The term diaspora (a scattering or sowing of seeds) is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands, being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture.The academic field of Diaspora Studies was established in the late twentieth century in regard to the expanded meaning of Diaspora. The twentieth century in particular has seen massive ethnic refugee crises due to war and the rise of nationalism and racism.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans: It is my strong conviction that God has given us everything any nation or people can ever want or ask for. To understand the premise of the above statement you need to compare Sierra Leone’s demographic, population, and land area with her natural resources, then you will find that we are by far the richest nation in the world, richer than even the United States of America. The question is, why then are we in abject poverty, and who or what is responsible for our deplorable state of affairs after fifty years since the end of direct colonial rule?

A 200km rail is being constructed by African Minerals Limited by Dawnus and it is part of the multi-million dollar projects undertaken by AML.

The project is already four months old and involves the construction of a logistics corridor that will haul the Iron ore from the mines at Tonkolili to the port at Pepel. Dawnus, a British construction company with a wealth of experience has been contracted by AML to deliver 50km of new rail and 67km of rail refurbishment and also a quarry operation including civil works at the Pepel port.

The company has been finding it difficult and challenging considering the status of the country but with their expertise they have been doing very well as they are on schedule. They have acquired some $15m equipment and materials from Britain and they have about 30 British staff in all areas of the work.

PWJ’s pages endeavors to have a reputation for generating high-quality, high-impact books, such as Dr. Kenday S. Kamara’s Sierra Leone Policy Papers, and other books by the organization’s fellows and PWJ editors.

Published monthly by Sierra Leone Policy Watch, 3801 East Florida Avenue, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80210. Subscription rate: $85 per year domestic, $165 per year foreign. Produced in the Diaspora, Printed in Sierra Leone. Postmaster: Send address change to Policy Watch Journal, 3801 East Florida Avenue, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80210. Copyright © 2010 Sierra Leone Policy Watch

Former Miss Commonwealth Sierra Leone (Charity) Miss Fatmata Bockari, pictured, has finalised arrangements for the very first ever "Miss Pride of Sierra Leone" pageant that will be launched in Freetown, Sierra Leone on January 1st 2011.

The former Pageant beauty wants to give back to her country by launching Sierra Leone’s first Beauty and Pride pageant that will focus on recognising intelligence first and beauty thereafter. The Pageant will offer a mentoring programme for all contestants and the reigning Queen will be the Pageant’s Spokeswoman and will be involved in mentoring young men and women in the Sierra Leonean school system.

Self-efficiency, dignity, grace and intelligence are some of the qualities the Queen should hold; however the pageant’s main goal is to find young and intelligent women in Sierra Leone that will later work towards being ambassadors for many charity causes and role models for many young men and women in the country.

The Augustine Boss Fallay led administration of the Sierra Leone People’s Party in North America, on Thursday, October 21, 2010 loaded sundry medical equipment valued at Eight hundred million Leones (two hundred thousand US Dollars) into a 40ft container bound for Kenema, Sierra Leone. The equipment includes X-Ray machines, ultra modern surgical and bariatric beds, patient beds and mattresses, carousels, tables, lounging chairs, television sets and other sundry furniture. ]]> email@tambalamin.net (Tamba Sheku Lamin) frontpage Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:55:00 +0000 http://policywatchjournal.com/home/news/1-latest-news/116-britains-spending-review-what-it-means-for-sierra-leone http://policywatchjournal.com/home/news/1-latest-news/116-britains-spending-review-what-it-means-for-sierra-leone Friday 22 October 2010 - By William Hague, British Foreign Secretary

This week Britain’s coalition government announced its spending plans for the next four years. We are taking urgent steps to reduce the national debt and deal with the fiscal legacy we inherited. We have shown that we have the resolve and determination to live within our means. And we have set out to reinvigorate Britain’s diplomatic engagement with the world, elevating our links with the fastest growing economies and championing Britain as a home for business and investment. We understand that economic recovery starts at home, but that we have to look beyond our shores for new opportunities and new partners.

Many people in the Western hemisphere are only familiar with the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia through popular Hollywood films such as ‘Blood Diamonds’ and ‘Lords of War’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage respectively.

But with the prosecution of the Special Court in Sierra Leone calling in the supermodel Naomi Campbell (photo) and Hollywood actress Mia Farrow as witnesses in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, there has been a renewed focus on the conflicts in West Africa. ]]> email@tambalamin.net (Tamba Sheku Lamin) frontpage Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:47:11 +0000 http://policywatchjournal.com/home/news/1-latest-news/114-sierra-leone-curse-of-its-riches-again http://policywatchjournal.com/home/news/1-latest-news/114-sierra-leone-curse-of-its-riches-again Commentary By Lansana Gberie, Senior Researcher, ACPP, Addis Ababa.

Sierra Leone’s brutal 10-year civil war was partly blamed on the misuse or mismanagement of its rich mineral resources, in particular diamonds, by the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the UN-backed Special Court trying the likes of Liberia’s Charles Taylor. So it is apposite that in its post-war governance trajectory, mineral resources would once again become a controversial central concern.

Though there were immediate problems in this regard at the war’s end in 2002, anxieties were heightened in 2007 when, on his election as President, Ernest Bai Koroma declared that he would rule the country as a business entity. He has a background in the insurance business, which is hardly a model of transparency in the country. But Koroma appears energetic and progressive, and went about courting foreign investors in a manner undreamt of under his aloof predecessor, Tejan Kabbah, a former UN civil servant. The prospect of job creation for the country’s large reserves of idle youth – a palpable national security as well as socio-economic issue – at last looked very promising indeed. ]]> email@tambalamin.net (Tamba Sheku Lamin) frontpage Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:43:06 +0000