Vol 50 No 23 | SIERRA LEONE President Koroma pledges 'We no go tire' 20th November 2009 The country wants investment and, with a little help from his friend Tony Blair, President Koroma embarks upon a fund-raising mission in Britain In the run-up to a fund-raising conference in London on 18 November, President Ernest Bai Koroma was pushing legal and business reforms, and making an example of corrupt...
Vol 50 No 23 | SIERRA LEONE From cowboys to corporates 20th November 2009 For years, cowboy outfits have churned through Sierra Leone's red dirt for diamonds and gold, but now the government is getting serious about extractive industries. Listed companies already...
Vol 50 No 22 | NIGERIA Abuja buys a Delta amnesty 6th November 2009 President Yar'Adua's government has a won a respite in the Delta, but without political reform it will remain only temporary With an eye on the 2011 elections and with oil production now well under half of the installed capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day, President Umaru Musa...
Vol 50 No 22 | LIBERIA A killing in Kakata 6th November 2009 As the government struggles to stem corruption, the head of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission is murdered Keith Jubah was shot dead, his body hacked and burned, in Kakata, 35 kilometres north of Monrovia, on 1 November. Nobody yet knows who killed him but he...
Vol 50 No 22 | LIBERIA New faces in the justice system 6th November 2009 Christiana Tah, Justice Minister: Formerly a Professor in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department at Montgomery College, Maryland, United States, Tah is a member of the State...
Vol 50 No 22 | GUINEA Soldiers out of their depth 6th November 2009 In the aftermath of the 28 September massacre, the junta faces sanctions and seems to have lost its way International pressure is growing on Guinea's military junta, shut away with its weaponry in Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo in Conakry. France has cut off its military cooperation and...
Vol 50 No 22 | BURKINA FASOGUINEA To catch a thief 6th November 2009 The choice of Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré as chief mediator in Guinea's worsening crisis is curious, given that the Burkinabé leader, in league with Liberian warlord Charles...
Vol 50 No 22 | GAMBIA Jammeh says what he thinks 6th November 2009 The President's threats against human rights activists should spoil his welcome at the Commonwealth summit and elsewhere President Yahya Jammeh is due at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago in the second half of November. However, a televised outburst in...
Vol 50 No 21 | GHANA Corruption claims and rows tarnish Accra's record 23rd October 2009 Oil deals, political intrigues and grand corruption conspire to undermine the country's image of economic and political rectitude For several years, Ghana has been praised internationally as a model of political pluralism and rational economic reform, even if some of its more introspective nationals dispute this...
Vol 50 No 21 | GHANABRITAIN Britain and bribes in Ghana 23rd October 2009 Britain used to enjoy a reputation for relative decency in matters of bribes and commissions, in comparison to European counterparts such as France, Germany and Italy. That has...