
In 2009 the local road authority in Sierra Leone hired a Chinese construction company to conduct explosions in a quarry, south of the city of Bo. The explosions created large cracks and collapsed roofs in many homes in a nearby village. Local villagers complained of mental and physical distress because of the blasting. Unconfirmed reports [...]

During the first round of Sierra Leone’s 2007 presidential and parliamentary election, 7.3% of the 1.9 million votes cast were considered invalid. jhr-trained journalist, Ibrahim Tarawallie reported at The Concord Times that this number was unreasonably high compared to other post-conflict countries: Liberia at 3%, Ghana at 2% and Iraq at 1%. The National Electoral [...]

As a part of jhr’s Fellowship program, jhr trained journalist Mohamed Massaquoi investigated the conditions of the Kenema state prison in Sierra Leone. He discovered that the prison had no medical facilities and inmates were afflicted with multiple diseases, including chicken pox, scabies, piles and others. Inmates were sleeping on the bare floor, had insufficient food and were using a single bucket between 4-5 people as a toilet. Overcrowding meant there were 150 people in a space designed for 70.