Main Law Courts Building, Freetown, 8th December, 2023: The Court of Appeal constituting Honourable Justices Alhaji Momoh-Jah Stevens (JA), Adrian Fisher (J) and presiding judge Ansumana Ivan Sesay (JA) has unanimously dismissed the appeal of former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma against the judge-led Commission of Inquiry (COI) and ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate him for abuse of office.
“We order that the Appellant refund the total amount of USD 135,000.00 within seven days from the date of this order as the value of the said land by way of sales of plot of the same to Hilal Toufic Kange and Winners Chapel which said sales are to cover the entire nursery land,” part of the judgement noted.
The Court also ordered the former President to bear a cost of three hundred Million old Leones for the appeal.
The Commissions of Inquiry were set up by the President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio in line with Constitutional Instrument No. 64 of 2018, pursuant to Section 147 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No. 6 of 1991.
The Commissions of Inquiry were charged with the responsibility to examine the assets and other related matters of persons who served in the previous administration from November 2007 to April 2018 in other to ensure accountability in governance and public offices.
Following the submission of the reports, the Government in September, 2020 published a white paper backing the findings and recommendations of the judge-led Commissions if Inquiry which became High Court judgments.
Thereafter, the Appellant (Dr. Ernest Bia Koroma) being dissatisfied with the adverse findings and recommendations contained in the Justice William Annan Atuguba Commission, appealed against those findings.
According to the Sole Commissioner and Chairman, Hon. Justice William Annan Atuguba, “the former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma clearly orchestrated a fraudulent compensation in the form of the grant of the freehold estate of the nursery land to the squatter, Alhaji Kemoh Sesay, aforesaid but there is no evidence that he personally benefited from that act. He however abused his executive power as President of Sierra Leone and should be seriously reprimanded.”
In his four grounds of appeal for and on behalf of the Appellant, lead Lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara relied on his written synopsis filed and presented arguments with several references to both statue and case law authorities.
In their 19-page judgement, the Court of Appeal Judges concluded that Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma abused his office for personal benefit and violated the National Public Procurement laws.
After the delivery of the judgment, Lawyer Kamara informed the Court that the judgement will be appealed in the Supreme Court.
For more information, contact the Judiciary Communications on +23276617548/79101086 or follow us on www.judiciary.gov.sl or follow us on all our social media platforms.