Michael, 20 is one of over seven hundred beneficiaries of legal
aid in 2016. Michael’s case is unique. He is the second known beneficiary of
the scheme to reoffend.
The first known case is Amidu Bangura, 35. He was charged with wounding with intent in
June 2006 and spent nearly ten years on remand before the Legal Aid Board
secured his discharge for want of prosecution on 30 March 2016. Amidu reoffended and was arrested in June
2016 and detained at the Pademba Road Correctional Center for involving in a
fight which left the other party sustaining serious injuries.
In this instance, Amidu was not a priority to the Board
because legal assistance is provided on a first come first serve basis. This
means he has to wait until the hundreds of remand detainees needing legal aid are
served first. But as the heavens could
have it, the police did not press charges against him.
Michael was a test case for the Board. This is because the
Board has to deal with an issue outside its mandate. Even though, this is not
the first time the Board has had to go beyond its mandate to help beneficiaries,
Michael’s case is desperate. He is proving to be the most serious challenge for
the Board because attempts at finding a solution to his homelessness have so
far not been successful.
The Board secured Michael’s discharge after spending nearly
one year on remand at the Pademba Road Correctional Center. When he was
discharged for want of prosecution in February 2016 he had no home to return
to. Neither the aunt he was staying with at Benjamin Lane on Regent Road nor any
other member of the family would accept him. They have a strong reason for this
as Michael fell foul of the law as a result of wounding with intent his own
grandmother in February 2015.
Michael maintains he was driven from home by his aunt because
of allegations that were made against him. He denies the allegations but would
not be drawn into the details.
Michael was sleeping rough on the streets of Lumley following
his discharge in February 2016. He was arrested on July 24 for loitering on the
streets of Lumley and was consequently taken to the Lumley Police Station. His
case was charged to court and remanded at the Pademba Road Correctional
Center. He pleaded guilty to the charge
and was released by Magistrate Tonia Bawah Bannet on his second appearance on
28 July 2016.
Michael maintains his innocence even though he pleaded guilty
to the charge in court. He said he was homeless at the time of his arrest and
maintains he may not have been arrested and charged with loitering if he had a
home.
Michael was in no celebratory mood when he appeared at the
offices of the Board immediately following his discharge. He was very upfront
with his plight when he met the Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata
Claire Carlton-Hanciles. He told her he needs a place to lay his head. This is
because the homelessness which landed him into trouble has not gone away. There
is a real possibility, he could be arrested again for loitering, if he
continues to be homeless.
Under normal circumstances, you would expect the Executive
Director of the Board or any other staff to give Michael a lecture on the
mandate of the Board which in this case does not include providing or helping
beneficiaries of the scheme with accommodation before sending him away.
But it would be a mistake to assume, Michael like other
beneficiaries does not understand the mandate of the Board. Michael spent nearly
a year on remand at the Pademba Road Correctional Center where knowledge of the
mandate of the Board is very high. This is because nearly all the beneficiaries
of the Board since it started operations have come from there. Also, the
Board’s paralegal makes frequent visits to assess those needing legal aid.
Also, remand detainees have been sending letters highlighting their situation
to legal aid lawyers through inmates attending trial.
The reason for this could be, they find in the Board a
credible organization they could rely upon with solving their problems. There
is this belief among beneficiaries that the Board could also delivers on issues
outside its mandate.
So, on the instructions of the Executive Director, Mohamed
Alpha Jalloh contacted Michael’s aunty who has had about the Board and
impressed with its work. However, the aunty erupted into a feat of rage upon
mention of Michael’s name. She rejected upfront any suggestion of accepting him
back home. This was followed by a visit to the aunt on Benjamin Lane who
refused to bulge.
But with an Executive Director who will not give up, the
other members of the family have been identified with a view to reconciling
them with Michael and then have one of them take him into their home.
But Michael is not the first to seek help which falls outside
the mandate of the Board. It happens all the time either at outreach events or
during pre-discharge counselling sessions. And because, it has long dawned on
the Board that the issue is not about beneficiaries not understanding the
mandate of the Board – which they do – it is about they looking for a credible
institution for help and finding one in the Board.
Zainu Deen demanded compensation from the Executive Director,
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles after the Board secured his discharge on 25 July 2016.
‘You should compensate me for the time I have spent at the Pademba Road
Correctional Center on remand. I am innocent and I am now returning home a sick
man,’ he demanded.
Zainu had spent nearly a year on remand at the Pademba Road
Correction Center and was not prepared to be educated on the mandate of the
scheme. As far as he is concerned the Board had not done enough for him.
Also, outreach events whether in Waterloo in the Western
Rural District or Fourah Bay in the East, have been dominated by issues outside
the mandate of the Board. This includes accommodation, employment,
compensation, medical and acceptance into mainstream society. This is why over the past couple of months the
Board has been taking concrete steps to address these issues.
The partnership between the Board and the Sierra Leone Motor
Driver Union has ensured that hundreds of beneficiaries of the Board are
provided with free transportation to their respectively home communities upcountry;
without which, most if not all, would have been stranded and become homeless in
the capital Freetown.
Also, the Board has struck a partnership with the National
Farmers Federation to assist with reintegrating its beneficiaries – remand
detainees - and ex-convicts by providing them with employment in
agriculture. The partnership was struck
following a meeting with the executive of the Federation in July 2016. For this
cropping season, the Federation will provide job for 25 to 30 ex-remand beneficiaries
of the Board. This will double or triple at the next planting season. What is
more, they will be provided with accommodation and feeding.
The Board has been referring sick discharged remand detainees
to hospital for free medical care. The Board hopes to concretize the
arrangement with a partnership agreement with the Chief Medical Officer.
The Board is working with civil society organizations to facilitate
the smooth return of release beneficiaries ex-convict into mainstream society.
Issues of discrimination against their beneficiaries and their legal
implications are discussed at community outreach events and on radio
programmes.
By Joseph Dumbuya
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