Ecowas to Start Common External Tariff 2017

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has decided to reach effective application of the common external tariff from Jan. 1, 2017 by the whole of its 15 member states.

A release stated that the decision was reached on Monday night in Cotonou.

It is noted that the decision had become imperative as only nine member states apply the common external tariff that came into force in January 2015.

The ECOWAS common external tariff launched during a meeting of head of states and governments in December 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria, was adopted in January 2016.

“The completion of the common external tariff will be a milestone in the establishment of a customs union as part of ECOWAS’s integration program.

The release said that it underscored that the success of the West-African integration depends on the creation of a common market through the liberalisation of trade and the adoption of a common external tariff.

It said that to reach the goal, ECOWAS assigned team of consultants in the 15 member-states to assess the situation and identify the inherent difficulties.

“A synthetic report of evaluation missions will be submitted to members of a joint management committee of the common external tariff, which is expected to hold its meeting next Monday or Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal,” it said.

The release said that the meeting of Dakar would be the opportunity for the ECOWAS commission to work, especially with the six member states that fail to apply the common external tariff.

It noted that the Dakar meeting would help overcome existing barriers to ensure effective implementation of the common external tariff in all ECOWAS member-States from January 1st, 2017.

Limkokwing opens campus in Sierra Leone

After years of challenges in opening up their new campus, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) has finally started operations in Sierra Leone with 1,200 students.

The campus was established last month making it the fourth LUCT campus on the continent after others in Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana, which is the biggest and oldest LUCT campus in Africa.

Since the Botswana campus is the biggest LUCT campus on the continent, Botswana staffers were recruited to help with the logistics at the new campus in Sierra Leone.

“The Botswana staff has been helping with the establishment of the campus since they are more familiar with the vision and ethos of Limkokwing. They will definitely play another part in the establishment of the Namibian campus,” said LUCT Regional Vice Chancellor Professor Cedric Bell.

He noted that due to past work that LUCT has done, governments in other African countries have invited them to establish campuses in their respective countries.

The Sierra Leone campus was supposed to be established in 2014, but due to the Ebola crisis they had to postpone plans of opening the campus.

Apart from the new Sierra Leone campus, LUCT is planning on opening another campus in Namibia before the end of this year. “We are here to make change in the tertiary education landscape. Locally we are planning on opening a campus in Francistown,” Bell said.

He stated that with the creative courses offered at LUCT, their objective is to produce graduates with an entrepreneurial mind who will help in boosting the economic system through creating jobs in Sierra Leone and Africa as a whole.

LUCT has played a role in introducing creative academic courses and also having classes for students living with special needs and disabilities.

“Working with students living with special needs and disabilities is part of our academic DNA. We have the care and passion of working with these students. We want to give them hope that they can be someone in life despite living with disabilities,” he said.

LAC and others conspired and murdered DJ Cleff says DPP

On Thursday, The Director of Public Prosecution Sulaiman Bah strongly argued that accused Baimba Moi Foray alias LAC, Foday Amara Kamara alias G-Fag and Avril Oreh Renner did conspire to murder Sydney Buckle Jr. alias DJ Cleff in May 2015.

DPP made this statement while he was addressing presiding Judge, Justice Alusine Sesay and members of the Jury in the ongoing trial that involved the three accused alleged to have murdered the deceased while he was invited to a party at the residence of LAC at Aberdeen in Freetown.

Looking all Serious and determined in a quiet and tense atmosphere, DPP informed the court that it is the responsibility of the Prosecution to prove their case against accused persons noting that during the proceedings he was able to call 17 witnesses and presented 26 exhibits which all led to circumstantial evidences pointing fingers on the accused.

He called on the attention of the Judge and the Jurors to take note of the evidences presented in Court adding that a case is proven through direct or indirect evidences.

“Prosecution did not lead any factual witnesses who testified that they saw the murder but provided circumstantial evidences that implicate the accused persons.”

Furthermore DPP explained the legality of Circumstantial evidence and notified the Judge and the Jurors to take note of testimonies of witnesses contradicting the statements made by the accused to police during the investigations taking into considerations testimonies of PW1, 2, 3 & 13.

He said one of the witnesses told the Court that he last saw the deceased wearing a red boxer during the party at LAC’s house.

“When the body was discovered at Murray Town it was wearing a red boxer and when the body was exhumed for postmortem a red boxer was on it”.

He also stressed on the testimony of PW 13, the security guard of LAC who testified that after the party on 22nd May 2015, the 3rd accused Oreh was the last person that left the premises and recalled that LAC did leave the premises at around 2-3am saying he was going to Country Lodge but evidence (LAC’s Call log) before the Court stated that LAC was around Aberdeen at that particular period.

DPP noted that the exhibits before the Court, a brown carpet, yellow nylon ropes, among many others were identified by the security guard as similar to properties that were missing from the premises of LAC after the Party and these exhibits were found alongside the corpse at Murray Town with video exhibits to prove.

DPP submitted that PW13 was deliberately denied access into the premises was a diverse attempt of the 1st and 2nd accused to dispose of the body urging the Judge and Jurors to look into the call logs of the accused as there were misinformation about their location.

Finally he stated that the behavior of the 2nd accused to run away and dispose his sim-cards after the arrest of LAC was a clear indication that the accused is guilty.

The matter continues on the 24th August 2016 for the defence team to address the court.

By Mariam Sulaiman Bah

TVH Energic Plus And Real Power Systems Regenerating Dead Batteries For Residents and Businesses In Sierra Leone

Freetown residents and businesses will soon be able to save money and power by regenerating old engine batteries instead of throwing them away.

Thanks to a partnership between TVH Energic Plus, a Belgium-based company, and the Sierra Leonean-owned Real Power Systems, for the first time in Sierra Leone individuals and businesses will be able regenerate batteries that seem dead for another year or two  or even longer.

“These batteries that are supposedly dead can be revived, recovered again,” said Didier Bougarel of TVH Energic Plus. “When I say dead, I mean sleeping,” he added. Broken batteries can’t be brought back to life. “We do not do miracles.”

Formed in 2005 and Sierra Leonean-owned, Real Power Systems provides solutions for energy within and outside of Sierra Leone, including as far as Gabon. TVH Energic Plus employs 6,000 people in 114 countries around the world.

Real Power Systems focuses on large batteries including those that power vehicles, engineering and telecommunications equipment, and more.

As time goes on, Bougarel said, batteries gradually lose their power through chemical reactions that prevent them from operating at full capacity.

“They are supposed to deliver their power over a few years, but most of the time, because of mis-maintenance, because of hard weather conditions, those batteries will lose their capacity very quickly after one year or two years,” he said.

The regeneration technology Real Power Systems offers converts crystal sulfate released by batteries back into active power. This process takes 48 hours. At the end, the company will be able to diagnose the problem and tell customers how much capacity should be remaining in their batteries.

A battery that lasted three years might last an additional one, two or three years after it’s been regenerated, said Bougarel.

The procedure costs 40 percent of the price of the original battery, said Harold Samuels, Managing Director of Real Power Systems. When asked if this is too expensive for the average Sierra Leonean, Samuels pointed out that anyone who can buy such a battery could probably afford the repair cost.

According to Samuels and Bougarel, there is demand for battery regeneration in Sierra Leone, because batteries can be found everywhere, from schools to hospitals.

One of TVH Energic Plus’s first customers in Lagos, Nigeria where a man who amassed 22,000 dead batteries, all from ATM machines, which are powered by four batteries. The ATM batteries only lasted for a year, forcing him to replace them at a high cost. Thanks to battery regeneration technology, the man is now buying only 10 percent of what he used to, Bougarel said.

Battery regeneration will also be more environmentally friendly than throwing away batteries, Samuels said. He noted that people throw away thousands of batteries every year that could have been regenerated.

“A battery which is losing slowly its capacity, these batteries should not be thrown away,” said Bougarel. “This is not waste, this is valuable. This is not lead, this is gold.”

By Chetanya Robinson

2 Bike Riders Remanded For Assaulting SLRSA Worker

Magistrate Abdul Carew of the Kambia Magistrate Court on Thursday 11th August, 2016 remanded two commercial motorbike riders for brutalizing the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority's (SLRSA) Vehicle Examiner, Rev. Francis Kanu-Mansaray, in Kambia District, Northern Sierra Leone.

The two were arraigned on three count charges of incitement, bodily assault and conspiracy contrary to law.

According to the particulars of offence, the two commercial motorbike riders; Ibrahim Sorie Madowa and Osman Yealie Sankoh on 21st July 2016 incited their colleagues to beat up the Vehicle Examiner leaving him with pain and serious bodily harm.

Testifying at the Kambia Magistrate Court, Detective Police Constable Mohamed Sesay attached to the Criminal Investigations Department, Kambia Police Division, revealed that he was on duty on Thursday 21st July 2016 when Rev. Francis Kanu-Mansaray came to the station and reported the matter and that due to the injuries he sustained, “I prepared and issued a medical form to him for which he was admitted at the Kambia Government Hospital.  He was discharged on 23rd July 2016 after which he tendered his medical form to the police.”

Detective Police Constable (DPC) Mohamed Sesay continued that after taking statements from the complainant and his witnesses, they, including a private photographer, went to the scene that is a bush.

“After all efforts to get hold of the accused persons but to no avail, the police issued a warrant of arrest for them. On 5th August 2016, we executed the arrest after which separate statements were recorded from the two accused persons in Krio, interpreted and read out to them,” he informed the court.

The complainant, Rev. Francis Kanu-Mansaray, told the court that while on duty to impound unlicensed and unregistered motorbikes on Thursday 21st July, 2016, he arrested Osman Yealie Sankoh for riding an unregistered and unlicensed motorbike.

He revealed, “I asked him to accompany me to the SLRSA office in Kambia to register and license his motorbike but he refused. He then called Ibrahim Sorie Madowa, the Bike Riders' Chairman in the district who asked the rider to have a private discussion with. After their private discussion, Osman Yealie Sankoh told the Vehicle Examiner to onboard the motorbike and rode off in terrific speed. When I turned round, I saw Ibrahim Sorie Madowa beckoning to the other bike riders to follow us. I was taken to a bush where all of them assaulted and manhandled me by kicking and hitting me until I became helpless. They ran away when they saw my colleagues chasing them.”

An eyewitness, who identified himself as Anthony Abdul Raman Sesay, told the court that whilst coming from his house, about 50 meters away, he saw a group of unknown commercial motorbike riders wearing helmets rushing to a particular direction.

Anthony Abdul Raman Sesay continued, “as I approached the scene, I heard someone being beaten by unknown riders shouting for help. I also saw two staff of the Road Safety Corp who were also approaching the scene attempting to rescue the Vehicle Examiner.”

Another witness, Road Safety Corp (RSC) Ibrahim Gibson Fofanah, told the court that they were going to the Kambia Lorry Park to seize unregistered and unlicensed motorbikes but that Rev. Francis Kanu-Mansaray went ahead because he was in mufti to prevent the riders escaping and that the accused, Osman Yealie Sankoh, who was riding an unregistered and unlicensed motorbike, was carrying two passengers without helmets for which he was arrested.

Magistrate Abdul Carew remanded the two accused and adjourned the matter to 22nd August 2016.

Meanwhile, the SLRSA office in Kambia has confirmed that four motorbikes were carted away from their office by unknown riders who are yet to be identified.

Mrs. Sia Bayoh Mother Of Ten; Displaced by Flood in her Homeland

Her colleague women cannot console her not even the few men around because she was going through stress, pain and anger as a result of the ongoing mining activities in Tankoro chiefdom in Kono district.

Mrs. Sia Bayoh is a mother of Ten (10). She was born, raised and got married at Bayoh Lane in Tankoro area in Koidu City, Kono district and is best known for her trading in pigs for the up-keep of her family including educating all her children and extended family members. Conditions are not favourable with her family and business after a poor relocation plan led to the death of more than Seventy-Five (75) of her pigs after heavy rains hospitalized three family members, and her pigs.

The expansion of Kimberlite mining activities by Koidu Limited mining company, which is wholly owned by BSG Resources Limited (BSGR) through its subsidiary OCTÉA Limited in Kono which resulted in the relocation of residents closer to the mines site despite criticism by residents and activists, had affected the livelihood of the Bayor family. Their relocation process was incomplete by OCTÉA Limited for failing to move her pigs into the camp.

The Koidu Kimberlite project is located within the Tankoro Chiefdom of the Kono District, measuring approximately 4.9 km2 and hosting two small kimberlite pipes, No. 1 Pipe (“K1″) and No. 2 Pipe (“K2″), and four kimberlite dyke zones, along which four small blows or enlargements have been discovered. (www.koiduholdings.com).

In an exclusive interview with madam Bayoh at her 10 Bayoh Lane address in Tankoro close to the Mining sites, she said the entire resettlement process for her family was unfairly dealt with, from construction of their house, to the movement of her pigs, cattle, and goats. She alleged that only four rooms with a kitchen were built and handed over to them in April 2015 with no latrine instead of her initial self-contained house.

Mrs. Bayoh said her pigs were assessed and registered in the relocation plan by one Henry Vao, a South African, believed to be head of the resettlement process, who was eager for her relocation because of her animals and children with her. She said after enquires from Paramount Chief Saquee IV of Tankoro chiefdom, one Doctor Gbetuwama and the company resettlement staff, told her that on no account will her pigs be relocated.

She said prior to the news that her pigs will not be allowed in the resettlement camp Octea staff in-charge of the camp had earlier allocated a piece of land for the construction of her Pen (Home for pigs) this according to her was unfair which prompted her to further ask more questions. She went on that she was told that the original location had been allocated to traditional women for construction of their societal bush meaning her Pen will not be constructed.

“Because we are native of this land and we don’t want to send bad signal out there I decided to lobby round the company authorities to see reason with me and my children for the construction of the Pen because my husband is not working. Our children are all going to school and our survival depends on those pigs. We were woken up by floods, which killed more than forty-five (45) pigs including three new born including big and small ones on 24th July 2016.

The acting mayor came on Tuesday 26th July to assess the gravity of the flood on my livelihood and he took photos of the dead pigs and the destruction. Since he left we are yet to see him. I have informed almost every stakeholder in the chiefdom and district with regards my situation but nothing absolutely has come out from those reports and complaints made,” she noted.

She said twenty bags of cement and bundles of zinc were given to her for the construction of her Pen which according to her, she did not accept because it was raining and she cannot afford to build it by herself.

Heavy rain in Kono on Friday 5th August 2016 hospitalized three, washed the entire house off and killed over fifty pigs after mud and granite allegedly rolled from the OCTÉA mining environs and descended on them at Bayoh Lane. Madam Bayoh is accusing the Paramount Chief, OCTÉA mining company, the police, women and other human rights activists for not responding to her situation. She pleaded with Government to salvage her situation before her children become drop-outs from school as she cannot now support their schooling.

Henry Vao of OCTÉA when contacted on the issue said the company had done all it can in solving the situation but confirmed and alleged that the decision not to move pigs into the camp was reached at and made by the Paramount Chief, PC Saquee IV. He said before now he had been personally assisted the woman and other women but they cannot do anything rather than what the chief said, emphasising that all resettlement issues have been addressed.

The Paramount Chief of Tankoro chiefdom PC Paul Gaber Saquee IV accused the young lady of being ‘stubborn’ and wanting to create ‘issues’ out of the situation. He pointed out that everybody had been resettled including her husband. He confirmed that they had resolved not to take pigs into the camp but notwithstanding that, another allocation closer to a swamp was identified for her but the lady refused to move there.

Chief Saquee said he had been assisting the woman financially but the lady is just too ‘hard-in-dealing’ with.

By Mohamed Kabba

Divided Lawmakers to Appear Before Liberia's Traditional Leaders

In the wake of the power struggle among members of the House of Representatives at the Capitol Building, the Traditional leaders of Liberia are calling for calm among the members of that body.

The head of the Traditional Council of Chiefs of Liberia, Chief Zanzan Karwor said it is discouraging for Honorable men and women who are supposed to be making laws to benefit the Liberian people to instead be fighting among themselves.

He told FrontPageAfrica that as traditional leaders, they will not sit and allow lawmakers fight among themselves.

He disclosed that the Liberia Council of Chiefs has invited the two groups of lawmakers to appear at the offices of the Council of Chiefs in Sinkor.

Several members of the House of Representatives are rejecting the presence of their Speaker, Alex J. Tyler to preside over regular session in the face of his alleged link to bribery allegation recently exposed by Global Witness, stressing that he should recuse himself from presiding over session until he is exonerated from the allegation.

Dozens of the Representatives including Tokpa Mulbah of Bong County called on their colleagues to continue their support against Speaker Tyler by rejecting him from presiding over session at the National legislature.

The London-based Watchdog Group, Global Witness recently alleged that more than US$950,000 in bribes and other suspicious payments were made to top Liberian officials including Speaker Alex Tyler by the Britain-based Sable Mining Company and its Liberian lawyer, Cllr. Varney Sherman.

Since the indictment of Speaker Tyler for his alleged involvement in the bribery saga of the Global Witness report, the House of Representatives has been divided with one group of lawmakers calling for the Speaker to recuse himself while others are backing the Speaker urging him (Speaker Tyler) to not bow to those calling for his recusal.

With the current confusion at the Capitol, traditional leaders of Liberia say they (traditional leaders) do not expect the lawmakers to disrespect them by failing to appear before the Council.

Chief Karwor said he will convene a meeting between the two group of lawmakers - “They are our children and we are their fathers, we cannot be sitting and allow our children to be fighting among themselves, they cannot tells us no, they will come and we will have meeting with them to solve this problem so our Liberian people work can be done,” he noted.

The power struggle at the House of Representatives has stalled workings at the Capitol Building with the Executive branch of government calling for calm among lawmakers.

Deputy Information Minister Isaac Jackson told FPA that the Executive cannot deal with a divided House of Representatives.

He noted that the executive branch of government is looking forward to lawmakers resolving their problem.

“We from the executive are concerned; the President is concerned and wants the confusion among lawmakers to be resolved. Let this be very clear for the record, the President has no hand in what is unfolding at the Capitol Building,” he noted.

The Remains of Super Moseray Fadika Will Be Laid At The Miatta Conference Hall For The CIVIC FUNERAL SERVICE Today

 PROGRAMME OF EVENTS FOR THE VIGIL AND BURIAL OF OUR LEADER THE LATE MOSERAY G. S. FADIKA (Super)

Thursday 18/08/2016:

Arrival of the corpse by Air France at the Lungi International Airport at 5:30 PM.

Then they will drive in a convoy using the Lungi – Port Loko route. The convoy will stop at the following places so that mourners and close relatives will have the opportunity to pay their last respect to our fallen hero;

LOKOMASAMA – PORT LOKO – MASIAKA – WATERLOO – KISSY ROAD. Then the remains of our late leader will be taken to the Columbia Davies Funeral Home.
The VIGIL will start at exactly 9:00 PM. All mourners are expected to light a candle, wherever you may be at this time and pray for our late father, brother, friend and leader. The procession will start from Magazine Cut – Kissy Road – Cline Town – Fourah Bay Road to Eastern police (Clock Tower). Finally, dozens of artists will perform  live their tribute songs in honour of our late ambassador.

Friday 19/08/2016

The remains of Super Moseray Fadika will be laid at the Miatta Conference Hall for the CIVIC FUNERAL SERVICE at 10:00 AM. After the ceremony, the corpse will be taken to Magazine Cut, where the “Dschenasa Prayer” will be done at a mosque he built inside the Fadika Compound; upon completion of the prayer the remains will be laid to rest at the Kissy Road Cemetry. The is a very big national setback. Udat go sponsor d show dem now? udat go support d youth-man dem now?, udat go help d market woman dem now? Udat go …aaaaa Super! Even in death u are flying

Following Kabala protest…Amnesty Int’l condemns police use of firearms

Following youth protest in Kabala Town, Koinadugu District on the Northern part of Sierra Leone Amnesty International Sierra Leone (AISL), in an interview with Awoko newspaper on Wednesday condemned the use of fire arms and live bullets by the police to salvage the situation.

The protest which resulted in the death of two persons and injuries of others was staged as a result of the police refusal to permit the youths to embark on a peaceful protest over the alleged relocation of the youth village in that part of the country.

“We are out rightly condemning the level of police brutality which occurred at Kabala… we see the police force which we are expecting to be highly professional, at the slightest provocation using firearms”, Solomon Sogbandi, the Executive Director of AISL stated.

The Director said there are established rules of engagement as stated by United Nations, which the police should have followed in order to bring the rioters under control. He said using firearm should be the last resort. “They should resort to the use of firearms when it comes to very serious situations in which the life of the person they are protecting is at stake or the police life is threatened”, he maintained.

Although Paramount Chief Gbawuru had previously told this medium that the police advised the youths to write a 21 days’ notice of protest, Mr. Sogbandi said report from AISL office in Kabala states that the protest was peaceful.

“This is something which warrant the review of our existing laws because they will want to go by the public order Act. We are in a democracy… I see this as one of the most draconian laws which this country should try to get rid of. Protesting means: I am not happy”.

Solomon Sogbandi said that the police officers that are using firearms and live bullets during protest should be investigated and brought to book adding that it is the duty of the police to protect lives and properties not to destroy life.

He further stated that though their organisation is not in favour of youth violence and criminality in the country, the police should instead engage them in constructive dialogue for them to understand that involving in violence is not the solution to their problems.

By Edna Smalle