The Criminal Investigation Department(CID)Headquarters in Sierra Leone has organized two days Retreat on Election Preparedness 2023 at the Sahara Hotel in Bo on the 25th and 26th November,2022.
It could be recalled that when the current Head of Crime Management in the person of Mr R.P.G. Roberts(Esq) assumed command in that enviable position, and with support of the then Director of Crime Management who happens to be the Current Inspector General Of Police(IGP) Mr William Fayiah Sellu, they both decided to transform the department by introducing innovations that would among others help to surmount the shortcomings of Investigators, and also sharpened and shaped professional ethics. The November session at the Sahara Hotel in Bo featured prominently issues around elections, potential threats and violence, the need for Crime Officers to be adequately and sufficiently abreast of the Rule of Law, and the ills of policing as enshrined in the Offences Acts as of the Public Elections Act of 2022, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, inadequacies in criminal Investigations, mismanagement of Case and Enquiry Files, successful investigation and eventual prosecution of cases were also prime issues discussed.
The Facilitators were exclusively drawn from the Judiciary of Sierra Leone and amongst them were: the Right Hon. Justice Monfread Momoh Sesay of the Appeal Court of Sierra Leone, Hon. Abu Bakarr Sannoh, Resident Judge Bo, Mr. Lyod Jusu, Resident Magistrate Bo, and Mr. Augustine Sheku,(Esq) Principal State Counsel Bo who also served as resource personalities on account of their vast reservoir of knowledge.
Juxtaposing the first retreat in Portloko to this in Bo, all agreed that the two retreats have considerably helped to rehabilitate and quicken the minds of Crime Officers and also sharpened their skills and knowledge in the investigation of criminal cases generally as the lectures were appropriately insightful. Detective Commissioner of Police Mr. RPG Roberts(Esq), appreciated the Inspector General of Police Mr. William Fayiah Sellu for giving him the opportunity to continue in the strides to widen the knowledge of Crime Officers in various disciplines in the management of crime. He described such as a Social Science. It’s apparent that since the assumption of duty of Mr. RPG Roberts (Esq) as Head of CID, the Department has got considerable number of convictions in cases before the courts on cases before Magistrates and Judges nationwide.
At the auspicious event , the Assistant Organizers namely: Detective Chief Superintendent of Police, Mrs. Winifred “Tholley”Akimbobola, Detective Deputy Superintendents of Police Miller Bangura, Foday Gbonda, Detective Inspector Kassie Gbama, Line Manager Homicide CID H.Quts.(Scribe)and Ag.Legal One(1) of the SLP, Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police, Dalia Wellington(Esq) were applauded for rendering their untiring efforts in making the program successful.
