By: Audrey Raymonda John
Mohamed Moriba, a politician, former military officer, and Southern Province Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the All People’s Congress (APC), has been committed to the High Court by Magistrate John Manso Fornah of Pademba Road Court No. 2 to stand trial on a charge of incitement contrary to law.
According to the prosecution, the alleged offence occurred on 27 December 2025 at Kamalo Village in the Karina Judicial District, North-East Province. Prosecutors allege that Moriba created and circulated an audio and video recording containing messages intended to incite mayhem, disorder, chaos, and unrest in the country. The material was allegedly published on a TikTok account identified as Salone Gossip Hub.
When the charge was read and explained to the accused, no plea was taken because the matter was before the court for committal proceedings.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sorie Conteh informed the court that he was appearing on behalf of the prosecution.
Defence counsel A.A. Bangura applied for bail on behalf of the defendant pursuant to Section 79(1)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 2024. Counsel argued that Moriba had already been committed to the High Court and had spent more than five months in detention, warranting his release on bail pending trial.
In his ruling, Magistrate Fornah stated that he had carefully examined the evidence presented by the prosecution, including the exhibits tendered before the court, the defendant’s caution statement, the charge statement, and the transcript of the alleged audio recording.
The magistrate held that, having considered the indictable nature of the offence and the evidence before the court, there was sufficient evidence to require the defendant to answer the charge before the High Court.
Accordingly, Magistrate Fornah committed Mohamed Moriba to stand trial before the High Court.
The court, however, granted the defendant bail in the sum of NLe50,000, with one surety in a like amount. The surety must be a responsible senior citizen residing in Freetown with a fixed address, produce a valid national identity card, and be approved by the Deputy Assistant Registrar in accordance with Section 116(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 2024.