By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
A State witness’ testimony at the Commissions of Inquiry (COI) on Wednesday has linked former Vice President of Sierra Leone, Victor Bockarie Foh, to over a dozen houses in Bo District.
The witness, Babah Kamara, who claimed to have worked as the caretaker of Mr Foh’s properties in Bo, gave a detailed account of the houses he either bought or constructed during his tenure as Vice President. Kamara said in Foh’s home village of Limba Gbaboh, he financed the construction of more than ten houses.
“Before he left for China on May 5th, 2013, he gave this contract to a Lebanese in Bo, Iftoni. He paid him US$ 65, 000 for this project,” Kamara said.
He added: “He (Foh) made the arrangement right in front of me at Lewabu in Bo.”
According to Kamara, he served Foh from 2007 to 2018.
The probe in to Foh’s asset at the COI covers 2015 to 2018 when he was the Vice President of the country.
Foh was appointed Vice President in 2015 after the unceremonious sacking of Samuel Sam-Sumana. He was then Ambassador to China. Before his appointment to China in 2013, he had always been the National Secretary General of the then ruling All People’s Congress (APC).
Kamara said the project was what really led him to understand how much money was expended into the construction work. He said he had to activate his two Orange money SIM cards to be able to take up to Le 15million each.
He said he also received money from Foh through the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank and the Commodity Trading Group (CTC).
In most of these cases the younger brother of the former VP, Bockarie Foh, was the point man, according to Kamara.
Victor, he went on, bought two other properties at Tikonkor Road. These are located at 94 and 112 Tikonkor Road. He said the property at 94 Tikonkor Road was listed under the name of Iye Turay - the mother in-law of Foh. He said her name was listed on the house even though she had died.
The lawyer representing Foh, Hindolo Gevao, contested this statement. He said the woman mentioned by the witness just passed away on Tuesday (November 26, 2019) and they would be heading for the funeral on Thursday.
In his testimony, Kamara also claimed that Foh even bought him a house in Bo in 2016 for Le80 million.
“He bought it as a compensation, that is why it was in my own name,” he said.
The witness claimed he received Le79million later to construct a perimeter fence around the house.
“I collected Le79 million and Le80million from CTC,” he said.
Kamara said he had to sell the house himself when he suspected that Victor Foh was planning to take the house and give it to his own brother Bockarie Foh.
State Counsel, Allieu Vandi Koroma further asked the witness about receipts of the money he claimed to have received.
“I don’t have a receipt but there is a book. Every time I collected, the Lebanese man will write it down and ask me to sign,” Kamara replied.
Kamara named properties in other places like Koribondo Town and Kebbie Malen Street in Lewabu. The house in Koribondo Town was bought for Le50 million in 2018. Refurbishment at the Kebbie Malen property which had two houses and two kitchens continued till 2018, eight years after it was bought.
In Kamara’s testimony on Thursday, he also referred to several other properties which were bought or constructed by Foh, some of which could not be recorded because they fall out of the scope of the probe into his assets.
Kamara’s testimony suggested that he did play a role in the construction works Foh was sponsoring.
“I was responsible to supervise the contractors; they will make estimates and bring it to me. Then I will send it to the former VP for approval. After approval the former VP will send the money through CTC,” he said.
There were times during this hearing when the opposing counsels engaged in heated argument on what assets to look at and what not to look at.
Koroma was insisting that properties that have had upgrade or were further developed during Foh’s tenure in office as VP, must be looked at and compared to his earnings, even if those properties were acquired before his appointment as VP.
These properties include lands that were further developed or constructions that were slow but suddenly got the required cash to be completed.
Gevao argued this out saying whiles the mandate of the COI was open to cover 2007 to 2018, a probe into his client’s properties should only focus on what he acquired from 2015 to 2018 when he was VP.
On the substance of the testimony, Gevao said he would prefer to postpone his cross examination. He therefore pleaded for an adjournment, citing the need to allow his client to mourn the loss of his mother-in-law and for him (lawyer) to thoroughly prepare to cross examine the witness.
Whiles pleading for adjournment, Koroma raised concerns about the witnesses’ safety whiles he prepared to return to Bo, where he stays.
“The witness is travelling to Bo where he stays. I just want the commission to take judicial notice for his safety,” he said.
In his response, Gevao said they had no cause to harm Kamara.
“My client will have no reason to harm him. This is not the first time they are both appearing against each other in a criminal matter and he has not been harmed in the past.”
Foh is the most high-profile member of the Ernest Bai Koroma regime to have personally appeared to defend himself against allegations of corruption.
Gevao said he planned to put his client on the stand and had already lined up 10 witnesses to support his defense.
“We are looking at a full-blown trial here,” Gevoa said
The case was been adjourned to 4th December, 2019.
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