President Koroma takes one Giant Leap Forward to
Assert the Credibility and Integrity of the
Anti-Corruption Commission
Abdul R Thomas
Editor - The Sierra Leone Telegraph
23 July 2010
At long last the procrastination and dithering are
over. Sierra Leone has a new Anti-Corruption Czar.
President Koroma has appointed an experienced lawyer
- Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara who is currently
serving as the Deputy Prosecutor of the Special
Court of Sierra Leone to lead the battle against
corruption.
 |
Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara is the
President of the Sierra Leone Bar
Association. Taking up office as the new
Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption
Commission, Lawyer Kamara whose pedigree
attracts much admiration from
professional colleagues in the country’s
judiciary, will fill the desperate
vacuum that was left opened, following
the controversial resignation of Abdul
Tejan-Cole early this year.
The Anti-Corruption Commission last week
presented its Annual Report to President
Koroma, amidst a cloudy background of
allegations of selective justice,
rudderlessness, and State House
political string pulling. |
|
This negative perception of the Commission, sadly
overshadowed what otherwise could have been an
encouraging report of progress in the nation’s fight
against corruption.
But yesterday’s decision by the President to appoint
Lawyer Kamara, whom many legal luminaries in Sierra
Leone regard as a credible and trusted professional,
must be a giant step in the right direction, in the
country’s fight against corruption. Sierra Leone is
classed amongst the poorest nations in the world,
due very largely to the misappropriation of public
funds, mal-administration, the abuse of office,
theft, graft and impropriety.
Kamara’s appointment is not without controversy
though. The decision is viewed by critics as
evidence of an entrenched policy of
‘northernisation’ propagated by President Koroma’s
government.
Notwithstanding this criticism, the appointment,
controversial as it may seem, would no doubt be
welcomed by many in Sierra Leone. It should usher in
a much needed boost to the credibility, integrity,
trustworthiness, and morale of the Anti-Corruption
Commission.
Will the now ‘fierce looking’ Anti-Corruption
Commission start to have a bite at the ‘sacred cows’
or will it continue to hack at the heels of
‘sacrificial lambs’?
According to the International Criminal Court (ICC);
“Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara was born in Makeni,
Bombali District, Sierra Leone. In 1985 he was
admitted to the Faculty of Law, Fourah Bay College -
University of Sierra Leone and was called to the Bar
in 1990. During his studies he was recruited into
the Law Officer’s Department where he served in the
Office of the Director of Public Prosecution for
eight years.
During those years he was involved in high profile
cases and made several appearances in the High
Court, Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Mr.
Joseph F. Kamara advised the Government of Sierra
Leone on legal issues and represented Government’s
interests in the Courts of the land.
In January 2004, Mr. Joseph Kamara joined the Special
Court and a year later given the task to lead the
CDF Prosecution Team. Again, his hard work and
competence was quickly noted as he was promoted to
the position of Senior Trial Attorney. He
successfully completed the CDF Case to its appellate
conclusion.
In August of 2008 Mr. Joseph Kamara was appointed by
the Government of Sierra Leone and approved by the
UN Secretary-General to hold the position of Deputy
Prosecutor of the Special Court. He is the first
Sierra Leonean to hold that office. Mr. Joseph
Kamara is a tutor of International Criminal
Procedure and Practice at the Sierra Leone Law
School.
He has participated and made presentations in several
international conferences such as the Nigerian Bar
Association Annual Conference, and the East African
Law Society/International Bar Association on the
Impact of International Criminal Justice in East
Africa, held in Naivaisha, Kenya.”
The success of the Anti-Corruption Commission in
winning the war on corruption in Sierra Leone,
which is estimated to be costing the nation Hundreds
of Millions of Dollars, now rests on those broad
shoulders of Lawyer Kamara. Should his track record
and reputation at the International Criminal Court
(ICC) squares up to his new role at the Anti-Corruption
Commission, then Sierra Leone should have much to
celebrate.
But of course, should Lawyer Kamara allow himself and
his role to be politicised and marginalised, not
only will posterity judge him rather harshly,
his failure to deliver will be a massive blow to the
hopes and dreams of millions of poor people in the
country who go to bed hungry, because corrupt
officials continue to take bread away from their
plates.
Lawyer Kamara's appointment is being viewed positively
as a step in the right direction, following another
sound decision made by the President last week to
disband the role and function of Presidential
Affairs Minister, with the appointment of a
qualified and experienced public finance technocrat
- Dr.
Kaifala Marah -
seconded from the Common Wealth Office in
London as Chief of Staff responsible for
co-ordinating the government's drive in pushing
forward its Agenda for Change.
Welcome, Lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara – Sierra
Leone’s latest Anti-Corruption Czar – the stage is
yours!
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