The Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) has strongly denied reports circulating on social media claiming that jailed musician and politician, Zainab Sheriff has died.
In an official statement dated 17 August 2026 and issued for immediate release, the Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) described a flyer making the rounds online that purported she was dead as “nothing other than Fake News” that must not be relied upon in any way.
“Zainab Sheriff is reliably alive,” the SLCS declared.
The service said Sheriff had complained of being sick and was given the requisite medical attention like any other inmate in its custody. It stated that she is “recovering very well,” stressing that the welfare of every inmate is its utmost priority as an institution.
The SLCS urged the public and the media to rely only on it for accurate and official updates concerning inmates in its custody.
The denial comes amid widespread social media speculation about the condition of the high-profile inmate.
Separately, Zainab Sheriff’s family has also rejected the death rumour. An aunt who recently visited her confirmed she is alive but raised alarm that her health condition is reportedly critical, calling for urgent medical intervention and appealing to government, humanitarian organisations and NGOs to ensure she receives the care needed.
Zainab (Yeabu) Sheriff, a well-known Sierra Leonean musician, model, entertainer and political activist, is the chairperson of the Wi Duti (We Duty / Lappa) civic movement and has been associated with the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) as a flagbearer aspirant.
She was arrested in February 2026 and later sentenced on 14 April 2026 by a Freetown magistrate’s court to four years and two months’ imprisonment (to run concurrently) on charges of incitement and using threatening language under the Public Order Act. The charges arose from remarks she made at an APC rally on 31 January 2026 at the Brima Attouga Mini Stadium, in which prosecutors said she described election rigging as treason and stated that those responsible should be killed. Sheriff has maintained that her comments were political speech aimed at discouraging electoral malpractice, not a call to violence. She has been held at the Sierra Leone Female Correctional Centre (New England). An appeal against her conviction and sentence has been progressing through the High Court.
