The Legal Aid Board in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General has held a land mark meeting with the people of the Calaba Town community,

The Legal Aid Board in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General has held a land mark meeting with the people of the Calaba Town community, at the Fomex Carwash Football Field at Calaba Town. Hundreds of people turned out to hear the goodwill message of free legal representation provided by the Government of Sierra Leone.

The Executive Director, Legal Aid Board, Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles, described the Legal Aid Board as the new suckling mother Government has created to defend the people of Sierra Leone. Mrs Carlton-Hanciles said that His Excellency the President saw the immense violation of the rights of his people and concluded that free legal representation to his people, will put an end to those violations. So, on 2012, the Legal Aid Act was passed in parliament. Thus, the term, ‘poman nor get lorya’ has changed to ‘poman don get lorya’. She commended the Attorney General for his vast interest in the work of the Legal Aid Board, to give people of Sierra Leone justice, to be able to enjoy their legal rights. She also commended Bar Association Lawyers and the in-house lawyers for attaining such the height of ‘heroes of the defence’, for having seen over two hundred indigents, including juveniles whose rights were violated, discharged from the jails. She gave instances of how people behind bars without indictments, have been defended and discharged, by legal Aid Lawyers. The Legal Aid Executive Director warned against carelessness in life, and the habit of sexual harassment of girls, which are some of the issues that lead people to get into conflict with the law, thereby, get incarcerated.

Speaking to the people of Calaba Town, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitz-Gerald Kamara, thanked His Excellency the President for appointing him into office. The Government of His Excellency the President, the Attorney General said, believes that a government should not be away from his people, but should be among the people to know them well. Mr Kamara said that was the reason government is always among the people, to know them and meet their needs and other challenges. He pointed out that justice is not only for the rich and influential, but also for the less fortunate and marginalized. The Legal Aid Board, Mr Kamara said, will continue to give justice to the people, but cautioned against lawlessness and disregard for elders and the law, which he said, get people into conflict with the law. He advised them to depend on God who is their creator and not on anything else that would mislead them. He revealed that government lawyers and magistrates now have better conditions of service, and have also improved their services to the people of Sierra Leone. He called on the people of Sierra Leone to support government in their strides to keep the flag of Sierra Leone flying high. 

The meeting was not short of the presence Members of Parliament. Hon. Alhassan Kamara of Constituency 96 said that as a people, they had nowhere to pour out their hearts when in grief, except to take to the streets in protest. He thanked government for the creation of the Legal Aid Board, which is a pool for the pouring out of grief. He described the Attorney General and the Legal Aid Executive Director, as the soft hearted shepherds God has chosen to be appointed to their offices, to tend and defend the sheep against ravenous wolves. A raging problem in his constituency, the MP said, was the laying of claims by some people, to football land where the meeting was held. He called on the Attorney General to assist in the defence the people of Calaba Town against land grabbers who were laying claims to the football field land, and declared his constituency’s unflinching support for the work of the Legal Aid Board.

Another MP presented was that of constituency 97, Hon Ibrahim Knox. He thanked all present for having left their entire busy schedule to attend to the needs of the people of Calaba Town. He admonished the youths of Calaba Town to keep abreast with the progress in life and keep within the confines of the law. He gave a scenario of a boy who fell short of the law. He said that he, as MP, did his best to get the bot out for five years, but couldn’t, but within two months of their inception, the Legal Aid Board was able to secure him a discharge. He warned the youths against violence, because the Legal Aid Board, reiterated, will not afford them legal aid if they fall short of the law. He also pledged his constituency’s support for the work of the Board.

It was not an-all government affair. Mercury Intentional also supported the work of the Legal Aid Board. The Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Komba, said that Mercury International will always support the work of the Legal Aids Board because, most of the clients are youths, and most of the clients of the Legal Aid Board are youths. He called the Legal Aid Board, which he described as ‘the necessary element of a mother in the law’, to defend the rights of youths in Sierra Leone, both national and foreign. He pledged his company’s support for the work of the Board in their pursuit for justice for the youths.

Several other speakers, including counsellors and youth representatives, pledged their support for the work of the board, and called on the Attorney General to assist the Calaba Town community with the amenities of life, such as solar lights, good roads and portable water.