AYV News, September 2, 2024
Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh has paid fines to the tune of NLe111,700 for 47 inmates incarcerated in the Pujehun Correctional Centre, for various petty offences.
The gesture will help reduce overcrowding in the Pujehun Correctional Centre which was constructed to originally house seventy-six inmates.
Dr. Sengeh said: “Today, I went to visit the Pujehun Correctional Service today. Accompanied by the Secretary to the President, the head of the Correctional Services, two members of Parliament, a district councilor, and a few local stakeholders, we observed that the 1914 built prison was beyond capacity. It is crowded with people who were only there because they are poor – they couldn’t pay the fines they were given at conviction. But even more troubling was the fact that about 90% of the inhabitants are young people.
“While the government of President Bio has now passed a new law in the Criminal Procedural Act which addresses some of these issues that kept poor people poor through incarceration, more justice still needs to be done, quickly. We are a human capital government, and as leaders within this government, we must demonstrate this through our actions.
“We learned that there were Prisoners there behind bars because they couldn’t pay a fine of 200 leones. Some 500 and most 1,000. How can someone spend time in prison because they are poor? This is not justice. As a champion of Radical Inclusion, who advocates for a more just society, I immediately committed to paying the fines of all inmates in the Pujehun prison. All fines for the 47 inmates will be paid as they go through appropriate legal procedures to obtain their freedom. That’s the least I could do.
“As Chief Minister, I committed to asking the authorities to send a judge to visit the prisons immediately to resolve ongoing cases. About a dozen or more inmates haven’t been tried for up to two years! As President Bio reminds us often, justice delayed is justice denied. We have already had similar trials in prisons in Freetown, Kambia, and Kailahun. We won’t stop until everyone can get access to quality justice. The government is far gone with its justice sector strategy, something my office pays close attention to and coordinates, and we will ensure these findings are addressed”.
However, as at the time of the gesture, there were over one hundred inmates lodged in the Centre.
Dr. Sengeh said Correctional Centres were crowded with people who were poor- “they could not pay the fines for which they were convicted; more troubling is the fact that about 90% of the inhabitants are young people. The government of President Bio has now passed a new Law in the Criminal Procedure Act which addresses some of these issues that poor people behind bars, more justice still needs to be done, quickly!”
He indicated that he would see to it that a Judge was sent to “visit the prisons immediately” to resolve ongoing cases. About a dozen or more inmates have not been tried for up to two years, he observed, adding “we won’t stop until everyone can get access to quality justice”.
The Chief Minister also observed that the Centre had a fence that does not meet security standards, and also lacked a separate structure for the housing of female inmates. He said he would take that up with relevant authorities for addressing. He also promised to make a priority, and provide industrial tools to the Centre for inmates’ training and rehabilitation.
Thanking the Chief Minister, the Ag. DG of the SLCS- Brig. Gen. Massaquoi, said the fines paid for the release of forty- seven inmates is unprecedented in the country in terms of enormity. “There is no time in this country that inmates are released from any Correctional Centre in this magnitude, apart from the execution of Presidential Pardon. Even that, it is only in Pademba Road Correctional Centre that such a number is released.”
