By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Finda Diana Konomanyi, Former Minister of Lands under President Koroma led administration, at the Court of Appeal, was on 31 May 2021acquitted of crimes related to the corruption that emanated from the Commissions of Inquiry.
The initial argument put forth by Counsel representing the appellant was that the evidence upon which Justice Biobele Georgewill of the Commissions of Inquiry based his recommendations was inadequate and not substantive. Hence, the appellant filed an appeal on nine grounds on the 14th October 2020.
Konomanyi was one of the persons of interest found guilty by Justice Georgewill. The Judge, in his judgment, at the Commissions of Inquiry, had instructed that the house of the former minister, located at 1 Albert Lavaly Street, Adonkia Goderich in the Western Area, be confiscated and put up for auction upon which the proceeds generated be incorporated into the Consolidated Fund.
Counsel Sorie, in one of his premises, argued that the examination done by the valuer, who also doubles as witness did not corroborate the actual value of the house and that the valuer was not a professional irrespective of his over 30 years experience. He further said that the address put forth by the valuer of the said property is a misrepresentation of the actual address.
The appellant counsel also argued that the judge of the COI failed to adequately examine the evidence adduced. He had further argued that her client’s income was sourced not only from her earnings as a state’s person but also as a proprietor of a series of limited liability companies. Counsel Sorie argued that Justice Georgewill erred in his judgment when he failed to demystify the distinction between a sole proprietorship and a limited liability company. For this reason, the judge, misdirected his judgment and went beyond the legal parameters of the court.
State’s Counsel Robert Kowa had argued that the testimony of the valuer should not in any way be swept under the carpet because the valuer and witness, Olu Campbell, has an experience that spanned over 30 years and that professionalism should not be only determined by attending a tertiary institution.
In their judgment Justices Komba Kamanda and Tonia Barnet, acquitted the matter in general while flagging out some of the appeals made. The judges in their judgment relied on the spate of evidence put forward by the appellant’s counsel. The evidence included a series of bank statements that tracked the financial records of the appellant.
However, Justice Fatmatta Bintu Alhadi, gave a dissenting judgment citing that the appellant’s counsel was wrong to posit that the judgment of Justice Georgewill is not in its entirety wrong. She said that although the judge went beyond the legal parameters of the court, did not mean that the judge was outrightly wrong. She further stated that the choice of words used by the judge did not in any way prejudice the case but rather just choices of words that were informed by the evidence presented in front of him.
Justice Alhadi further stated that Grounds 1, 3,4,5,6, 7, and 8 are dismissed. She, however, stated that Ground 2 should be upheld but not with the recommendation made by the Justice Georgewill. Justice Alhadi, instead, recommended that a forensic analysis should be conducted on the businesses and the said house of the appellant. She also said that Konomanyi should pay the sum of 30 million Leones or serve a jail term of 6 months because she failed to comply with section 119 of the ACC Act of 2008 (as amended). In other words, Konomanyi failed to declare her assets on a yearly basis especially the years under review.
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