By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Frankly Bai Kargbo, has said that the Supreme Court was set to move its courtroom, together with the office of the Chief Justice, to the former Special Court premises after the Ebola crisis in the country.
This would be the second time that the AG is making the same promise, the first being when the Special Court officially closed and handed over the courthouse to the government in December 2013.
According to the AG, the country’s highest court was yet to take over the premises on Jomo Kenyatta Road owing to several challenges they faced, paramount amongst which was the issue of electricity and water.
He said the supply of water and electricity was irregular, adding that it had cost the United Nation billions of leones to keep the facility running.
Also, he explained, the UNMEER office was presently occupying the facility as the government could not think of a more befitting accommodation for the UN emergency Ebola response office in the country.
However, the AG said, there were already some government law institutions like the Law Reform Commission and the Justice Sector Coordination Offices presently occupying the premises, adding that even the Law Officers’ Department would have moved its offices there had UNMEER not been there.
Asked why the Special court now housed the female wing of the Freetown Correctional Center, the Justice Minister responded that the prisoners were only occupying the space that the former UN court had used to keep its prisoners when it operated in Sierra Leone.
He assured that the Chief Justice’s office and the Supreme Court would make a move over when the Ebola crisis was over and UNMEER eventually leaves the country. He said the female Correctional Center would remain there but added that it would not interfere with the operations of neither the Supreme Court nor the office of the Chief Justice.
The country’s AG had on Monday, December 2, 2013, told journalists, immediately after the handing-over ceremony of the courthouse to Sierra Leone that Supreme Court, together with the office of the Chief Justice, would take over the premises “henceforth”.
He had said that the move was necessary because the Chief Justice’s office needed to be in quiet environment, as opposed to the main court building, where it is situated.
© Politico 22/01/15
