The Legal Aid Board has held a Public Education meeting at the Dr S.M. Broderick Municipal School, constituency 109, with an audience comprising the Brookfields, Dwarzark, Sumaila Town, Congo Market, and New England communities and their environs.

The Legal Aid Board has held a Public Education meeting at the Dr S.M. Broderick Municipal School, constituency 109, with an audience comprising the Brookfields, Dwarzark, Sumaila Town, Congo Market, and New England communities and their environs. The meeting saw hundreds people learning more about the legal aid in Sierra Leone and the expression of their joy for the scheme.

It was a woman dominated affair. These women who are mainly the true bread winners in their homes, are usually the burden bearers when matters come to the worse. Some of them have been through the legal system before with head ache at the police station, heart ache in the courts, and a chest pain at the brink of their resistance when they or their relatives are put on remand. These women in all shapes and forms, expressed their frustrations at the legal system.

Ya Alimamy Salay Conteh did not waste time in pointing it out that women are the backbones of their communities and therefore must be given the much needed attention, such as legal aid. 

The Legal Aid Board Chairman, Justice Adelizer Showers thanked His Excellency the President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma for instituting such a wonderful programme which is the poor man’s help in time of trouble. She pointed out that Legal Aid Board does not only represent people in the courts, but Legal Aid Board also educates the people on matters relating to the law. Justice Showers warned against the misuse of the scheme, as the Board will not represent people who make violence their business, and in their minds, see Legal Aid Board as a city of safety to which they will run after will fully committing their habitual crimes.

In her short exposition of what the Legal Aid Board represents, the Executive Director, Mrs Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles called on the people to inculcate happiness in their lives because of Legal Aid in Sierra Leone, which means justice in the hands of the people, which is also a forward move. She reminded the people about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report which pointed out that the war came about as a result of injustice in Sierra Leone, which was heavily heaped on the poor people. Justice said that, His Excellency the President, in his true wisdom, saw the suffering of his people and could not bear it, so he instituted the Legal Aid Board in 2012, which has championed the matters of over a thousand people who are said to be in conflict with the law. 

The Legal Aid Board, Mrs Carlton -Hanciles said, is doing their best to set the innocent free, and also give the guilty a fair representation as it is the work of the Board. She warned against the use of malice, influence and affluence when indicting someone as they are the factors that have led to the undue suffering of a lot of people in the hands of the judicial system. The misleading of the courts have been counterproductive in the past, Mrs Carlton-Hanciles pointed out, and advised the people to put a stop to such activities of libelling. Mrs Carlton-Hanciles informed the people that some people have lost their husbands, wives and children when they were unduly incarcerated in the past, but the legal Aid Board will put a stop to such negative activities, because the board is working hard with its partners in the judiciary to make justice a reality.

A very high percentage of people receiving legal aid are youths. Some come into our offices delighted to see civilization once more; some after five years, some four and some three or two years. Some were incarcerated for trivial matters such as debt, micro credit, sexual penetration and others.

The youth representative, Bailor Jalloh, thanked His Excellency the President and government for instituting the legal aid system in Sierra Leone, which he revealed has saved the lives of thousands of youths through representation and education. He called the youths put a stop to violence as the Board is not in the habit of aiding culprits who make it a habit to fall fowl of the law.

As was stated before, women feature prominently in their communities. Baby Bangura Women’s Chair Lady, expressed delight on behalf of the women for the availability of legal aid in Sierra Leone. Baby Bangura said that women may be the weaker vessel, but they are the braver ones, because they tread where men are afraid to tread. She thanked the Legal Aid Boss and her partners for the good work.

The speakers were numerous. Chief Abdulai Jalloh who raised a song was thankful to God for legal aid in Sierra Leone as it has helped his people immensely.

The Councillors thanked the Board for helping people in their wards, and assured their people of true justice in the face of a corrupt system. They also assured the Legal Aid Board that they will take the message of legal aid to a wider spectrum of their communities. 

Significant among the counselors was the only female Councillor, Abioseh Wilson of Ward 386 who pointed out that majority of the progress pushers in the country are women. She commended the Legal Aid Boss, Fatamata Carlton Hanciles and the Legal Aid Board Lawyers for their dynamism in the field making justice available to the people, and referred to the Attorney General, Mr Fitz Gerald Kamara, as a representation of solace to the people of Sierra Leone.

The Counsellors were not alone; the Parliamentary representative, Hon. Amadu Fofana was also present. Hon. Amadu Fofana said that, in the past, people directed the grievances at the courts as the deemed the courts to be corrupt, but with the inception of the Legal Aid Board, the dreams of the people have been fulfilled.  He commended the women and other people in his constituency, such as Lawyer Mustapha Dumbuya, who have been doing pro Bono services in their constituency. He also commended government for giving justice to the people and promised to spread the message of legal aid to his people. 

The Attorney General’s address was the long awaited high point in the agenda. Mr Fitz Gerald Kamara’s message came from the point of view of His Excellency the President, which is that justice should be made available to the people of Sierra Leone. He thanked His Excellency the President for his leadership, which is that of the common man which the people prefer to that of a few minds. He said that in the government of the people, the government is accountable to the people, and to be accountable to the people is to be able to know what the people want. Ma Kamara said that was the reason he was there. He pointed out that one should not be given a car when what he wants is bread. He told the story of the king who asked his people to swim across a lake of crocodiles to be able to rule the land after his death. He said that there was a sudden splash and the crocodiles were so afraid that they all moved aside while a young boy swam across unhurt. The people cheered him and lifted him to the king. When the king asked him what he wanted, the boy said that all he wanted was to know who pushed him. The Attorney General then asked the people to always say what they wanted and told them that everybody is entitled to free legal representation. 

The Attorney General described his visit together with the Chief Justice and Legal Aid Executive Director, to the regions as fruitful, where they met a three months old suckling mother and other young women in some prisons, where they immediately put them on bail because they had spent an unwarranted long period in the jails for trivial matters that could have been dealt with at the police stations. That is unacceptable, the Attorney General pointed out. Justice, he said, is one of the pillars of the Agenda for prosperity. He commended the Correctional Services for the improvement of the Mafanta Prisons where people are being taught to read and write, and pledged to the people that anyone who falls foul of the law and gets into correctional centers will be rehabilitated. The delays in the courts, the Attorney General said, are being speedily addressed, as the processes of deploying Judges and Magistrates in all chiefdoms is in progress. He said that the pain of injustice is so painful that it breeds hot water in the eyes. Mr Fitz Gerald Kamara called on the people to be confident that the inception of the Legal Aid Board will make a whole difference in the lives of people. The different cases of civil matters, will be dealt with according to the new bail policy, to give people equal footing to everyone in the business of justice. 

The Chairman for the meeting, Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya warned against domestic violence and clique related activities, advising parents to warn their children to keep away from crime, and pointed out that though the doors of the Legal Aid Board are open to all, the Board has a lot of work to do. He called on the Legal Aid Board to apply legal aid equally at police stations as in the court, and warned the people and the police to stop fabricating counter reports, as such fabrications have led to the violations of the rights of less fortunate people. In his final analysis of the situation, Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya called on the people to be patient with the Legal Aid Board as it is only in its teething stages.

Derek Nat-George

Media and Public Relations Officer