By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Easmon Ngakui on 8 January 2021 formally presented new judges and state counsels to stakeholders in Kenema district for both Kenema and Kailahun districts in eastern Sierra Leone.
Speaking at the ceremony at the law court in Kenema, Ngakui said that it was the first time in the history of the country for Kailahun to get a resident high court judge. He therefore admonished the stakeholders to cooperate with the new members of the bench in their region.
“The Judges are your children and need your maximum cooperation to expedite justice as our people need justice. The court depends on police investigations to expedite justice based on their investigations of cases” he said, adding: “The lack of competent and quality investigation by the police will leave the judge no option but to throw the case out of court for lack of the correct elements of the matter”.
The DPP said the Judiciary of any country was the bedrock of peace and it could only be actualized when police and court officers worked correctly, noting that most cases were thrown out by judges and magistrates because of lack of enough evidence by the prosecutors against the accused.
He urged police officers through the Assistant Inspector General of Police to ensure that police consult the state counsels on critical matters before charging to court.
“Police should work with state counsels on sensitive matters for advice before charging to court. By law the role of police is to investigate matters not to charge, but the lack of enough manpower in the judiciary paves the way for police to charge cases in court” Ngakui said, adding: “It’s even advisable to get up to two state counsels attached to police for investigating matters”.
He went on to tell the judges that Kenema was “a critical place to work in, but if you maintain yourselves and work with focus you are bound to succeed”.
The judges presented were Justice Francis Banks Kamara assigned to the Kailahun high court and Justice Aggrey Albert Aruna assigned to the Kenema high court. State Counsel Daniel P Mansaray was assigned to the Kailahun high court while State Counsel Ibrahim Tholley to Kenema high court.
Ngakua concluded that the aim of the government was to ensure justice was easily accessible to the people which the judiciary was working towards.
In his statement, the Resident Minister East, Andrew Ansu Fatorma described the venture as part of the president’s agenda in positively transforming the country.
“It’s another historic moment to get a resident high court judge in Kailahun under this New Director. Our people in the remote communities do face challenges in accessing justice and even most of the time decide to abandon the case even when it’s their right to seek justice,” he said.
The minister called on the DPP to ensure that people were treated fairly and not to be exploited.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police, East, Thomas Mustapha Lahai expressed appreciation for the “massive transformation” in the justice sector.
“These are some of the good things that will help to ensure justice in society. Most blames go to police when cases are thrown out of court either on the part of the investigator or the way cases are charged,” said the AIG. He went on to say that “[n]o sober minded officer would like his or her matter to be thrown out court after making efforts to investigate a matter.”
AIG Lahai assured the DPP that most of the recommendations mentioned such as conducting internal training for police personnel would be looked into.
“We will work with state counsels on how to put things in place to do training for our officers,” he assured.
In his statement, the newly appointed high court judge assigned to Kailahun, Justice Francis Banks Kamara pledged to work in accordance with the constitution of the land but cautioned people not use tribe and politics to interfere into the judicial system
“I will not tolerate the issues of people using tribes, political connections and regions in influencing cases in my court. I will be angry with those people,” he warned.
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