April 25, 2016 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
“Lawyers are the only profession where the more there are, the more are needed!,” says Robert Lucky.
The above quote could not be more applicable to Sierra Leone, where 42 new lawyers were called to the bar in a glitzy certification ceremony superintended by Chief Justice Abdulai Cham, last Friday, 22 April, 2016.
Amongst the successful class of 2016 was Mohamed Koi Bainda, a brilliant young accountant who has added a law degree to an already glittering career, in fulfillment of a prophecy.
As the 42 male and female new lawyers waited anxiously in High Court No 1 last Friday to be called to the bar, it was a fulfillment of dreams and aspirations for them, not least Lawyer Bainda, who got his inspiration to be a man of laws from legal luminary Floyd Davies. Whilst reading for his Masters in Accounting at the Institute of Public Administration, Davies Esq., who taught a law module, discovered his potential and implored him to branch out into the hallowed profession.
Being a go-getter and astute scholar, he pursued tenaciously by enrolling at the Law Department at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. With a degree in Accounting and Finance from the same college, coupled with a graduate degree in accounting, he went straight to Year Two. But the elephantine task that lay ahead did not unfaze him, as he soon established himself among the best performers in the class. It thus did not come as a surprise that he bagged a First Class LLB degree, and proceeded to the Sierra Leone Law School.
He replicated the high standards he had set in his entire academic journey by emerging among the best five students, out of 70 in the class! For attaining this distinguished feat, the quintet was awarded cash prizes by law firm Michael & Michael.
An elated Bainda told Concord Times last Friday that he was “elated and extremely thankful to the omnipotent father for having brought me thus far; it was not an easy road, but I am delighted that it has come thus far: ‘All’s well that ends well’.”
The National Revenue Authority staff also paid glowing tribute to his family, colleagues, friends and “mentors Allieu Vandi Koroma Esq. and Musa Mewa Esq. I feel abundantly indebted to them for mentoring me from the Law Department at FBC to the Sierra Leone Law School.”
As a great admirer of arguably the greatest Judge in English history, Lord Denning, his colleagues affectionately call him “Lord Denning”. It is little wonder perhaps that like Lord Denning, who once teased at a dinner “Unlike my brother judge here, who is concerned with law, I am concerned with justice,” Bainda Esq. regards justice as the corner stone of the law.
Quoting Helena Kennedy QC, he quipped: “The Law is the bedrock of a nation; it tells us who we are, what we value, who has power, and who hasn’t. Almost nothing has more impact on our lives.”
The University of Pretoria alum has a son – Mohamed K. Bainda Jr. – with Ms. Isata Zainab Suma.