By Foday Moriba Conteh
In a Press Release issued on the 20th January, 2021 the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed that the Court of Appeal presided over by Honourable Justice Miatta Maria Samba, JA, Honourable Justice Ansumana Ivan Sesay, JA and Honourable Justice Sulaiman Bah, JA on the 19th January, 2021, upheld the conviction and sentence against Appellants, Edward King And Sorieba Kamara, both former officials of the Ministry of Information and Communications.
It could be recalled that on the 27th February, 2019, Edward King, Acting Director of Information and Sorieba Kamara, Senior Accountant in the Ministry of Information and Communications, were sentenced to three years mandatory Imprisonment, following their conviction at a High Court, Holden in Freetown presided over by Justice Fatmata Bintu Alhadi, for corruption offences.
Their conviction came after they pleaded guilty to the counts of Misappropriation of Public Funds and Public Revenue, contrary to Section 36(1); Failure to Comply with Applicable Procedures and Guidelines Relating to the Management of Public Funds, contrary to Section 48(2)b; and failure to pay tax payable to a public body, contrary to Section 48(1)d of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, arising from the Two Hundred and Six Million Leones (Le206,000,000) that was said to have been partly misappropriated following the allocation of funds for Commissions of Inquiry sensitizations by the Ministry of Information and Communication.
In the judgment, the three Justices of the Appeals Court dismissed their grounds of appeal and upheld the Trial Judge’s conviction and sentence against both Appellants to a mandatory prison term of three years.
It continued that the Commission appreciates the judgment of the Appeals Court Justices, in upholding the custodial sentence, earlier handed down, as it serves as an effective deterrent to persons who would want to engage in acts of corruption and welcomes such bold move and posture from the Judiciary.
