May 30, 2019
By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Sesay briefing newsmen
The Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Brima Sesay has told newsmen that the seven soldiers who are currently being probed by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in connection to the circumstances leading to the escape of Captain Patrick Edwin Kamara at the military detention holding centre may face court martial, if found wanting.
Kamara, together with two of his colleagues were key members of the security detail of Ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma and they are being tried at the Military Court martial on five counts of allegations of missing arms and ammunition at the presidential lodge valued at US$80,402.30.
He escaped on Tuesday, 29 May 2019- the very day his defence team would have addressed the court on no case submission.
“One Major, one staff Sergeant, two Sergeants and three Lance Corporals are under investigation. But honestly, I don’t think we should give you their names but people are responsible, people were on duty. In the military, there is no space for vacuum. The CID is investigating the matter and the military as well has set up a commission to look into the issue. If the investigation points at them, then they will face the court martial,” he said.
He stated that as part of the measures taken, the RSLAF has to ensure that Standard Operating Procedures are enhanced and that they will also revisit security advisory with the view to looking at that deployment and contingent plans.
Earlier in his welcome address, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General Alhassan Bangura said over the week, a number of misleading and inaccurate reports about the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has punctuated the mainstream and social media which has attracted the presser.
He noted that the MoD will not react to media publications in haste because the military is a structured institution with very delicate but important functions.
In his presentation of key messages, Major Yayah Brima, Staff Officer Grade 2, said while efforts have been made to re-arrest Captain Kamara, his co-accused are still on remand at the custodial centre and that the fugitive would be tried in absentia.
Major Brima said the very day Captain Kamara escaped from custody, his twin brother coincidentally died at Makoth village, where he had been taken for native treatment.
He said those coincidences followed some false and inaccurate media reports that Captain Kamara has died in detention, thus stating that the writer ‘is believed to have deliberately mistaken the death of Michael Kamara for the fugitive- Captain Kamara.
Giving a detail report on the ongoing all female cadets and recruits training at the Armed Forces Training Centre, Major Brima said out of the 332 female applicants that went through the rigorous selection process, only 62 female were enlisted for cadet and 270 female recruits.
He noted that four of the trainees have been dismissed after failing the medical test for pregnancy and that one cadet was also relegated to the recruit level due to poor performance, thus disclosing that the first phase of the training will end on 11 June, this year.
Speaking on the enhanced pension claim made by the wounded-in-Action Ex-soldiers, the Major said from 2006 to 2012, 836 war-wounded soldiers fully received their reparations in accordance with the scheme after being discharged from the military.
He explained that the low rate the former soldiers have been complaining about since 2016 has been arranged as the minimum monthly pension has been moved from Le26,000 to Le395,000, thus noting that 471 of them were currently receiving the pension through NASSIT.
He stated that there were plans to persuade the government to enact the Vetran Act which will look into the welfare of all Ex-soldiers servicemen, including the war-wounded.
“Finally, the MoD would like the public to know that it has no reason to neglect the war-wounded ex-soldiers. It is the MoD’s responsibility to advocate for them. This is because they were the frontline soldiers that sacrificed their bodies in defence of this country during the bloody civil war. Thus the MoD is committed to highlighting their welfare to the government,” he said
He said following the shooting incident in Moriba Town, Moyamba District, the MoD in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Police was investigating the murder when certain individuals ‘falsely reported the despicable crime with political sentiment’.
“Such reports were having criminal intention to undermine the existing cohesion among the ranks and file of the military,” he said.
He explained that the perpetrator, Lance Corporal Abdulai Jalloh was facing a preliminary investigation at the magistrate court in Bo for the offence of murder and has been committed to the High Court for further trial.
He stated that the military would institute an administrative action to dismiss Lance Corporal Jalloh from the military in line with its Misconduct Policy.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Defence, Colonel (Rtd) Simeon Nasiru Sheriff, said they have been supporting the Sierra Leone police in other activities that borders on internal security and that they were the most dominant participants in the Saturday clearing exercise as they normally return to the Streets on the following day to clear the pile of rubbish willingly.