By: Audrey Raymonda John
The plaintiff, Marie Sesay, niece of Dr. Richard Konteh, has presented evidence in court showing payments totaling $10,000 in an ongoing land dispute case.
Testifying in rebuttal before Justice Manuela Harding at the Freetown High Court No. 2 on Monday, 23 March 2026, Sesay submitted bank receipts confirming that the funds were transferred from her account to Dr. Konteh’s account at Chase Bank in the United States. The payments were reportedly made for the purchase of four town plots of land and fencing.
Dr. Konteh had earlier denied receiving any payment from the plaintiff.
Led in evidence by her lawyer, Augustine Sengu Marrah, Sesay told the court that she resides in the United States and identified the defendant as her maternal uncle. She stated that the $10,000 was paid in three instalments: $5,000 on 25 March 2010, $3,000 on 19 April 2010, and $2,000 on 19 March 2011, the latter covering the cost of fencing the land.
According to her testimony, Dr. Konteh had informed her in 2010 that each plot of land cost $2,000, and she agreed to purchase four plots.
Sesay further told the court that she did not receive any registered conveyance for four plots from Abdulai Sheriff in 2011, as claimed by the defendant. Instead, she received a conveyance for only two plots from Mohamed Kamara, which she rejected.
She also refuted claims that she had no contact with Abdulai Sheriff in 2011, stating that he contacted her on 6 January 2024 regarding a communication he had received from Dr. Konteh.
Sesay testified that in 2012, Dr. Konteh questioned her rejection of the conveyance, and she explained that it covered only two plots instead of the four she had paid for. She said he instructed her to hand the document to Abdulai Sheriff for return to him in Freetown.
She complied and later informed Dr. Konteh, who acknowledged receipt and promised to send corrected documents. However, Sheriff later informed her that Dr. Konteh neither returned the original conveyance nor provided a new one.
She further stated that during a visit to Sierra Leone in 2014, she requested the land documents. Instead, she was shown a bushy and sloping parcel of land in Gloucester by Dr. Konteh’s driver, which she rejected as inconsistent with what she had paid for.
According to Sesay, Dr. Konteh later admitted that he had not personally seen the land and explained that it belonged to a friend who intended to sell it. She said she reminded him that the $10,000 was a payment for four fenced plots, not a gift.
Despite repeated assurances over the years, Sesay told the court that she has neither received the land nor the appropriate conveyance documents. Subsequent visits in 2015 and follow-ups through a third party in 2017 also yielded no resolution, as she was repeatedly presented with the same two-plot conveyance she had previously rejected.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Gbondo, Sesay produced bank slips confirming the dates and amounts of each transfer.
In her writ of summons, Sesay is seeking the recovery of two town plots of land located at Mamah Street in Gloucester, Freetown, as well as $2,000 paid for fencing. She maintains that $8,000 was paid specifically for the land purchase.
The matter has been adjourned to 27 March 2026 for continuation.