News
One Nation Reggae Festival: Sierra Leone builds cultural bridge between Africa and the Caribbean
There are moments when music moves beyond entertainment and begins to carry history, memory, and identity in the same breath.
In Sierra Leone, that shift is now being tested through the One Nation Reggae Festival (ONRF), returning to Freetown from November 25 to 30, 2026.
Reggae is not new to Africa. Its roots and its reach have long circled between the continent and the Caribbean.
What is changing is how Sierra Leone is choosing to organise that connection, not as a loose cultural exchange, but as a structured tourism and creative platform.
At the centre of this effort is the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, led by Minister Nabeela Farida Tunis, which is positioning ONRF as part of a wider push to use culture as a working part of tourism development, diaspora engagement, and creative industry growth.
The festival does not begin on a stage. It begins in history. Across Freetown and its coastal edges, heritage sites linked to the Atlantic slave trade sit within the festival’s programme, including Bunce Island.
These locations are not treated as background stops. They are part of the experience itself.
That design choice defines ONRF. It places reggae, a genre shaped by displacement and return, in direct conversation with the geography of that history.
Minister Tunis framed this connection in clear terms: “We invite the diaspora, global travellers, creatives, young people, and lovers of culture to come to Sierra Leone not only for entertainment, but for a spiritual rebirth, a rediscovery of identity, and an immersive experience of freedom, resilience, rhythm, and heritage.”
She described the festival as “a journey of reconnection and remembrance, rooted in the deep historical ties between Africa, the Caribbean and the wider Atlantic.”
The 2025 edition of ONRF established the foundation.
International reggae acts including Sizzla Kalonji, Christopher Martin, and Queen Ifrica performed in Freetown, joined by local talent from the Reggae Union Sierra Leone. But the programme extended far beyond music.
It moved through heritage tours across the capital, creative development clinics, an emerging artists platform, and a closing ceremony staged at Bunce Island. Each layer added a different entry point into the same story, music, memory, and movement.
A portion of proceeds was channeled into a Creative Village to support local musicians and technical crews. Another share went toward hurricane relief efforts in Jamaica, extending the festival’s reach into community support.
The outcome of that first edition was not only attendance. It was structure. ONRF began to operate less like a concert series and more like a cultural system linking performance, place, and participation.
The 2026 edition builds on that structure. Across six days in November, Freetown will host live roots reggae, workshops, traditional dance, food experiences, sound system culture, fashion showcases, and beach-based cultural activities. The festival is designed to move audiences across different spaces, not keep them in one.
The result is a layered experience where heritage tours sit alongside music stages, and where craft markets and creative labs exist within the same programme flow.
This year’s edition is expected to expand international participation while keeping local artists central, including continued involvement from Sierra Leone’s reggae community.
ONRF sits within Sierra Leone’s Year of Culture and Creativity, a national focus that links cultural programming with tourism growth and creative enterprise development.
In practical terms, the festival is being used to test how culture can operate across multiple sectors at once, tourism, entertainment, heritage, and creative training.
The 2025 edition showed what happens when heritage becomes part of a live event structure.
Sites like Bunce Island were not visited as static landmarks. They became part of a closing cultural programme that combined reflection with performance. The effect was a shift in how visitors moved through history, not as observers, but as participants in a staged experience.
Economically, the festival generated activity across hospitality, transport, and retail, with a sold-out concert anchoring demand in Freetown.
The second edition now carries a different test. It is no longer about introducing the concept.
It is about how far it can grow without losing its structure. More international acts are expected. More African and Caribbean collaborations are being planned.
The creative development components are set to expand further.
But the core design remains unchanged, music, heritage, and movement across spaces tied together in one programme.
The One Nation Reggae Festival is now operating in a space where culture is not only presented, but organised into an experience that connects identity, place, and tourism in the same frame.
The Volta North Regional Police Command has secured a conviction of a 27 year old man Mohammed Rafiu for making unlawful entry and stealing church musical instruments at Hohoe in the Volta Region.
On June 5, 2026 the accused was observed near the Faith International Ministry Church carrying a sack containing various items rushing to hail a car.
The witnesses suspected his action and approached to check the content in the sack. The following items were found, One (1) Amplifier, One (1) equalizer, One (1) mixer and
Cross-over Machine all belonging to the church.
The accused was arrested and brought to the Hohoe Police District where he admitted to police to the charges leveled against him.
On Monday June 8, 2026 the accused was put before the Hohoe circuit cout where he pleaded guilty on two counts and was convicted and sentenced to three (3) years for unlawful entry and four (4) years of stealing.
Both sentences are to run concurrently.
The Volta North Regional Police Command has urged the general public to immediately report any suspected criminal activities to the Police for action.
News
Dome-Kwabenya MP, Ga East MCE tour flood-prone areas in the constituency, assure victims of support
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya, Elikplim Akurugu, together with the Municipal Chief Executive for the Ga East Municipal Assembly, Edmund Agboh, and officials of the assembly, have toured several flood-prone communities in the constituency to identify the causes of recent flooding and inspect structures obstructing waterways.
The inspection made on the Monday, 8th June, 2026 formed part of efforts to assess the extent of the flooding, identify structures built on waterways, and develop plans for their demolition to prevent future occurrences.
Some areas visited during the tour included Christian Village, Sesemi, Abokobi Station, Falaku and the Pure Water area, all of which were affected by the recent floods that hit parts of the constituency.
Speaking to the media after the inspection, the MP expressed sadness over the destruction caused by the floods, noting that although no lives were lost, many residents had suffered significant property damage.
She attributed much of the flooding to human activities such as indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains and the construction of buildings on waterways and drainage channels.
The MP appealed to residents to change their attitudes towards sanitation and environmental management, stressing that the country did not have a deficit of prayers but rather an attitude deficit.
She assured residents that the assembly and its technical team would immediately begin work to address some of the drainage challenges identified during the tour.
Ms. Akurugu sympathised with residents whose homes and businesses were affected by the floods and assured them that efforts were being made to secure relief items to support them.
The Municipal Chief Executive of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, Edmund Agboh, said the inspection was intended to take stock of the causes of the recent flooding, which he described as unprecedented.
According to him, the assembly wants to be proactive by identifying and addressing the factors responsible for the flooding before the next rainy season.
Mr. Agboh blamed part of the problem on the increasing number of structures being erected on waterways and drainage paths, as well as the failure of some residents to comply with building regulations.
He disclosed that many of the structures identified during the inspection would be marked for demolition after the necessary procedures had been completed.
The MCE further announced plans to intensify inspections, particularly on weekends, explaining that some developers often undertake unauthorised construction works on Saturdays and Sundays when assembly officials are not at work.
He said the assembly would collaborate with neighbouring jurisdictions and deploy additional resources to improve drainage systems and reduce flooding in the municipality.
The MCE assured that the assembly will use the findings from the inspection to implement immediate and long-term measures aimed at reducing flooding and protecting lives and property in Dome-Kwabenya.
The Director of Works at the Ga East Municipal Assembly, Engineer Justine Glover, said the team inspected several critical locations along the Dakobi River and other flood-prone areas.
He explained that at Pantang Village, officials directed contractors to excavate and open blocked culvert outlets to allow the free flow of water during rainfall.
At Sesemi, he said the team observed extensive damage caused by upstream developments and the absence of proper drainage infrastructure.
Engineer Glover added that officials recommended dredging drainage channels at Abokobi Station to improve the performance of existing culverts.
He further revealed that some structures identified on waterways at Falaku had been earmarked for demolition as part of efforts to restore the natural flow of water.
In addition to the inspection, the MP and the MCE visited residents affected by the floods in the Pure Water area to offer words of encouragement and assure them of support.
The tour also revealed that many residents had constructed buildings on waterways, while several structures lacked the required building permits, a situation officials said had contributed significantly to the flooding experienced in the constituency.
By: Jacob Aggrey
