Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Youth

Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Youth to foster a collaborative operation in the discharge of their activities in youth matters.

The Minister of Youth Affairs, Alimamy A. Kamara, commended the Legal Aid Board for the colossal responsibility it carries and the vibrancy and speed with which the Board executes their duty and gives the ordinary Sierra Leonean access to justice, most of which are youths. The Minister spoke about the foreign attitude adopted by youths in Sierra Leone and the unchecked sale of cheap alcohol in small sachets, which he cited to have contributed immensely to the violence perpetrated by youths in the recent past. He pledged his ministry's support to build on solid structures to educate the Youths, one of which is to partner with the Legal Aid board, to create a platform on which the dynamos of state, who are the youths, will operate in peace, for better youthful living in Sierra Leone. 

The Executive Director, Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone, Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles said that the board has realized that when youth get in prison, they come out most times as more hardened in crime, which she noted was sad, but was a reality. She pointed out that the Legal Aid Board Act makes clear that whenever someone appears before the police, a magistrate or a judge and does not have legal representation, the Legal Aid Board must be contacted, and that legal representation and education are part of the Board’s mandate, one of the Boards reasons to partner with the Ministry of Youth Affairs. The Legal Aid Board Boss said that the breakdown of morals is a contributing factor to violence in society, because where morality fails to thrive, that is where the law is broken. She informed her audience of the formation of Citizens Advisory Bureau to address issues that are not necessary to be taken to the police, as most cases taken to the police always end up in the courts. Mrs Carlton Hanciles said that the partnership between Legal Aid Board Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Youths Affairs is to ensure that the ministry’s dream for youths in Sierra Leone be achieved and to create a platform for the reformation, management and promotion of the lives of youths in Sierra Leone.

The national Youth chairman, Prince Tholley commended both the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Legal Aid Board for such a partnership which will help shape the future of youths in Sierra Leone.

The Minister of Youths Affairs signed on behalf of the Ministry of Youth Affairs while the Executive Director, Legal Aid Board, signed on behalf of the Legal Aid Board.