swept away by the rushing
waters. Houses were engulfed, some carried away, leaving thousands
homeless...
IMF
Does Quick U-Turn on Sierra Leone's Economy
The IMF, like the Government of Sierra Leone, placed great faith
in
revenue from newly-established iron-ore mining companies...Now the iron
ore prices have collapsed...
Sierra
Leone Judges, Mainly Krio, Continue a Long, Dishonourable Tradition
Did they all genuinely see something that so many of us
missed, or were their opinions conditioned by decades of Sierra Leone
judicial subservience to the executive?
Krio
Descendants Union Public Notice on Sierra Leone Constitution
The Krio Descendants Union, the
parent body of Krios in
Sierra Leone, is inviting...
Sierra
Leone Government Overestimates its Appeal at African Development Bank
Dr Samura Kamara, Sierra Leone's candidate for the presidency of the
African Development Bank, fell at the first voting hurdle...
Barefoot
Womens Solar College gets New Intake
The Sierra Leone Barefoot Womens College has admitted
another
batch of illiterate women destined to become ‘solar engineers’
in four
months time...
Four
Tests for (Sierra Leone's) Judicial Independence
... these judges effectively serve at the pleasure of the executive....
APC
Leading us to Yet Another Disaster
...it's simply not possible for a nation of head-toting petty traders
to rise above bottom place in the world league....
President
Koroma Sacks Vice President, Appoints Replacement
Just two weeks ago Sam Sumana seemed secure in his position as Vice
President of the republic...
Vice
President Sumana Seeks Asylum
Two starkly different pictures have emerged of the weekend drama. One
is of a paranoid politician...
APC
Sacks Vice President
The party's press release cited various
misdeeds by
the vice president, including "anti-party activities, fermenting (sic) violence and deceit.
After
Ebola, Sierra Leone Government Decides to Provide Schools with Water
...up to the Ebola crisis there was little indication that
provision of water to schools was a priority...
Sierra
Leone Parliament Accused of Corruption
The Sierra Leone Parliament has
been
accused of massive corruption. The accusation was levied by...
Some
Argue Chief Justice is a Political Appointee
...proponents
argue...the Chief Justiceship is thus a political
appointment like any other and serves at the pleasure of the
President... The attorney-general also suggested, equally
mischievously, that
those who wanted an interpretation on the issue could take the matter
to the Supreme Court for a ruling. There have been media reports that
all or most of the judges on the current Supreme Court have reached the
retirement age
APC
Discovers Skills Gap in Sierra Leone
...the Honourable Minister of Finance
revealed to the honourable members of parliament that the ruling APC
government had detected that a skills gap exists today in Sierra Leone.
The country is producing far more okada riders and ataya base operators
than doctors and engineers, he disclosed.
2014
Supplementary Budget in brief
Hundreds of Health Workers unpaid for two years
The resurgence of Ebola – Is Sierra Leone to blame?
Sierra Leone in Multiple Crises
Oh No! Bintumani all over again!
Interview with Sierra Leone’s Chief Medical Officer
Sierra Leone Last in Maternal Mortality
Milton Margai 50th Anniversary Memorial
Fixing Freetown – a fifteen-year development plan
Human Rights Watch blasts African Minerals in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Parliament passes constitutional amendment on qualifications for House Speaker
Le56 billion for road maintenance in Sierra Leone
Action Aid on Addax Bioenergy in Sierra Leone
Do we really need a new airport at Malamah?