By Prince Musa
A local nongovernmental organisation in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone, has accused the Paramount Chief of Mandu Chiefdom of intimidating police to pervert the course of justice thereby compromising a two-year-long sexual abuse case in the locality.
Humanist Watch Sierra Leone says PC Kellie Coomber and the Line Manager of the police Family Support Unit in Daru connived to frustrate progress in the case which involves the Town Chief of Mobai Mandu Chiefdom, Momoh Laa.
The 60-year chief Laa is accused of abusing a 12-year-old girl in an incident dating back to 2014.
According to Christopher Morie Brima, national coordinator of Humanist Watch, when the matter was reported to the police in Daru, PC Coomber intimidated the FSU Line Manager saying he (the PC) had an interest in the matter as the suspect was a stakeholder in his chiefdom hence he wanted it resolved out of court.
Brima said the police granted bail to the suspect after the intervention of the Paramount Chief and since then no action had been taken by police. He said they met the parents of the alleged victim as part of the implementation of a UNDP-funded sexual and gender-based violence project in Mandu Chiefdom.
The parents were quoted as having been threatened by the Paramount Chief who allegedly boasted that nothing would come out of the case after his intervention.
Humanist Watch is a local NGO which operates in the eastern region of Sierra Leone, focusing mostly on gender-based and domestic violence.
With funds from UNICEF, it says it has trained over 10 community stakeholders on sexual violence and human rights issues, as well as provided microcredit to victims of such violence.
Brima said in the course of their campaign they had discovered that most of the perpetrators of these crimes were people in authority, hence most of the cases were compromised while the victims remained vulnerable in the community.
He cited the case of a three-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually abused by a 30-year-old man in Madina Village in Peje West Chiefdom.
Out of the 48 sexual and gender-based cases the organisation has worked on, 23 were victims of sexual penetration and 17 were related to economic neglect, it says.
Meanwhile, Chief David Coomber has expressed regret over his involvement in the matter at the police. He told Politico that he was deceived by Mr Laa who protested his innocence. But the Paramount Chief added that another factor influenced his decision to intervene which was the need for the suspect’s expertise to deal with a major crisis in the chiefdom.
"I am disappointed over the whole matter and my involvement in the case because much was expected from Momoh Laa. But since he has deceived me by running away from the matter, I stand to be convinced that he is not guilty of what he stands accused of,” Mr Coomber said in a telephone interview. He said he had relieved Mr Laa from office as a result of the incident.
The PC has also offered to help the police apprehend the town chief.
Earlier, the Regional Police chief in the East, Alfred Karrow Kamara, told Politico that the Paramount Chief could be charged for aiding and abetting over the issue.
Copyright (c) Politico 2016
