{"id":25572,"date":"2016-01-26T14:44:23","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T20:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=25572"},"modified":"2016-01-26T14:44:23","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T20:44:23","slug":"sierra-leone-moves-beyond-ebola-to-political-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sierra-leone-moves-beyond-ebola-to-political-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone moves beyond Ebola to political drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bian Elkhatib and Meggie Morris<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sierra Leone isn\u2019t in the news often. When the West African country makes an appearance in mainstream U.S. media, it\u2019s often in relation to Ebola, a disease that is reported to have killed almost 4,000 people in the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the country currently ranks 79th in terms of press freedom<\/a>, according to Reporters without Borders, a non-profit organization that promotes freedom of the press. and 119th in terms of corruption<\/a>,\u00a0 according to Transparency International — a not-for-profit organization that monitors corruption around the world.<\/p>\n

Its population of about 6 million is 60 percent Muslim, 30 percent indigenous beliefs, and 10 percent Christian, according to the CIA World Factbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Related Stories<\/h2>\n

Prominent Chicago resident runs for president of Sierra Leone and is charged with bigamy<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very corrupt judicial system. It does whatever the executive wants,\u201d said Professor Jimmy Kandeh, who teaches African politics at Richmond University.<\/p>\n

The current president is Ernest Bai Koroma, who is serving his second term, and has been in power since 2007.<\/p>\n

By law, President Koroma\u2019s time in office is to end after this term. However, \u201cKoroma is trying to extend his term,\u201d Kandeh said.<\/p>\n

There are two main political parties in Sierra Leone, the SLPP (Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party), and the APC (All People\u2019s Congress), which is currently in power.<\/p>\n

Kandeh said President Koroma\u2019s government has been arresting people for speaking out at a higher rate than his predecessor.<\/p>\n

Alie Kabba, a Chicago-based community organizer announced his run for President of Sierra Leone from Chicago in November 2014. Within days of arriving in his homeland a year later to campaign on the ground, he was arrested and charged with bigamy. Kabba\u2019s ex-wife Diana Konomanyi currently serves in the President\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n

Kabba\u2019s arrest and imprisonment has been largely ignored by Chicago media. It\u2019s primarily being covered by international news outlets and media organizations in Sierra Leone and West Africa.<\/p>\n

\"Chicago\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
On Jan. 5, 2016, WBEZ\u2019s Worldview airs an interview with Kabba\u2019s campaign manager, Kobe Williams, about Kabba\u2019s arrest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"International<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
On Dec. 23, 2015, BBC Africa includes news of Kabba\u2019s arrest in its Africa Highlights. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"International<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Sierra Leone Telegraph has been covering the Kabba story consistently. It is run from the United Kingdom. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Sierra<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Awoko Times, a newspaper in Freetown, has been reporting on the Alie Kabba case. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Sierra<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Coco Rioko, a pro-APC newspaper, has run numerous editorials challenging Kabba\u2019s presidency and supporting the government\u2019s arrest. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Sierra<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Kabba gave an interview to Radio Democracy shortly before his arrest. According to a study by the BBC, the majority of the population of Sierra Leone gets their news through radio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Sierra<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The country ranks No. 79 in terms of press freedom, according to Reporters without Borders, a non-profit organization that promotes freedom of the press. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

A friend of Kabba\u2019s in Pennsylvania said he is worried about the political situation in Sierra Leone. He wishes to remain anonymous because he\u2019s concerned for his family\u2019s safety there. \u201cOur people don\u2019t want to go back to war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 1991, Sierra Leone\u2019s political controversies led to civil war that lasted 11 years. The attempt by a rebel army to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government resulted in more than 70,000 casualties, according to a 2006 United Nations report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the people are fed up. The factors that caused the war are being repeated today,\u201d Kandeh said.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Map of Sierra Leone within West Africa. (Vardion\/Wikipedia Commons)<\/a> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bian Elkhatib and Meggie Morris Sierra Leone isn\u2019t in the news often. When the West African country makes an appearance in mainstream U.S. media, it\u2019s often in relation to Ebola, a disease that is reported to have killed almost 4,000 people in the country. But the country currently ranks 79th in terms of press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264,"featured_media":25800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nSierra Leone moves beyond Ebola to political drama - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sierra-leone-moves-beyond-ebola-to-political-drama\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sierra Leone moves beyond Ebola to political drama - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bian Elkhatib and Meggie Morris Sierra Leone isn\u2019t in the news often. 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