Sierra Leone High Court Judge Stevens to pay child support after test confirms he is father of six month old child

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 October 2025:

The controversial paternity case involving Justice Momoh-Jah Stevens was brought to a close last week at the High Court in Freetown, after DNA results presented in court showed a 99.9% positive match between Justice Stevens and Edwina Jamiru’s six-month-old baby.

High Court Justice Stevens had previously denied being the father of the child, raising several concerns which the court acknowledged as constituting “reasonable doubts” regarding the identity of the child’s father.

Presiding Judge Augustine K. Musa ordered Justice Momoh Jah Stevens to pay monthly child support of NLe 10,000 (approximately Thirty-Three Pounds Sterling), effective December 2025, following DNA test results confirming he is the biological father of the child, under Section 83 of the Child Rights Act of 2007.

Stevens had asked the High Court for paternity test to be conducted after he had denied having sex with twenty-one-year-old Ms. Jamiru, accusing her of sleeping with another man.

The DNA test was conducted on 9^th of October, 2025 at the Ramsy Medical Laboratory and EcoMeD Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory in Freetown, and blood samples sent to laboratories in the United States and the United Kingdom. The testing procedure in Freetown was witnessed and verified by officials from the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, and the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice

On the basis of the DNA results received, the Court concluded that High Court Judge Stevens is the father of the child who is now six months old, and ordered that Judge Stevens be held responsible for the child’s maintenance until age 21; that he must pay a monthly child support of Le10,000 (approximately £33.33) starting 1^st December, 2025; that both Stevens and Jamiru must have Shared custody of the child;

It is not certain whether the country’s Chief Justice will now allow Judge Stevens to return to work after he was placed on administrative leave in order to safeguard public trust, on 29^th September 2025.

Many in Sierra Leone now believe that Justice Stevens has indeed broken the public’s trust and brought the country’s justice system into disrepute, and must never be allowed to continue to sit as a Judge in the High Court.