Lawyers representing the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) were jittery yesterday (Friday 25 March 2022) in court as they raised objections against the tendering of a document from lawyer Ady Macaulay on behalf of the fourth accused person, Dr Samura Kamara.
The said document relate to the legal opinion, which was previously ordered by Cabinet, as part of the due diligence to be conducted before the contract was awarded to Fairfield Construction Associate LLC for the renovation of the Chancery building of Sierra Leone’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The document tendered is the legal opinion from the Solicitor-General dated 30 November 2016.
However, after listening to submissions from both the prosecution and defense, Justice Adrian Fisher promised to rule on the issue at the next adjourned date which is Monday 28 March 2022. He also ordered both sides to present written submissions in support of their case in relation to admissibility of documents, especially documents referred to as “privileged documents”.
Before the Judge gave the orders, lawyer Ady Macaulay noted that the document was relevant to their case as it had been cited in other cross-examination sessions from the other three accused persons’ lawyers. He also noted that the document was relevant to the case as it played within the procurement process and also showed that due diligence was carried out before the contract was awarded to Fairfield Construction Associate LLC.
He further noted that the document was relevant to the case because the fourth accused, Dr Samura Kamara, was facing charges relating to “deceiving the principal”, adding that the document showed that due diligence was carried out.
On his side lead prosecution lawyer for the ACC, C T Matsebo, objected on the grounds that the tendering breached the fundamentals of the Criminal Procedure Act in relation to tendering of documents. He noted that the said document purported to be an opinion from the Solicitor General, but they could not prove it further. He noted that they should not tender the document through PW1.
The matter was adjourned to Monday 28 March 2022 for ruling.
