By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
For over four months now there have been no magistrate court sitting in Pujehun, occasioning in a backlog of cases in the southern district of the country.
While there are growing concerns and frustration among activists and especially victims of sexual violence, a situation that has become worrying in the district, the police have confirmed that the crime rate has generally increased as a result of the absence of the court as a redress mechanism.
Court officials say the magistrate, resident in the southern district headquarter of Bo from where he goes to cover Pujehun, has not reported for work for that long because of the lack of vehicle.
“This shows that there has been no justice in the entire district especially for women who have been sexually abused,” Catherine Bureh, district women’s committee leader of the Sierra Leone Teacher’s Union, lamented.
The situation also means that accused in remand have to wait indefinitely for their fate to be decided against constitutional provisions on the period of detention.
Just like any other part of the country, Pujehun is swamped with issues that require regular court sittings. Ms Bureh said women were more vulnerable to burning issues ranging from teenage pregnancy, sexual penetration, rape, wife battering, among others. She said the situation has persisted because of the lack of justice.
“Our young girls are really suffering in the hands of men especially key stakeholders through sexual abuse,” she said.
Fayia Joshua Mansaray, court registrar attached to the Pujehun judiciary, said the situation had rendered the court system irrelevant.
He said among the cases he’d received within the last four months, at least 16 were involved with sexual abuses. All of them have been charged to court and were awaiting hearing.
Detective Sergeant Lahai Koroma, the Police Family Support Unit Line Manager in the district, is concerned about the effect of this on the effectiveness of the police to maintain law and order. He said as investigators they were only likely to command respect when there is frequent court sittings on matters that are charged to court.
He said while the current situation means some perpetrators are walking out freely, those behind bars on remand were been denied justice. Some of those in detention were charged to court six months before the break and they are yet to appear to court, he said.
Recently he was investigating an alleged sexual abuse case involving a senior stakeholder in the district when he was told in the face that nothing would come out of the case.
The FSU boss re-echoed the concern around the prevalence of sexual abuse cases in the district. He said when accused are granted bail, the moment they walk out that’s virtually the end of it. He said he felt ashamed of himself for submitting a yearly report for 2015 which makes no mention of conviction.
Joseph E.V. Moore, a social worker with the ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs, based in the Kpanga Kabondeh chiefdom, narrated the story of a 9-year old girl sexually abused recently and the case compromised at the level of the community leadership.
(C) Politico 14/01/16
