May 17, 2017
All roads lead to the Kono district headquarters town of Koidu as staff of the Board across the country and members of the Motor Drivers Union, Traders Council and Okada riders converge on the city on Saturday, 20 May, 2017 for the launch of the Legal Aid Board office.
“As usual, the office will be launched by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (AG), Hon. Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara,” the Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles said.
“The AG announced in Waterloo on May 6 that another Magistrate Court will be opened in the town after listening to concerns about the high crime rate and the statement from me regarding the high number of accused persons from Waterloo provided legal assistance by the Board in the Cline Town courts. We hope there will be a pleasant surprise for the people of Kono because the district shares similar challenges as Waterloo.”
According to Ms. Carlton-Hanciles, the launch of the offices would not be about politics, noting that the Board is an independent non-profit scheme and would remain -come rain or shine.
“Our interest in inviting politicians to our launch is to ensure there is goodwill because at the end of the day the Board is a subvented institution,” she said.
The Legal Aid Lawyer for the District, Ibrahim Mansaray, has described the launch as an opportunity to showcase achievements since the establishment of the office in the District.
“I will use my statement at the launch to call on the Attorney General, donors and stakeholders in the justice sector to empower the office, so as to increase our services especially in the informal sector where harsh terrain is making monitoring very difficult,” Lawyer Mansaray said.
According to Ms. Carlton-Hanciles, the Board started operations in Kono in September, 2016,followed by securing of an office space, deployment of Lawyer Ibrahim Mansaray and recruitment of two Paralegals.
“For now, we are the only organization with a resident lawyer in the district,” Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said.