Sierra Leone News: Concerned law graduates call on government… We will not rest until we get justice

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Over fifty (50) graduates of the Law Department of various Universities; Fourah Bay College and University of Makeni, who were refused admission into the Law School, are now calling on Government to act on their matter, as they will not rest until they get justice. The over fifty students were refused admission into the Law School based on allegations that they have failed at least one module during their course of studies, that they did not study law at FBC and that the subject ‘Civil Obligations’ studied in England is not equivalent to the subject ‘Contract Law’ studied in Sierra Leone. One of the rejected students, Thomas Moore Conteh in presenting a position paper on their situation, said they have been engaging the Government and other stakeholders on the matter for almost eight months now and nothing has been done so far, but that what prompted the press conference and release of the paper is based on a statement by the Attorney- General and Minister of Justice Franklyn Bai Kargbo. He said that recently, the AG allegedly made a statement on air, that he had refused to talk to the students because he does not want to associate with them. Moore also alleged that the AG further stated that “it is not all law graduates who will be a lawyer” and this statement “is unfortunate” and does not auger well for them. Thomas Moore stated that it is disheartening for young and ambitious Sierra Leoneans who have gone through about eight years in University to be subjected to this type of situation by senior citizens who are in charge. From the position paper, Moore stated that based on the allegations against them, the school authorities did not accord the issue the due consideration it deserves “and more so did not follow the Law School’s admission requirements espoused on the schools website.” In their position paper, the students state that also the Admission Committee failed to admit them, even though they are qualified based on the requirements of the Law school, as most of them are 2nd Class and 3rd Class holders. “We consider the action of the said committee against us to be unjust and we have made several attempts to engage the Chief Justice, the AG and other stakeholders of the school on the issue but all proved futile” the Paper revealed. They echoed some of the injustices that led to the eleven years rebel war in the country which “are still evident today, perhaps more spectacular than before. Having spent eight years in the university, we the deprived graduates are presently roaming the street despondently.” Members of different Civil Society groups and organisations made statement in solidarity of the Law Graduates, urging the Government to act within 21 or 14 days to ensure that these students are admitted into the Law School. The Chairman of the ceremony also one of the deprived students, Peter Taplima Mansaray said they are frustrated about academic engagement and this is a situation that will take the country backwards, as they have been confronted with this issue for the past seven months now, without any headway. He said if they continue to sit down and fold their hands, they will become drop-outs and therefore they will not want this to happen, adding that during this situation they have lost about three of their colleagues and about six are presently admitted in hospitals because they can’t endure the stress. Tuesday August 24, 2015

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