THE NEW PEOPLE EDITORIAL TEAM apologises profusely for an error in an op-ed presented by one of our commentators, Saidu Bangura of Maryland, titled "Is the President Serious about Battling Corruption." The op-ed claims that "Recently, president Koroma also appointed his good friend, Alie Forna as head of the commission in-charge of reconstruction ( Alie was fired from "CARE" for an act of dishonesty."

In ongoing investigations, we have since discovered facts about Alie Forna that completely negate the part of the story we carried. While Alie Forna is friends with President Ernest Bai Koroma, he was never fired from or even worked for CARE. After completing an Honours degree in Economics at Fourah Bay College, he worked briefly as Project Officer at CRS. After a couple of years with CRS, they were advised by one consulant that way of the future was local NGOs, so Kanja Sesay and himself set up the Association for Rural Development (ARD). They briefly carried on working for CRS, while building up ARD, but they soon realized life could be much better on their own, so they resigned their positions at CRS.

Investigations by The New People editorial team reveal that Alie Forna is a well-respected professional, and although he is a member of the APC and friends with President Koroma, he turned down appointment as a member of the Transition Team and the offer of a cabinet position. He is, indeed, a consummate professional.

OUR REGRETS AND APOLOGIES FOR THIS GRAVE ERROR.

THE NEW PEOPLE EDITORIAL TEAM .

BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY: FROM NEW PEOPLE CORRESPONDENT: Earlier today, The New People asked a series of simple questions which the newspaper expected the Vice-President to answer openly and in public in the spirit of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption. The response has been a disappointing flurry of half-truths and threats of legal action in New Jersey. At least, reports and responses have started getting at the truth.READ MORE

BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY: FROM NEW PEOPLE CORRESPONDENT: This article is an open question to the Vice-President. In the spirit of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, The New People would like the Vice President to respond to this question in public. Following a tip-off from two Sierra Leoneans in the real estate business in New Jersey, The New People investigative team was led to the site of a brand new $1 million dollar home in Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey. READ MORE

Is the President Serious About Battling Corruption?

4.08.2008

FREETOWN: Sierra Leone's telecommunications regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), has denied allegations that it has created an uneven playing field for ISPs in the country. READ MORE

Possible Corruption Hits State House as President Koroma's Clips are Sold for US$150 Each

4.08.2008

FREETOWN: FROM NEW PEOPLE CORRESPONDENT: The two-faced postures of President Ernest Bai Koroma are the stuff of much laughter and ridicule. Little wonder then that an Awareness Times article depicting the President with his head turned upside down. Following is a balance sheet of Ernest Koroma's reversals and vacillations. So early, Ernest Koroma gives "two tongue" a bad name.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE BALANCE SHEET

FREETOWN: FROM JUNIOR: The government of Sierra Leone has taken garbage collection out of the hands of the Freetown City Council and has privatized the operation, the Chief Administrator of Freetown City Council said.

Freetown will continue to be filthy until huge capital investment is spent in solving the current structural problems in waste management. The solution that the government has chosen is a new privatization arrangement which will be run by Freetown Waste Management, a business backed by a 3 million dollar World Bank loan. Evidently, the operation is slated to be granted to APC loyalists. READ MORE

China and India to Revamp Sierratel as APC Government Concludes another SLPP Project.

4.07.2008

FREETOWN: FROM IRINNEWS: The World Food Programme (WFP) says that food prices have increased sharply in Sierra Leone and warns that any further rise could “badly impact [on] the majority of the population” in what the UN has judged to be the world’s least developed country.

In December 2007, the cost of rice increased by 40 percent compared to December 2006, WFP said in a statement on 14 March. READ MORE

Report on President Koroma's Tour of Eastern Sierra Leone.

4.07.2008

FREETOWN: SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FROM YENGA: While the APC government of Sierra Leone looks all set to undertake its politicised purge of the army, Yenga and adjoining territories are still occupied by Guinean soldiers who have moved armour (like the pictured BRDM2 Reconnaisance Vehicle). From my vantage point, I saw at least 3 concealed machine gun nests well inside Sierra Leone territory and there were aggressive Guinean foot patrols who kept Sierra Leoneans as far away from their defensive positions as possible. With President Ernest Bai Koroma's recent statement that it intends to use the Mano River Union (comprising only Liberia with all of its only 800 trained soldiers), Sierra Leoneans must know that Yenga is lost for sometime. READ MORE

FREETOWN: DR SAMA BANYA: Many a time, I have not believed some of the stories in many of our newspapers, but it is said that where so many witnesses agree, there is a likelihood that they are right. And so it is with the story in a few newspapers last week reporting on the PMDC leader Charles Margai's recent visit to Kenema. On the front page of the Premier newspaper of Friday April 4, are photographs of Charles and President Ernest Bai Koroma under the headline 'PMDC Removed SLPP Not The APC- Charles Margai" In the rest of the story Charles is quoted as saying that they as a group decided to support the APC because they wanted to put an end to trbalism in the Country, but regreted that they had not been able to remove tribalism in their struggle. He revealed that now that tribalism had raised its ugly head in our society because if anyone did not come from the North, he or she did not have any credential for any position in the Country. READ MORE

FREETOWN: ELLA JONES-DOVE: The photograph of the subject of this article has been embossed by the editorial staff.

"The APC Leadership has decided to support Yahya Kaloko . . . His late brother was singularly responsible for re-organising this party, and we owe it to him to ensure that his brothers are recognised and fulfilled within this party. . . Our party is not an ungrateful party. . . We have decided that the APC symbol and support for Mayor of Freetown will be going to Yahya Kaloko. . . It is not that we do not want to support a Creole candidate as most people are saying. . . In fact, we're not anti-Krio; we just want our own man in office, northern and committed . . .We want someone we can trust; someone who shares our vision and perceptions of where we want the APC to go." Those ARE TRANSLATIONS of various very blunt statements from the most senior law maker and representative for Constituency 33 who is resident at Sanda Lodge in Marjay Town. READ MORE

"It is Electricity for the Girlfriends of APC Vons and Nothing for a Hungry and Depressed Population," Investigations at NPA Reveal.

4.06.2008

"Changing Beliefs. . . Changing Feelings" and "Attitude Change"

4.06.2008