Sierra Leone Telegraph: 9 September 2021:
Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray who was granted Le100 million bail with two sureties on Tuesday, 7th September is still in detention at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre, according to reports.
The Judiciary’s Director of Communication, Elkass Sannoh says they’ve not been approached yet to fulfil his bail conditions.
But a close source to Kamarainba says the Judiciary is delaying the process even when they’ve done their best to fulfil the bail conditions.
It is understood that the Master and Registrar of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, Madam Ellen Thomas has refused to process Mohamed Kamarainba Maansray’s bail papers since Tuesday, September 7th, 2021 when Justice Samuel O. Taylor finally grant him bail.
Yesterday 8th September, the Master was nowhere to be found when all the papers were presented by midday.
Today, 9th September, 2021, all the papers have been submitted to her office but until now she has refused to process the papers.
“It is clear that the Judiciary of Sierra Leone is sabotaging President Julius Maada Bio (Photo) and the SLPP Government. Furthermore, it is clear that the Sierra Leone Judiciary has become a major player in the deprivation of the rights of Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray, meaning he will never get a fair trial in the High Court of Sierra Leone,” a court reporter commented.
Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray is an opposition leader who along with the mother of a minor, is accused of alleged child sexual exploitation and is standing trial at the High Court. He has been imprisoned without bail for fourteen months until two days ago, following widespread public and media appeal for his release due to his failing health.
Tonight there are calls for the sacking of the Master and Registrar of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, Madam Ellen Thomas. So far there has been no comment from the judiciary.
Disappointing stuff. From Guinea with mixed political feelings with a popular l’homme fort as Head of State, and back to Sierra Leone With divisiveness. I feel sorry for both the accused and the victim for all that they are going through. Unfortunately, everything in Sierra Leone is politicised. God alone knows where the country is heading to. What should have been a straightforward case has become a political buffoon. SAD.
Even President Bio is fed up with the present judiciary stumbling blocks. You can see the frustration in his face forcing him to shout “Yeah” by reading his lips. My take from this article is this statement by the author – “It is clear that the Judiciary of Sierra Leone is sabotaging President Julius Maada Bio (Photo) and the SLPP Government”. Does President Bio know what is happening in the judiciary? God help the accused, the victim and the courts.
Mohamed K. Mansaray who is a US Citizen or a Green Card holder is aware that having sexual relationship with a school kid or teenager is a NO NO. He is also a father of a teenager called Sierra Leone so he ought to know better. President Bio shocked the world when he declared rape as a public emergency after our First “Iron” Lady Fatima Bio launched the “Hands Off Our Girls” program, and even the parliament passed a law against sexual violence. The United Nations helped set up a special court for rape victims just to change the mindset in our beloved nation, and I believe that they are paying attention since it’s a battle between a powerful politician and a young teenager.
Finally, he is even lucky to be granted bail as compared to R. Kelly who is one of the most popular R&B Singer around the world, who has been in Federal Prisons around the USA for the same offense. I hope he will obey the conditions set by the Judge, and as far as I am concerned, the only victim is the teenage girl.
In Sierra Leone, we have been made to believe that the executive controls the judiciary. Even when the judiciary sometimes gets things right, it is viewed with suspicion. This has been the case with Mr. Kaimrabai Mansaray’s case. From the inception President Bio and his wife have been accused of wanting to rid of Kaimrabai Mansaray. But a critical question any would want an answer to is; who would be disadvantage in having a strong Kaimrabai Mansaray and his ADP party around? It is definitely not President Bio and his SLPP party.
Bio and Kaimrabai do not draw support in the same area. Kaimrabai in part was responsible for Bio’s ascendancy to state house. If I was Bio’s political strategists I will continue to pop up the ADP to continue pealing away some votes from the APC in the north and western area. This brings to mind another question. Are Justice Taylor and the Master Registrar Madan Thomos doing someone’s else bidding? Politics is too deep.
Mr David Samura with all due respect, your analysis about the voting demographic in our country is wrong. Wrong in the sense that no president of Sierra Leone is elected on a mandate based on the demographic of one region. An APC presidential candidate will not secure the necessary threshold based on ballots cast only in the North. So it applies president Bio. Infact president Bio owes his presidency from the North because some communities there that voted him thought it was nice to have a change of government, so the SLPP party Presidential candidate deserves a chance. At the same time there are pockets of support for the APC party in the Eastern, Southern, parts of the country with out which former President Bai Koroma will never have been elected to serve our country. Mr Mohamed K Mansaray, who is stand accused of one the most heinous crimes after murder, is politians. His supporters might not make a dent of difference to both the APC or SLPP, regardless of the outcome of his case. Whether he is an American Green Card holder or not, is beside the point.
For the record Iam not in anyway defending his actions or the lack of it. My contention here is the right of the justice system to be seen to be working for both the accuser and the accused. Apart from that, there are hundreds of people in Sierra Leone that are in prison, and on remand waiting for their case to be heard in front of a judge. Some of them spend years in custody not knowing when tbey will have their day in court. When we talk of building strong institution, the judiciary is the most important institution in a democracy like ours. I assumed some of the forty unarmed prisoners killed in Pademba road, might have been on remand for years,arraigned for crimes that is not proven in a court room. Now some of them have met their creator not knowing why they were detained in the first place or even given the chance to clear their names. Every thing in Sierra Leone is toxic. We seemed to live and breath political division, and not having the courage to confront our politicians that take advantage of this political mass polarisation.
If we want to see strong insututions, a good system of government, respect for individuals rights, we need to move away from the eco Chambers of political malfunction. With out which our country is doom. If this charges brought against Mr Mansaray in a court of law is prove right, then he should be given the maximum sentence. That in itself will reassure us, no one is above the law. The same with R. Kelly. But we should not passed judgment on people’s until they have had the full benifet of a court trial by their peers. There are lot of Mr Mansarays in our prisons system accross our country. A young man accused of stealing a mobile phone or house break in, sitting in Mafanta, or Pademba road will not receive the same press coverage. And thats what’s needs to stop, if we want to see the true meaning of an independent judiciary. Justice delayed is justice denied for all parties involved.
For the intrest of justice both for the accuser and accused is about time the delays in this case shift to the next gear. Mr Mohamed K Mansaray is accused of serious crime involving a child. Now until his case is heard in a courts, chances are the delay in getting the case started will not only call into question why the delay by the state prosecution, but as the old adage goes justice delayed is justice denied for both parties involved. Already the circumstances surrounding this case is raising more eye brows than we are accustomed to. Mr Mohamed K Mansaray is not any other Johnny average in a street corner, accused of molesting a minor. We don’t the full story in this case, but what we do know Mr Mohamed K Mansaray, was a former presidential candidate in the last election for which Bio was elected. Speculation are gathering currency as to whether his position in the national politics is playing any part in delaying his trial.
The judiciary that is supposed to interpret and up hold the law is playing for time. If Mr Mansaray is granted bail, and he is not a flights risk, and have already posted the hundreds million Leones bail and sureties, why delay? The court order has been granted, that was the hard part. Now for all intent and purpose, some one is trying to hold up proceedings. We Sierra Leoneans have to learn to obey court orders, however heinous the crimes committed may come across to the public attention. This foot dragging of this case is going to impact on the public perception of the way justice is handled in our country.
The idea an accused person is innocent until prove guilty of a charge in a court of law, should be the guiding principle under which the rights of all individuals are seen to be protected. Our judiciary should not only be Independent, but they have to be seen to be independent in dispensing with justice, both for the accuser and the the accused. Trial by media is not good.