By: Audrey Raymonda John
Justice Adrian Fisher of the High Court of Sierra Leone has ordered the demolition of an illegal commercial structure constructed by Moses Sendor, a junior employee at the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Country Planning (MLHCP).
The ruling concludes a five-year legal battle marked by emotional distress and financial hardship for the Musa family. Justice has now been served, as the court found in their favor and ordered the removal of all illegal structures obstructing access to their property.
Sendor, a pupil surveyor, illegally built a commercial complex—including a shop and entertainment center on a 14.8-foot-wide access road that leads to the Musa family’s land in Fornima, Goderich. His construction was based on a falsified survey plan dated September 2, 2019 (LS 7639/19), which was validated by senior MLHCP officials without any legitimate conveyance or proof of payment.
According to court documents and multiple site inspections by MLHCP officials, Sendor’s construction completely blocked both the front and rear access to the Musa property, making it impossible for the family to erect a perimeter fence or use their land freely.
“We couldn’t park our cars, couldn’t secure the compound, and were left vulnerable to trespassers,” said Mr. Joseph Musa. “The emotional and financial toll on my family has been devastating.”
The case, which began in 2019, revealed significant malpractice and corruption within the MLHCP. The falsified survey plan fraudulently added 0.0307 acres from the Musa family’s access road to Sendor’s original plot, expanding his landholding from 0.1079 to 0.1386 acres. Despite lacking a valid conveyance and repeatedly violating court injunctions, Sendor continued building aggressively on the encroached land.
Investigations by MLHCP technical officers and an independent court-appointed surveyor confirmed the encroachment. In a February 2020 inspection, Technical Officer Charles Senesie confirmed that Sendor had built on the access road. This finding was later corroborated in a 2022 report by Engineer Musa Koroma, Assistant Director of Country Planning, who wrote: “Mr. Sendor encroached on the access road of 14.8 ft., making it completely his own private property.”
Although the structures were marked for demolition, Sendor defied multiple legal orders. A 2020 arrest warrant issued against him mysteriously disappeared from court records, and no enforcement action was taken.
On February 21, 2024, Justice Fisher ruled that there was no evidence of payment for the additional land claimed in the falsified plan. He declared that the land rightfully belonged to the Musa family and ordered the demolition of all structures obstructing their access. The court also awarded NLe 70,000 in damages for trespass and NLe 50,000 in legal costs none of which have been paid by Sendor.
A second ruling on February 7, 2025, denied a stay of execution filed by Sendor’s legal team, who cited financial hardship. Justice Fisher maintained that financial constraints were not grounds for delaying justice and upheld the demolition order.
Due to Sendor’s failure to comply, the Musa family bore the cost of demolition. On August 9, 2024, they paid NLe 40,000 directly to MLHCP officials—Engineer Musa Koroma and Engineer Joseph who executed the demolition.
The Musa family originally acquired the property on May 4, 1998. “My wife Jestina and daughter lived peacefully there for years,” said Mr. Musa. “It was only in 2016 during my visit that we discovered Sendor had constructed a temporary zinc structure on the access road. That was just the beginning of our nightmare.
Despite repeated warnings from the police, lawyers, and court orders, Sendor persisted in his construction activities. He removed boundary pillars, built a water well in the middle of the access road, and even fenced off parts of the Musa property. “His actions were deliberate and malicious,” said Mr. Musa. “He is a trained surveyo he knew exactly what he was doing.”
The family also raised serious environmental concerns. “Fornima is a hilly and landslide-prone area,” Mr. Musa noted. “Blocking drainage routes and access roads in such terrain is extremely dangerous.” The family fears that unchecked illegal construction could contribute to future disasters similar to the 2017 mudslide that killed over 1,000 people in Sierra Leone.
This case highlights systemic corruption, lack of enforcement, and bureaucratic failure within Sierra Leone’s land administration. “How can falsified documents be accepted in court? Why are ministry officials involved in facilitating illegal land grabs?” Mr. Musa questioned.
The Musa family is now calling on the government to hold complicit officials accountable and implement urgent reforms within the MLHCP. “We don’t want others to go through what we went through,” Mr. Musa concluded. “Justice was delayed, but at least it was not denied.”