The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone may be preparing for the final pullout of its peacekeeping force by the end of the year, but it seems, the mission wants to leave behind a clean record, in so far as sexual exploitation and abuse is concerned. This follows a number of of cases of sexual exploitation in the four years that the peacekeepers have been staying in Sierra Leone.

Angry Sierra Leoneans are demanding that their government ask Guinea to withdraw its troops from their territory, which they occupied five years ago. Troops from Guinea occupied the eastern border town of Yenga during Sierra Leone’s civil war between the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front and government forces.

Ravaged by civil war for almost a decade, Sierra Leone’s fragile stability faces a new threat from drugs. Police say that their eradication campaign is bearing fruit, but some social workers believe that more needs to be done to secure an enduring peace.

"I will be defending myself because as far as I am concerned, I don’t have any case to answer before this court," said Sam Hinga Norman, on Monday. Although the court officially opened its doors in March, the former deputy defence minister of Sierra Leone and coordinator of the tribal militias known as the "Kamajors" is the first suspect to go on trial at its specially-built premises in the country’s capital — Freetown.

Local elections aren’t a rarity, some would claim. But, they are if you live in Sierra Leone and have not had a say about local councillors in three decades. That the elections are happening is the good news. The bad news is that the contest is not going to be a pretty one.

A seemingly intractable dispute is under way in Sierra Leone between hawkers and those who are tired of weaving their way through the teeming roadside markets that have sprung up in the capital. Authorities recently launched a programme called Operation Free Flow to clear Freetown’s streets of vendors.