BY: HAJA HAWA KOROMA
In the matter between the State vs. Dr. Samura Kamara still unfolding at High Court No 1 on 24th March 2020 presided over by Justice Adrian Fisher J, the cross examination of the Prosecution Witness 1(PW1) Joseph Bockarie Noah continues.
The witness Joseph Bockarie Noah told the court that the fourth accused person Dr. Samura Kamara was not the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, that he had left the office in 2017 before the monies were paid into the Sierra Leone’s U.S Embassy account.
Defense Counsel Ady Macualey, continued his cross examination with the PW1 mentioning some exhibits and evidences of how, when and where the funds that were said to have been misplaced by his defendant Dr. Samura Kamara actually went.
Exhibit AAA 4 shows the first transaction that is the 23rd of January 2019, it shows that the balance in the Ethic Sierra account was five hundred thousand dollars; the witness claims that his document shows an opening balance of 0.00 for the said date. On the 1st February 2019 the defense counsel stated that there was a cash deposit of five hundred dollars and it was deposited from the statement by Abdurrahman K.A.
Ady Macualey stated that, from the PW1 investigations and facts that he has established whilst being in the witness box reveals that the Embassy of China made a deposit of One Million Dollars on the directive of the then Director General of Foreign Affairs, Paul Mena into the Ethic Sierra account. The witness confirmed this statement.
He further stated that “even before the initial amount was paid into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs account which was Eight Hundred and Seventy One Thousand Three Hundred Dollars was paid into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs account, monies have been withdrawn from that money before then”.
In exhibit A Z 1-2, in the statement of the fourth accuse Samura Kamara; he told the ACC that he left the ministry at the end of 2017. The defense counsel asks the PW1 whether he agrees that due to the statement above that the fourth accuse person was not Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 2018 when the 3 billion eight hundred and eleven million seven hundred and twenty thousand Leones payment check was made to the embassy in New York, USA.
Exhibit M1-25 is a voucher number 0011786805 on the 23rd January 2018 in light of and at this time the fourth accuse was no longer a minister. All these and some other exhibits were shown to the court by Defense Counsel Ady Macualey during his cross examination with the PW1.
. The matter has been adjourned to Monday 28th march 2022.
