By Francis H. Murray
The Principal Legal Consultant at the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lahai Momoh Farmah, has disclosed that filing of legal appeals against the government’s whitepaper will not stop the implementation of its recommendations.
He made this statement on Monday at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication. He said that the filing of appeals by persons of interest against the directives of the government’s whitepaper, which he referred to as a High Court Judgment, didn’t have the effect of a stay of execution judgment.
Lawyer Farmah added that in the event where persons of interest go for stay of execution at the Court of Appeal, such decisions could only be reached if there were special circumstances presented before the court to warrant such an action.
He confirmed that as at the time of the press conference, a total of 58 appeals had already been filed to the Court of Appeal for which the Law Officer’s Department was equally filing responses to the various grounds put before the court.
The legal consultant further noted that since the launch of the whitepaper, the Law Officer’s Department has been engaged in ensuring that they comply with the government’s directive, adding that about 28 summons have been prepared against persons of interest for confiscation of properties and payment.
While confirming that some persons of interests had begun paying monies for which they have been investigated and found wanting, the lawyer urged others named in the report to effect payment before the end of the 90 days ultimatum given by the government, which is December 24.
“Those who were supposed to pay monies and have started paying, I will advise you to go and pay if you have the document. When enforcement comes, except otherwise, we have to make sure those monies are paid. But if we cannot get it, if your house was not a subject matter of same, we can make it a subject matter of same. So don’t allow the law to chase you, go and pay within the 90 days period given,’’ he warned.
However, Lawyer Farmah did not disclose the names of persons of interest who have begun payment of monies illegally acquired from the Consolidated Fund, and he said that the recovered monies were being paid into a special account created by the government and receipts of such payment taken to the Accountant General‘s office.
Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, Mamadi Ngobeh Kamara, said that following the launch of the whitepaper, the government conducted a nationwide consultation with all key and relevant stakeholders about its recommendations.
Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Raman Swaray, reiterated the government’s position to implement the whitepaper to the letter, noting that it’s for the interest of transparency and accountability.
The government’s whitepaper was published on the 24th of September 2020, following the conclusion of three Commissions of Inquiry set up by the Bio administration to look into the activities of former government officials who served in the Ernest Bai Koroma administration between 2007 and 2018.
The whitepaper adopted some of the recommendations of the Commissions of Inquiry, which included the payment of monies illegally acquired from the country’s coffers and the confiscation of properties.
Koroma’s opposition All Peoples Congress Party has referred to the whitepaper as a witch-hunt, which it said is aimed at deliberately smearing their party’s hard-earned reputation and that of its officials.
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