Legal Luminary Julian Cole Esq has urged the executive to request holding it Annual General Meeting in Kenema. He justified his reasons base on questioning the availability of decent accommodation in Kenema and the huge transportation and fuel costs in what he described as financial difficult times.

The letter states “I refer to the previous notice in respect of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the Sierra Leone Bar Association dated 13th March 2024 which had, inter alia, that the next AGM would be held in Kenema City. I note that the date of the AGM has been varied by an order of court dated 21st March 2024, but I am unclear as to its venue.

Consequently, I write to request that your executive reconsiders the holding of the AGM in Kenema City. I believe, unless I’m mistaken, that the current membership of the Bar in excess of half a thousand would find it difficult to get decent accommodation in Kenema. This is aside the huge transportation and fuel costs in commuting to and from Kenema which will, during these financially difficult times, be seriously challenging for members especially pupils and very junior colleagues who incidentally do not only now form a bulk of the membership but are also the most excited to attend the association’s functions, its AGM being at the very top of that list. It is against this backdrop that I request that your executive considers holding the next AGM slated for the 16th and 17th May 2024 in Makeni or in the Western Area Urban if other provincial options other than Bo where the penultimate AGM was held are fraught with similar challenges as highlighted above as doing otherwise will effectively disenfranchise many colleagues. The SLBA being amongst the few 100% literate associations should always seek to serve the interest of all colleagues and give a voice to all.

I hope that your executive will review this decision in the best interest of the general membership of the Bar.

Additionally, I hereby request to be furnished with the procedure for the issuance and lodging of proxies in respect of the forthcoming AGM.

Please be informed that I am dispatching this correspondence in the interest of the harmony the Bar stands for and not having to inundate the court în the currently pending proceedings (Julian Cole AND The S.L.B.A and others) with further applications in regard the conduct of the AGM. I shall, therefore, be grateful to receive your response to my request against the 29th instant.

Be informed further that in the unlikely event I do not receive a response or a reasonable response to my requests, I shall be constrained to file papers before the Honourable Mr. Justice M.M. Stevens in regard to the matters noted in this correspondence,”