As more and more questions are being asked about the professionalism and legal standards with which the Nigerian Judge Justice Biobele George will presided over one of the Commissions of Inquiry into the conduct of the former Koroma-led APC government, a damning letter was yesterday written by some of the most outstanding lawyers in the country, led by Barrister Yada Hashim Williams, addressed to the President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association.
In the letter, Yada Hashim Williams wrote: “As the torchbearer of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, this letter is addressed to your office with the expectation that the Bar Association would stand behind its own especially in the face of gross injustice and reputational damage and in doing so take a stance for the legal profession as a whole.”
According to the letter, Justice Biobele George will was appointed to, inter alia, examine the assets and other related matters in respect of persons who were President, Vice President, Ministers, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers, heads and chairmen of Parastatals, departments and agencies within the period from November 2007 to April 2018. In carrying out his mandate, the Judge conducted an investigation into the activities of the office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice over the same period of time. More specifically, he investigated the issue of legal fees paid to lawyers that represented the State in the matter of Alhaji Sam Sumana vs. A-G & Anor (S.C. 4/2015) [2015] SLSC 1203 (09 September 2015).
It furthered that the findings and subsequent recommendations on this particular issue are the following: On page 165 of his full report, he stated that “On 21/4/2015, with the approval of the former President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the Government paid the sum of Le. 1,326,547,800.00 to some lawyers to handle the case filed by Sam Sumana, former Vice President against the Attorney General and Victor Foe before the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone. The fees were made up as follows: i. USD150, 000. 00 about Le.736,971,000.00 to Ajibola Emmanuel Manly Spain; ii. USD120, 000.00 about Le. 589,576,800.00 to Basma and Macaulay. The sum of Le. 727,651,764.00 could not be traced to the bank account and had remained unaccounted for.
The letter continued that On page 171 of his full report, he found that “The evidence disclosed and clearly identified the following Persons as being responsible for these acts of corruption, abuse of office, maladministration and lack of accountability: i. Franklyn Bai Kargbo, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice; ii. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice; and iii. Arrow Bockarie, former Deputy Minister of Justice. Other persons mentioned: i. Madam Serray Kallay, Administrator /Registrar General; ii. Miss Marthina Kargbo, former Solicitor General; iii. Hajia Kallah Kamara, former Commissioner General of NRA; iv. Ajibola Emanuel Manly Spain; and v. Basma & Macaulay”.
“On page 173 – 174 of the full report, he stated that “The one off payment of the huge sum of USD270, 000 about Le1, 326, 547, 800.00 as professional fees for the defense of the case of Sam Sumana V. AG & Victor Foe before the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone when the Attorney General, the Chief Law Officer/Consultant to the Government and the Civil Division is primarily charged with the responsibility of prosecuting or defending court cases involving the Government was not only exorbitant but was a subterfuge to launder money belong to the Government”.
“On page 175 of the Report he recommended that: “4. The following persons shall jointly and severally refund and pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Government of Sierra Leone two thirds of the sum of USD270, 000 about Le1, 326, 547, 800. 00 laundered under the guise of professional fees for the defense of the case of Sam Sumana V. AG & Victor Foe before the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone when the Attorney General is the Chief Law Officer/Consultant to the Government and they should be referred to the Criminal Jurisdiction and or the Anti – Corruption Commission for investigation and likely prosecution, namely: i. Franklyn Bai Kargbo; ii. Ajibola Emmanuel Manly Spain; and iii. Basma & Macaulay”.
Commenting on the finding and recommendations made by Justice Biobele Georgewill, the letter says: “We find these findings and subsequent recommendations to be outrageous, lacking any support in law, unprecedented and simply vile.” “We spoke to persons in the firm of Basma & Macaulay on the 28th instant and confirmed to us that they were never served with notices to attend hearings, nor informed of any wrongdoing on their parts and neither given an opportunity to inform of their own side of the story, which is unsurprising as notices were only sent out to persons of interest, which they were not.
“However, for the judge to treat them as such and subsequently make adverse findings against them is a clear manifestation of the fact that either Justice Biobele Georgewill did not appreciate the remit of his mandate or deliberately chose to go on a frolic of his own.”
On the comportment of Justice Biobele Georgewill during his Inquiry, the letter reads: “You need not have attended more than one session of the proceedings at Commission of Inquiry No. 1 presided over by Justice Biobele Georgewill to conclude that he lacked the demeanour, temperament, professionalism and decorum expected of a judge. He ran proceedings as if it was some circus or comedy show.”
“As his outlandish findings and subsequent recommendations referred to supra show, he was a showman who did not appreciate the remits of his mandate and hardly had time to do the work for which he was paid.”
In concluding, the letter reads: “It should be obvious from the above, that Justice Biobele Georgewill exceeded the bounds of his mandate when he made the impugned findings against A. E. Manly Spaine esq. and Basma & Macauley, both legal practitioners and members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, who were at no point in time placed before him for investigation.”
“Whilst we do not seek to dictate to the Sierra Leone Bar Association what steps should be taken to remedy this depravity, injustice and perversion we however think it nonetheless appropriate that your executive formulates and disseminates a statement condemning this outrageous overreach by Justice Biobele George will. Alternatively, you can summon a meeting of the Sierra Leone Bar Association at which the matters stated herein would be tabled and potential avenues of redress discussed to relieve these two members of the Bar and the legal profession of this profound injustice.”
