It’s a story right out of a movie script. Gongofa Marah’s (not his real name) brother had married a woman believed to be married to another man. The estranged husband’s family, trying to protect his honour, attacked Marah’s family. During the ensuing melee, the estranged husband’s father died after he was hit on the head with an object. Who killed him? Unconfirmed sources say he was mistakenly hit by his own son, while other sources attribute his death to multiple organ failure. Gongofa, his mother Manteh and brother Kallie were arrested in 2017. They were living in Kallamaroh village, Barawa Wallay Chiefdom, Falaba District at the time of the incident. The accused persons were taken to Kabala, the district headquarter town of Koinadugu, since their home district of Falaba had no Magistrate Court. For Gongofa this was the first time he was leaving his home district.
The accused persons were then transferred to the Makeni Correctional Centre following the committal of the case against his mother and brother to the High Court in Makeni where both were represented by the regional legal aid counsel for the north, Ibrahim Samba. They made their first appearance before the High Court in Makeni on 19th July 2019 charged with manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. After series of adjournments, they were discharged on 16th October 2019. This was after legal aid counsel Samba appealed to the court to discharge the matter due to the persistent absence of witnesses. The application was granted as the family of the deceased never showed any interest in the matter.
Since Makeni did not have a Juvenile Home and a Magistrate Court for juvenile matters, Gongofa’s trial only started when he was transferred to the Juvenile Home in Kingtom, Freetown, where he was provided immediate legal assistance by the legal aid counsel responsible for juvenile matters, Ibrahim Bangura. Legal Aid Board is the only legal aid organisation in the country with a full-time lawyer for juvenile matters.
Prior to his transfer to Freetown, the Makeni correctional authorities had been under mounting pressure from LAB office in that part of the country over delays in the trial and the unsuitability of the detention facility, which does not cater for juvenile offenders. “We had given an ultimatum to the correctional officers in Makeni to either transfer the juvenile offender to Freetown or put him on bail,” said LAB Regional Program Manager for the North, Mohamed Jalloh. After his relocation was effected, LAB’s Makeni office referred Gongofa’s case to the Freetown office where he met with legal aid counsel Ibrahim Bangura the following day for briefing, reassurance and psychological support. Bangura assured Gongofa that the Board will do everything within its power to ensure he gets justice.
“I was happy and relieved to receive a visit from you on the second day of my arrival in Freetown because the board has cared for me since I got into trouble in my native Falaba District. And they are the only people I know in Freetown,” Gongofa had said following his meeting with Bangura. Gongofa could speak only Koranko and some Madingo at the time of his arrest. This was a serious challenge for him after he was transferred from Kabala to Makeni and then Freetown. He learned to speak Krio at the Juvenile Home in Freetown out of necessity. After three years, Gongofa was discharged by Magistrate Bangura of Court No. 7 because prosecution witnesses had been absent since the case started. After several adjournments and pleas by the legal aid counsel, the matter was discharged on 3rd August 2020 pursuant to section 94 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1965.
Under normal circumstances, both parties should have parted ways at this juncture.
“But the board has always gone the extra mile using its limited resources to facilitate the return of its clients to their home or places of their choosing, including those from Mano River Union countries. Imagine if the board had abandoned Gongofa in the courtroom after securing his discharge like private lawyers do: he would have been rendered homeless immediately. The board has also supported the reintegration of their clients into mainstream society by referring them to partner organisations to assist with skills training, capacity building, accommodation and jobs,” said LAB Executive Director, Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles. The first port of call for Gongofa following his discharge was the LAB head office in Freetown, accompanied by social worker Abdul Habib Bangura from the Ravera Children’s Rehabilitation Centre in Freetown, where Mrs. Carlton-Hanciles assured Gongofa the board will continue to look after him until he is fully resettled in his home.
According to the LAB boss, she then instructed the board’s paralegals in Falaba District (who are funded by MOTT Foundation), Mohamed Kamara and Kelie Marah, to engage the people and stakeholders in Gongofa’s home chiefdom of Barawa Wallay to gauge public reaction on his planned return and prepare the community for it. “The paralegals held series of meetings in Barawa Wallay. The one in the Momoria Section was attended by the section chief, Dinke Marah, town chief Sheku Kargbo, youth chairman Bockarie Koroma and local court chairman Dakuneh Kalma. Following the positive feedback from these meetings a decision was made to repatriate Gongofa to his home,” she added.
She said Gongofa was accompanied by social worker Abdul Habib Bangura to Kabala where he was received by the two aforementioned Falaba District paralegals.
Gongofa, accompanied by these paralegals, made the 76 mile journey from Kabala to the Falaba District headquarter town of Mongor Bendugu. “On 6th August, they set out for the 66 mile journey to Barawa Firawa, the headquarter town of Barawa Wallay chiefdom, where an outreach event held in his honour climaxed with his handing over to the regent Paramount Chief, Foday Janneh. Among the attendees were section chief Abdul Marah, town chief Jaccoba Marah, youth chairman Balla Musa Marah and the Mammy Queen Manteh Koroma,” she informed.
She said since then the paralegals have been monitoring Gongofa’s reintegration into the community, “and the feedback has been encouraging”.
“I cannot thank our partners, the traditional chiefs enough for their cooperation and support in ensuring a smooth return of our client, and I am confident they will ensure he is reintegrated into the community,” Mrs. Carlton-Hanciles said. “I hope this will help those who criticise us for doing things outside our mandate to understand we’re doing this in good faith and more importantly to help our poor clients. This is why we have spent seven hundred and fifty thousand Leones equivalent to seventy-five U.S. dollars to repatriate Gongofa, which is not part of our budget.”
Meanwhile, with Gongofa’s repatriation accomplished, his reintegration and rehabilitation is bound to take time. “He wants to enroll in an educational institution. The board is therefore calling on partners and well-wishers to assist him realise his dream of having an education. Please feel free to contact the Legal Aid Board if you want to help,” pleaded Mrs. Carlton-Hanciles.
By Jerry Kai-Lewis