Lenses Behind Bars: A Prosecutor Becomes an Inmate
A prison holding more than twice the number it was built for cannot rehabilitate.
A remand detainee is presumed innocent, but every morning behind bars punishes him as though guilt were already settled. Overcrowding is not an abstraction. It is the air you share, the space you sleep in, the queue for sanitation, the tension among men with nothing to lose. I saw men who had not been convicted of anything, whose cases had stalled, and whose liberty depended on a system too slow to notice them.
#SierraLeone | #JosephFitzgeraldKamara(JFK)
The IoT Age: When Everyday Devices Become Targets
Smart technology has made everyday life more convenient, but it has also created new openings for cybercriminals. The recent cyberattack on French supermarkets showed how hackers can remotely take control of connected refrigeration systems, raising temperatures, spoiling fresh and frozen food, and even triggering fires. What once seemed like a harmless “smart” device can become a serious risk when it is connected to the internet without strong security. This incident is a warning that the Internet of Things is not only about convenience. It is also about protecting the systems we depend on every day.
#Technology | #The Internet of Things (IoT)
A Public Holiday in the United States: Columbus Day!
October 12, 2026: “The Deceit of Christopher Columbus and the Myth of Discovering America and the Caribbean Islands.”
Long before Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean, Indigenous peoples had lived throughout the Americas for thousands of years. In the Caribbean, the Taíno people inhabited many islands, including Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. These communities had their own languages, agricultural practices, spiritual beliefs, and social structures. To claim that Columbus discovered these lands without acknowledging their original inhabitants is to diminish their existence and erase their place in history.
#USA | #ChristopherColumbus
Ghana announces plan to apply for BRICS membership
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced on October 6, 2026, at a joint press briefing in Accra with India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He said President John Dramani Mahama’s Cabinet had approved Ghana’s bid. He said the move would diversify Ghana’s international partnerships and expand economic opportunities.
“We don’t want a situation where we continue to export raw materials. We want to add value to the natural resources that we have.” This makes industrial development, not merely diplomatic prestige, a central stated reason for the bid.
#Ghana | #BRICS
H.R. 9710, the “Third World Immigration Moratorium Act”: The Catchphrase “Countries of Identified Concern"
H.R. 9710, the “Third World Immigration Moratorium Act,” uses the bureaucratic catchphrase “countries of identified concern” to describe dozens of nations whose citizens could face broad U.S. entry restrictions.
#Immigration | #USA
The Harvard Account Excuse: A Masterclass in Arrogance
Chief Minister David Sengeh explained on Radio Democracy 98.1 FM that his salary is paid into an account opened for him while he was a student at Harvard. Another person has managed that account since he was 19. He says he does not personally access or manage the account that receives his government income, which is why he does not know the amount.
If this is the mindset of anyone who hopes to one day lead the motherland, Sierra Leone should take notice: leadership is not a title, a résumé, or an elite education. It is accountability, especially when the question is as simple as, “How much of the people’s money are you paid?”
#OutOfTouch | #SierraLeonePolitics
When Appearances Deceive: Beauty, Business and the €225 Million Cocaine Case
Let the evidence speak. Let us learn not to envy people simply because their lives look polished. A successful business, a beautiful home, influential connections, travel, and public admiration may reflect years of hard work, or they may conceal pressures and stories we do not know. But we must also refuse to turn jealousy into accusation.
That tension lies at the center of the case involving Jessica Hartog, reported owner of Eurospa Spa and Salon, who is among four people charged in Ghana in connection with the alleged shipment of cocaine to France.
#DrugTrafficking | #CocaineShipment
European Parliament Signals That West African Transit Routes Including Sierra Leone Are Now Viewed as Part of Europe’s Drug Security Problem
EU Parliament Photo
Sierra Leone cannot afford a muted public response to an international organized-crime concern. The real question is whether the country recognizes the gravity of what is now being said openly in Brussels.
In a matter involving a fugitive linked by investigators to a transnational cocaine-trafficking network, silence and ambiguity do not reassure international partners. They invite questions about urgency, transparency, cooperation, and whether Sierra Leone is doing enough to prevent its territory, institutions, ports, or financial system from being exploited.
#EUParliament | #DrugTrafficking
He Armed a War. He Died in Peace. The Timber Baron Who Helped Turn Liberia Into an Arsenal
Guus Kouwenhoven leaving a Cape Town courthouse. Published by NOS in connection with the South African extradition proceedings.
The courts found him guilty. The system let him grow old. Guus Kouwenhoven was sentenced to 19 years for illegal arms trafficking and complicity in war crimes, but he fought extradition from South Africa until death delivered the freedom prison never did. Survivors lived with the aftermath.
#WarCrimes | #Liberia
Salone Minefield: Unemployed Youths
In this country, even friendship in community leagues comes armed.
That should worry us. Because when ordinary football, community rivalry, neighborhood disagreements, or youthful banter can suddenly spark confrontation, the problem is bigger than the argument itself. A deeper problem has turned the country into a minefield. Then we act surprised when tempers start running on all-wheel drive.
Youth unemployment is not a statistic sitting quietly in a report. It is a social pressure building in real time.
#YouthUnemployment | #StopTheGames
Out of Touch: A Chief Minister Who Does Not Know His Own Salary
Out of Touch: The exchange with Umaru Fofana of AYV during the wide-ranging interview may have revealed more than an awkward answer. It may reflect an underlying attitude, a sense of insulation from the everyday realities confronting ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
When a Chief Minister says he receives a salary but does not know its amount, many citizens, especially those grappling with rising living costs and demanding accountability from public officials, may reasonably see the response as disconnected from ordinary life.
#OutOfTouch | #SierraLeonePolitics
The Two Women in Lappas in Freetown
Warima was my first understanding of Sierra Leone. It was a Temne-speaking environment. People greeted one another properly, elders were respected, and adults could correct children who were not their own. People knew who you were and, more importantly, they knew your parents and family. I did not think of any of these things as culture. That was simply how people lived.
#Bongolistically | #MallamO
Did the Krios Make Themselves an Unlikeable Bunch in Sierra Leone?
This is a sensitive historical subject, so it is important to distinguish among historical facts, public perceptions, and political narratives. During the colonial era, the Krios occupied a privileged position in Sierra Leone’s social, educational, and administrative structures. They were among the first Africans in the region to receive Western education, and many became civil servants, traders, clergy members, lawyers, teachers, and administrators. Yet beneath this remarkable success was another story: internal divisions and rivalries within the Krio community sometimes weakened its collective influence.
Today, many Krios see themselves as a shrinking minority, struggling to preserve their identity and remain relevant in a political system dominated by larger ethnic groups. Krio history is therefore a story of both privilege and vulnerability—a community that helped build modern Sierra Leone but now faces questions of belonging, representation, and cultural survival. Although Krios made significant contributions to education, journalism, law, and commerce, political disagreements sometimes developed into bitter personal conflicts.
J. Reynold Weekes’s response: Parts I and II
#KrioHistory | #SierraLeone
French Customs Seize Multi-Ton Cocaine Shipment Reportedly Linked to ‘Bolle Jos’
Packages displayed after a French customs seizure in Dunkirk. The image was published with reporting on the interception; the precise quantity represented in the photograph has not been independently confirmed.
DUNKIRK, France — French customs authorities have intercepted a major cocaine shipment aboard a cargo vessel traveling from Ghana toward Antwerp, according to reporting by NL Times. The seizure reportedly involved several thousand kilograms of cocaine and is believed by investigators to be connected in part to the organization of fugitive Dutch drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, widely known as “Bolle Jos."
The seizure demonstrates the continued use of commercial shipping routes to move cocaine from West Africa into Europe.
#DrugTrafficking | #CocaineShipment
Green Cards for Cash: The Alleged Greed Inside America’s Immigration System
Some individuals of Nigerian origin have committed serious crimes in the United States despite having legitimate opportunities. Those individuals should be held accountable, but their actions should not be used to characterize Nigerians generally.
One such case involves Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former senior immigration services officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye.
According to the federal criminal complaint, the alleged scheme operated as a cash-for-immigration-approvals arrangement. Ganiyu allegedly used his official access to interfere with applications, bypassing required interviews, criminal-background checks, supervisory review, jurisdictional limits, and ordinary processing procedures. Prosecutors further allege that some applications were approved even though the applicants allegedly did not qualify.
#LukmanOwolabiGaniyu | #AdeniyiAkeemSomoye
$40 Million in Gold, 17 Years of Lies: The CIA Officer Who Robbed His Own Agency
He reportedly got hired at the CIA in 2009 and stayed for 17 years, working his way into a senior executive role. The scheme only unraveled during a routine inventory check, exposing what sources call one of the most significant financial crimes in the agency's history. Rush allegedly fabricated nearly his entire resume — claiming to be a decorated Navy captain and Air Force test pilot — and got away with it for nearly two decades. The case of David J. Rush.
The Story Behind The Story!
#USA | #CIA
The Mango Tree PhD Program: Ye Dominion Ye
In the grand intellectual springtime of 2022, Waterloo, near Freetown, unveiled what may have been academia’s boldest shortcut yet: Dominion Christian University’s open-air doctorate factory, operating from a backyard beneath a mango tree. With the majesty of borrowed gowns, ceremonial swagger, and credentials apparently growing faster than the fruit overhead. The graduation slogan practically writes itself: “Knowledge may be optional, but the gown is mandatory.”
#YeDominionYe | #SierraLeone’sFinest
Power in Motion: Nepal’s Flood
The recent major flash flooding in Nepal began on the morning of August 26, 2026, near the Nepal–Tibet/China border. Beginning at approximately 8:37 AM Nepal time, a glacier collapse and landslide unleashed water, mud, and debris through the region’s river valleys. What remains is the realization of how fragile life can seem when the ground begins to shift. The river does not simply flood—it reshapes the valley in real time.
#NepalFlood | #Nepal–Tibet/China-border
Passenger Stunned to Clear U.S. Customs Before Leaving Dublin
A traveler flying home from Dublin discovered he had to complete U.S. immigration and customs checks before boarding his flight. That means when you arrive in the U.S., you are generally treated like a domestic arrival—
Passengers traveling on eligible nonstop flights to the United States complete U.S. immigration, customs, and agricultural checks before leaving Ireland. Instead of waiting until you land in the U.S. to go through immigration and customs, you complete those checks at Dublin Airport before your flight leaves.
#USPreclearance | #CustomsBorderPatrol
Gambia Operation Identifies 74 Suspected Stolen Vehicles
A two-week border-security operation near Banjul, The Gambia, identified 74 stolen motor vehicles after authorities carried out more than 13,000 checks using INTERPOL databases. The operation was conducted under Project Identity, described by INTERPOL.
Using mobile devices that give frontline access to INTERPOL databases, teams checked identity documents, fingerprints and vehicles for links to terrorism, drug trafficking and human trafficking. More than 13,000 database queries were made, including 748 through the Biometric Hub.
#INTERPOL | #PROJECT-IDENTITY