By Francis H. Murray
Kadija Olamatu Seisay, former Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Infrastructure (MWHI) under the All People’s Congress (APC)-led administration of Ernest Bai Koroma, has been found guilty of one-count of misappropriation of public property in a case brought against her by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Delivering her ruling on Thursday, Justice Bintu Alhadi noted that she withdrew the file for judgment after she had ‘‘carefully’’ listened to the witnesses from the prosecution who were all public officials and the denial of the accused to make an election on the grounds of waiting for her lawyer who had asked for so many adjournments.
She said the accused understood that it was her responsibility to take care of the government vehicle which was assigned to her for official use and to ensure its safety, adding that she had admitted to have requested for the Life Card of the vehicle because she wanted to go on an official duty to Conakry, Guinea.
Justice Alhadi said: ‘‘it is the view of this court that possession of the Life Card of a vehicle translates to ownership. Ms. Seisay did not have to own the official vehicle in order to travel on an official trip. She had no business requesting for the said Life Card because travelling on official duties automatically triggers the Foreign Affairs Department to conduct all the necessary protocols, not Ms. Seisay.”
The judge said all that the accused needed to have done was to receive her travel documents, per diem and other official necessities from the ministry, and she described the act of seeking the Life Card as ‘‘fraudulent’’.
Justice Alhadi further noted that the accused treated the misappropriation with ‘‘impunity’’, which she said makes it clear that the accused considered the vehicle to be her own private property, adding that the accused admitted that the erstwhile Minister of Transport and Aviation ‘‘insisted’’ that she returned the Life Card to the Transport Officer but that she forgot about that on her return.
‘‘In view of the whole evidence before the court and the law, and considering that the vehicle has been found, I find Kadija Olamatu Seisay, former Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Infrastructure guilty of the offense of misappropriation of Public Property contrary to section 36 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008,’’ she declared.
The prosecution alleged that the accused being the Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Infrastructure in Sierra Leone, on a date unknown between the 18th of September 2017 and 30th September 2018 in Western Area of Freetown, misappropriated a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, GX1200 Series ‘‘Off-Road 2017’’ model with registration number ANK 889 being public property.
Ms. Seisay was first arraigned on the 11th February 2019 where she pleaded not guilty and was admitted on a self-bail.
She was ordered to either pay a fine of Le 60,000,000 into the Consolidated Revenue Funds within 28 days starting from the date of this ruling or serve a period of four years in jail.
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