Pressure Mounts on Former President Koroma

Despite the ongoing investigation of the Former President on allegation of attempted coup that took place last month, the Judges of the Court of Appeal have unanimously ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the former President Ernest Bai Koroma for abuse of office.

The Court of Appeal constituting Honourable Justices Ivan Sesay (JA)-presiding, Alhaji Momoh-Jah Stevens (JA) and Adrian Fisher (J) 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,” said the Court of Appeal Judges in their judgement.

The Court also ordered the former President to bear a cost of Le. 300,000,000.00 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.

Justice William Annan Atuguba was Chairman and Sole Commissioner 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 to ensure accountability in governance and public offices.

Following the submission of the report, the Government in September, 2020 published a white paper into the findings of Justice William Annan Atuguba’s Commission of Inquiry. Thereafter, the Appeallant (Ernest Bia Koroma) being dissatisfied with the findings contained in the COI report and white paper, appealed against those findings.

According to the Sole Commissioner, “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 arguments presented 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, J.F. Kamara Esq. informed the Court that the judgement will be appealed in the Supreme Court.