Hon. Justice Desmond Babatunda Edwards, who is the Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone on t Friday 15th March 2019, held dialogue meeting with the President, Judges and support staff of the ECOWAS Community Court at his chambers, Main Law Court Building, Siaka Steven Street in Freetown.
Speaking to the Hon. Chief Justice and other Judges of the Superior Court of Judicature, the President of the Court Hon. Justice Edward A. Asante said the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is an organ of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), a regional integration community of fifteen (15) member states in Western Africa. He revealed that the Court was created pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 and 15 of the Revised Treaty of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).
Commenting on the jurisdiction and enforcement of the Court, President Edward A. Asante said, the court deals with administrative tribunal for ECOWAS, human rights, arbitration and inter-state dispute resolution tribunal. He said the court also consider cases brought by individuals on application for relief for violation of human rights, individual and cooperate bodies to determine as to whether their rights have been violated by an ECOWAS official etc.
He said the decision of the court is final and enforcement of court’s decisions has been one of the biggest challenges. Hon. Justice Edward A. Asante said enforcement of Court’s decisions is one of the reasons for their trip to Sierra Leone. He said Article 24(4) and (3) of the Supplementary Protocol of the ECOWAS Court provides that “Execution of any judgment of the Court shall be in the form of a writ of execution, which should be submitted by the Registrar of the Court to relevant member State for execution according to the rule of civil procedure of that member state.’ He said execution is done upon verification by the appointed authority of recipient that the writ is from the court and the writ shall be enforced.
Hon. Justice Edward A. Asante beseeched the Hon Chief Justice to meet with the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to select someone who will be approved to serve as focal person, and whose job will be to enforce orders of the court.
In his comment, the Hon Chief Justice Hon. Justice Desmond Babatunda Edwards thanked the President and team from the ECOWAS Community Court for what he described as timely and educative dialogue. He affirmed that he himself and other judges had learned so much on the operations of the court and that they now have the appetite to go more into the ECOWAS Court and its operations. He promised the team that he will ensure that, their request is effectively communicated to the relevant Ministries so that enforcement concerns will be addressed. The dialogue meeting ended with photos taken.
Hon. Justices of the ECOWAS Community Court posed with Sierra Leone Chief Justice and Judges of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone.

In a new development Lusine Kallon the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs led a delegation to Kenya and Ghana ahead of the review of the National Youth Service (NYS) Act, which was legislated in 2016.
The team comprises Hon. Abdul Kargbo-Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Youth Affairs, NYS Board Chairman Sahr Nyaama and the NYS Deputy Executive Director Onanah Jalloh.
The NYS study tour to Kenya and Ghana is to inform the review of the 2016 NYS Act, as proclaimed by President Julius Maada Bio in his maiden address to Parliament on 10th May 2018.
The choice of Kenya and Ghana is meant to obtain best practices from the youth services of both countries and to further obtain all technical information and literature that would enhance the implementation of the scheme in Sierra Leone.
Minister Kallon said the New Direction believes in effective institutional reforms that will resonate with youth empowerment and national development. According to him, this will help the Government to implement programmes and projects in line with its national agenda.
“The study tour is important and timely,” said Minister Kallon, “it will help us to obtain best practices and lessons from other countries ahead of the review process.”
Onanah Jalloh, Deputy Executive Director of the NYS said they are on track and working assiduously to ensure that the NYS becomes an envy in the sub-region. He said since inception, the NYS was dormant but they have injected a “new blood” into the scheme to achieve President Bio’s ambitious vision for the youth.
“We were able to recruit the first batch of graduate corps and today they have been deployed across the country,” said Director Jalloh.
He went on to state that after the tour they would certainly review the Act which is why they are travelling with the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Youth Affairs to demonstrate seriousness.

On Friday, 22 March 2018 the Legal Aid Board fulfilled a promise it made to clique members – a few of who were female sex workers – during the March 2018 elections by handing over two thousand four hundred and seventy-five (2,475) names of cliques member to the Youth Minister, Hon. Mohamed Orman Bangura for inclusion into one of the youth projects of the Ministry. Only 2% of those on the list are above thirty-years. The list also contains contact details including mobile numbers of clique members and their Five-Os.
The ceremony took place in the office of the Minister in the Stadium Hostel in Freetown.
As part of the initiative at ensuring Free, fair, credible and peaceful elections, the Board held sensitization meetings with Cliques in the Solidarity Hall of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress. These meeting took place in the period leading to the March 2018 elections. It was during these engagements that the ‘Crime to Career’ initiative was borne as part of a post office initiative for cliques.
The clique members had asked for something in return. They wanted to acquire skills that will give them a sustainable livelihood, so they will not have reason to resort to crime to make ends meet. “During these meetings, I was confronted with the question: ‘Mummy what are you going to do for us? and this really pricked my conscience,” she said.
Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles said the Board’s Anti-Election Violence Initiative was support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). ‘As a result of the support, the Board was able to train staff and partners, organized sensitization meetings on the electoral laws and engage with the electoral process.
She said she was pleasantly surprised to find out one clique member on the list was a degree holder. Some had Higher Teachers Certificate (HTC) while others had certificates in accounting and Information Technology. Also, there are those who have acquired skills in carpentry, painting and driving.’
The names which were drawn from over thirty-two clique groups were compiled by Paralegals of the Board. These include Bloodline of Smart Farm, Blue Flag of Mountain Cut, Gaza State of Hill Cut Road, Central Ross of King Jimmy, Orlorshoraw of Murray Town and KKK of Mount Aureol
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said the Board targeted the cliques because they are among the most prone to violence. Most importantly, based on reports of violence perpetrated by cliques in December 2017 the Board decided to engage them through meetings to sensitize them on the electoral laws and also ensure they engage with the electoral processes. The Board also maintained regular contacts with them through Paralegals assigned to the various clique groups in the Western Area.
‘The wakeup call came, when some former clients of the Board were arrested for perpetrating election related violence,’ Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said. ‘Also, being one of the focal institutions for Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals which speak to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, we were obliged to do something.’
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said the Minister has brought a breath of fresh air into the job because he is seen by youths as a role model and not as a Minister. ‘You are a young man who has gone through what these cliques are now going through and have been able to turn around your life for the better,’ she said.
The Minister of Youth, Hon. Mohamed Orman Bangura described what the Board has done as a ‘job in the right direction’.
He said a lot of factors are responsible for what the cliques are going through at the moment, part of which has to do with the fact that they have been ignored for too long. ‘We all have a role to play to turn their lives around and this is why the efforts of the Legal Aid Board in this direction should be commended,’ he said. ‘We should stop seeing youths as a liability. This is why we have to change the narrative and also help change their mindsets.’
He said his Ministry is committed to ensuring youths have the mindset to succeed. He noted that if the youths cannot make a better future when they are young, there will be nobody to take care of them when they are old. ‘This is why we are investing in them and we will ensure we account for any penny that comes to my Ministry,’ he said.
The Minister emphasized that team work is required at all levels to achieve the desired results. ‘The New Direction believes in team work and this is why we work as a team in my Ministry,’ he said.
He underscored the need to be serious about the fight against corruption to ensure resources for youth empowerment are not diverted into personal use. He also lamented the effect of drugs on young people. ‘When we came ito power Tamadol was selling for two thousand Leones (Le2,000) now it is going for five thousand Leones (Le5,000) and ironically it has boosted its consumption.
Mr. Bangura said his Ministry has developed programmes aimed at changing the lives of the youths. He said 10 Car Wash projects have already been launched in Freetown. He added that more will follow in the coming months. Also, the National Youth Service is ongoing. He noted that over 1000 more youths will be recruited into the scheme this year.
Projects lined up for the coming months include Youth in Commercial Transportation, Youth in Fisheries, Youth in Agriculture and the Entrepreneurship programme. He disclosed that the Ministry will be giving out 200 vehicles to youths as part of the Youth in Commercial Transpiration. Also, it will tap into the huge agriculture potential in Tormabom by having youths go into farming in that part of the country.
The meeting was climaxed with the handing over of files containing the names of 2,475 clique members from 32clique groups to the Minister of Youth by the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board.

2019 Housemates Salone Reality TV Show is becoming more and more funny, and lively with interesting episodes that provokes laughter amidst the lot of gossips , display of seniority by the various competitors, each trying to outwit the others in order to capture the votes of viewers who have been offered the freewill to do so using Africell Number 5500. The character attacks, singing, attempts made to act funnily, talk tough and appear sexy may only be interpreted within the context of demonstrating strong language, behaving humorously and displaying nudity as the competition demands. It is indeed laughable to see the Housemates dancing to Sierra Leonean tunes, cracking jokes and arguing.
The live Reality Show, which is aired on AYV entertainment Channel 34 Television station is indeed a new development in this country for which the organizers AYV Media Empire and Africell have been widely hailed as both continue to boost the entertainment industry,
What is playing in the minds of the current 12 Housemates ,the number was increased by adding two former evicted contestants to the 10 that successfully survived the past evictions, is emerging winner to bag the Le100,000,000 that has been put aside as the star prize,
According to the organizers of the interesting and somehow comical show what is at the centre of organizing the show is youth empowerment, providing a platform to showcase their talents and at the same time to learn new skills like learning how to cook, socialize, how to play certain games, build confidence, how to comport themselves publicly and to speak fluently, They have been benefitting from interactions with officials of certain corporate entities, like Rokel Commercial and Guarantee Trust Banks who have been explaining to them how their institutions operate,
One outstanding thing that the show has elicited is that the sky could be the limit for any individual regardless of whether a person is able and disable, One of the Housemates, Bintu, a blind young girl, has been acting admirably well to the consternation of most viewers, It is unbelievable that she is comfortably interacting with the other contestants, AYV and Africell has reiterated that disability could not mean inability and we must draw a lesson from that,
It may be subject to argument as to whether the way the Housemates are catered for falls under empowerment because they are offered good food and drinks nurturing them well, Indeed, a good health produces a sound mind, The fact remains that the Housemates are really enjoying sumptuous food,
AYV, under its astute Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Anthony Navo, has been at the very forefront of empowering young people and make them very productive in society. He has been doing so passionately and he is highly respected for championing that cause.
A good aspect of the Reality TV Show is that it has exposed all the participants and as viewers continue to follow it there is the likelihood that in the future some of them will become Brand Ambassadors, artists or models, It can never be an overstatement to state that Housemates Salone indeed continues to thrill viewers and hold them captive.

Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton – Hanciles, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, will be among three Executive Directors of Legal Aid Institutions to speak at the World Justice Forum in April 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands.
The Forum will showcase work done in Sierra Leone, South Africa and Brazil in relation to Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on access to justice with specific reference to Pre-trial Detention Indicator (PTD).
‘So far I suggested to demonstrate relevant work done in Sierra Leone, South Africa and Brazil. Since Sierra Leone has been one of the champions on Goal 16 too (including the PTD indicator), I think it would be great to showcase it obviously,’ the invitation reads.
The Legal Aid Board is one of the lead institutions for the implementation of Goal 16 in Sierra Leone. This invitation is in recognition of the work of the Board in promoting access to justice through primary justice services in remote communities and building inclusive society.

Mr. Ibrahim Sannoh Deputy Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority – SLRSA has said in a meeting with Transport Stakeholders that the SLRSA’s Responsibility Is to the Citizens of Sierra Leone.

He made this statement while addressing cross section of road transport stakeholders at the Mile 38 Check Point along the Waterloo – Masiaka Highway past Thursday 21st March 2019.

He said they were appointed by His Excellency Julius Maada Bio to fulfill their promise in having a better and a well secured road network and transport system.

He said the SLRSA cannot work in isolation that is why they are partnering with key stakeholders like the forces to enforce the law and ensure that users strictly abide by all laws legislated in the country.

According to him, the police and the road safety corps are always on the streets to ensure road safety, but road traffic crashes are still on the increase. This ugly trend, he said, must be reversed as “the life of every Sierra Leonean despite his or her social status is equally important.”

Despite the challenges confronted by the Authority, Mr. Sannoh said that SLRSA have established thirteen offices across the country in order to achieve the authority’s mandate. He assured that the Authority will continue to engage the traffic police and sensitize road users and the public at large especially the commercial drivers.

The SLRSA boss registered his Authority’s commitment on incentives and other emoluments for border or check point staff to motivate them in the discharge of their duties.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Traffic Management and Road Safety, Sahr Senesie, said they have a duty to their citizens and the state. He admonished that they should not compromise their integrity which is key in upholding the fundamental principles in policing. He appealed that, “we should be our brothers’ keeper.”

The personnel expressed similar sentiments in showering praises at the SLRSA’s Deputy Executive Director and said that his leadership style is second to none since the establishment of the Authority.

1. The Law Department at Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone intends to add a new module to its LLB degree by teaching DIPLOMATIC and CONSULAR LAW in its Law Department commencing soon.
2. The pioneers behind this new development are Francis Gabbidon who has done a lot of academic work and research on practice and Dr. Binneh Kamara Head of the Law Department at Fourah Bay College who has also done a lot of studies in Public International Law, the Law of Wars and International Relations.
3. The module will include the following but not limited to:
• Sierra Leone Constitution
• The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961
• The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963
• The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969
• Public Diplomacy
• Privileges and Immunities under Diplomatic and Consular Law
• The United Nations Charter
• Purposes and Principles of the United Nations
a) The General Assembly
b) The Security Council
c) The Secretariat
• The International Court of Justice
• The International Criminal Court (ICC)
• The Traditional Diplomatic Structures as Bricks and Mortar
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• The Diplomatic Mission
• Protocol and Procedure
• International Organizations and Agreements outside the United Nations
• Inter-Governmental Agencies related to the United Nations (including Specialized Agencies)
• International Law and practice
• Environmental Diplomacy
• The Diplomat and the Media
• Conference Diplomacy Practice and Procedure
• Human Rights Law
• International Treaties
The teaching of Diplomatic Law and Practice is not common in African Universities and the Law Department at Fourah Bay College intends to develop this module at a very high level, to include research, workshops, seminar and publishing.

On Tuesday 26th March 2019 the House of Representatives debated and approved the Thirtieth Report of its Committee on Appointments and the Public Service, chaired by the Leader of Government Business, Hon. Sidie M. Tunis.

Speaking to the nominees after approval, the Presiding Speaker of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas said he had no doubt in their potentials to make the country proud. He specifically appealed to Mr. Edmond Alpha, the Electoral Commissioner-Southern Region to do this nation proud by proving his critics wrong, having regard for his contentious nomination and approval by Parliament. Recalling his role in the approval of the current Anti-Corruption Czar, Francis Ben Kaifala whom he said is doing exceptionally well today in the discharge of his duties; he called on Edmond Alpha to do same.

The following presidential nominees were approved by Parliament:

I. Mr. Leonard Michael Taylor-High Court Judge
II. Mr. Augustine K. Musa-High Court Judge
III. Mr. Samuel O. Moses Taylor-High Court Judge
IV. Ms. Clarissa Cosmotina Jarrett-High Court Judge
V. Mr. Michael Patrick H. Mami-High Court Judge
VI. Mr. Aiah Simeon Allieu-High Court Judge
VII. Mr. Albert Juma Moody-High Court Judge
VIII. Hon. Sahr T. Fatorma-Member, Board of Directors, SLRA
IX. Mr. Edmond Sylvester Alpha-Electoral Commissioner, Southern Region
X. Ing. Maada Senesie Kpenge-Managing Director, Guma Valley Water Company
XI. Mr. Sahr Julius N. M’bayo-Member, Board of Directors, NPPA
XII. Mrs. Neneh Dabo-Member, Board of Directors, NPPA
XIII. Haja Amie Daboh-Member, Board of Directors, SLRA and
XIV. Ms. Ebunouwa Finda Tengbeh-Member, Board of Directors, EPA

Seconding the motion, Hon. Emilia L. Tongi, an Independent MP from Kailahun District described the nominees “as fine and exceptional”, adding that the “right direction is the correct direction”. She also congratulated Hon. Sahr Fatorma and described him as one of the “luckiest” persons in the country. She called for justice to be taken to her constituency where a lot of women are suffering from injustice and other forms of domestic violence.

Speaking on behalf of the opposition APC before the walk-out, Hon. Lahai Marah congratulated all the presidential nominees, save for the Electoral Commissioner-Southern Region. He also said that “as a person, he is qualified and we have no issue with him, but the Chairperson of NEC”, whom the APC had called for his resignation and withholding our participation in any activity relating to NEC. He also said that “the APC is of the view that the conduct of the recent bye-election in Tonkor Limba by NEC was marred with fraud and various discrepancies”.

Speaking on behalf of the NGC, its Leader, Hon. Dr. Alhaji Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella said “that the NGC does not have problem with any of the nominees”, whilst registering the concerns that had already been expressed by the Party in light of the just concluded bye-election in Tonkor Limba such as a judicial review of the whole process. He concluded by saying “that the NGC will not demonstrate any conduct that will disrupt the proceedings of Parliament”.

Concluding the debate, the Leader of Government Business, Hon. Sidie M. Tunis said “I will continue to negotiate and consult with the opposition parties, especially the APC, but that outside forces are influencing and constraining the work of elected MPs during the course of executing their duties”. He also assured the people of Sierra Leone “that they will get justice” in light of the recent approval of Supreme, Appeals and now High Courts Judges to ensure that justice is done and must be seen to be done”. In thanking NGC, C4C, PCMP, and Independent Members of Parliament for taking part in the deliberations of the House, he specifically called on SLPP MPs to be regular and always attend parliamentary sittings.