West Africa

Sierra Leone: Delays in Chancery Building trial may affect democratic competition in next year’s elections

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman About a dozen Sierra Leonean officials are due to arrive in New York early next week to inspect the Chancery Building of the Sierra Leone Mission. The building previously served as the headquarters of Sierra Leonean diplomats assigned to the United Nations in New York. …

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Sierra Leone: Electoral Commission inflated Election Procurement Contract by US$6.3 Million

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman In the last two reports, Africanist Press published documentary evidence showing that the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) awarded two procurement contracts worth over US$10 million to two Freetown companies that did not show technical capacity to supply the requested voter registration technology and …

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Sierra Leone: Electoral Commission’s Effort to Cover-up US$10 Million Procurement Scandal

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman The Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) held a press conference on Monday 19th September 2022 in Freetown to provide updates on the voter registration exercise. The Commission also attempted to respond to the Africanist Press publication on ECSL’s US$10 million procurement scandal. The Africanist …

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Sierra Leone: Over US$500,000 Withdrawn for President Bio’s Expenses in New York

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Anne B. Wallis, and Matthew Anderson Details on bank transfers and withdrawal records from the President’s Office in Freetown show that over US$500, 000 was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) to allegedly fund personal expenses of the country’s president, Julius Maada Bio, who is currently visiting …

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Sierra Leone: Equipment and software irregularities affect voter registration despite about US$10 million government procurement expenditures

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman  Sierra Leone’s national voter registration exercise for 2023 commenced on 3 September 2022, and was fraught with technical and bureaucratic challenges. Hundreds of videos and other evidence collected by Africanist Press show that thousands of potential voters who turned up at voter registration centers, mostly …

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Illegal Expenditures: First Lady’s Office paid over Le1.3 billion to private company for alleged fuel supplies

By Nik Harris, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman Transactions in bank statements from the Office of the First Lady provide comprehensive details on how more than Le1.3 billion was paid directly to a private company in Freetown for “fuel purchase.” The transactions violated Sierra Leone’s public finance laws and procurement regulations. The 17 payments were …

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Sierra Leone: New evidence shows government’s ongoing efforts to silence Africanist Press

By Anne Baber Wallis, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman  Leaked documents from the Office of the Attorney General of Sierra Leone provide new evidence on joint efforts undertaken by leading government officials and opposition party politicians to prevent Africanist Press from publishing its investigative reports on corruption and constitutional abuse by officials in the Maada …

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Sierra Leone: Opposition Parliamentarians defend President’s corruption

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter was sent to the parliamentary leader of the All Peoples Congress (APC) on 8th July 2022. It was written by Africanist Press Editorial Department in response to public statements made by a member of the APC party in Parliament providing defense for President Julius Maada Bio against corruption reports published …

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Sierra Leone: The Financial Secretary and Money Transfers to London

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah A statement attributed to Sierra Leone’s Financial Secretary, Sahr Jusu is being circulated on social media by government officials to explain and normalize a secret wire transfer of £94,050 to the Sierra Leone High Commission in London in the name of President Julius Maada Bio, who is currently on a …

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Sierra Leone: Proposed voter registration requirements may exclude thousands of eligible voters

By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Matthew Anderson, and Mark Feldman Members of Parliament (MPs) in Sierra Leone are proposing legislation that could affect thousands of votes ahead of next year’s general elections. The proposed new public elections law would replace the 2012 Public Election Act, a ten-year old law governing the conduct of public elections …

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