On 18 April 2026, the cargo vessel Arconian docked at Freetown’s Queen Elizabeth II Quay. According to a Guardian investigation published on 14 October, Western intelligence sources reported that the vessel loaded a substantial quantity of cocaine in Freetown before Spanish authorities intercepted it off the coast of Western Sahara on 1 May. The investigation alleged that Dutch fugitive…
By Kelfala Lebbie Sierra Leone’s governance challenge goes beyond the people who occupy public office. Kelfala Lebbie argues that excessive centralisation weakens local accountability and calls for a major transfer of public functions, funding and responsibility to district authorities. Every few years, Sierra Leoneans choose between two major parties, yet the daily realities facing many communities remain stubbornly familiar….
By Cornelius Oguntola Melvin Deveaux For a moment, forget Dr Ibrahim Abdullah’s dismissal from Fourah Bay College in 2016. That episode was less a setback than a symbol of intellectual defiance against institutional rigidity. I was elated to meet him again, an uncompromising Pan-Africanist intellectual who situates Sierra Leone’s history within the continent’s broader struggles, consistently challenging Eurocentric narratives…
At the heart of conversations among Sierra Leone’s youth, one phrase keeps surfacing: “My pull-out game is top notch.” It’s a boast, a cultural trend, but according to medical experts the least reliable contraceptive method in practice today. Coitus interruptus, commonly known as the withdrawal or pull-out method, involves removing the penis before ejaculation to prevent sperm from entering…
By Emiola Osifeso There are moments in life when comparison becomes unavoidable, not because one country is better than another, but because comparison is the only honest way to measure reality. As someone who travels frequently between Nigeria and Sierra Leone, I arrived in Freetown with a simple assumption. Sierra Leone is a smaller economy, with a smaller population,…
By Sheriff Mahmud Ismail ABUJA, Nigeria — Before dawn had fully broken over Nigeria’s federal capital on Sunday morning, a slender white aircraft sat quietly on the tarmac, its silhouette softened by the pale glow of floodlights still resisting the coming day. Around it, the air was remarkably still. Ground crews moved with the deliberate efficiency that accompanies executive…
