By Janet A. Sesay
Plaintiff, Marie Sesay, niece Defendant, to Dr. Richard Konteh has in her rebuttal testimony before Justice Manuela Harding’s High Court No. 2 confirmed that the sum of USD 10,000 (Ten Thousand Dollars) was wired from her account to the account of Dr. Konteh’s Chase Bank Account in the United States America as payment for four-town plot of land and for its fencing.
Dr. Richard Konteh earlier in his defense had denied that he never received payment from the Plaintiff, Marie Sesay for the payment of four-town plot of land.
The Plaintiff Marie Sesay was called virtually by her Lawyer Augustine Sorie Sengbe Marrah to testify to the court her rebuttal to the testimony of the Defendant, Dr. Richard Konteh in which he had denied receiving any payment to his USA account for a four-town plot of land.
The receipts of payments were virtually shown to the court during proceeding on Monday, 23rd March, 2026 in full view of Justice Manuela Harding and other court officials including both Prosecuting and Defending Counsels.
The Plaintiff, in her rebuttal testimony informed the court that she is living in the United States of America and that she knew the Defendant, Dr. Richard Konteh as his uncle from her mother’s side.
Ms. Sesay went on to confirm to the court that she deed paid the sum of USD 10,000 (Ten Thousand United States Dollars) into the USA account of the Defendant, Dr Richard Konteh in three particles.
She said the first payment was done on 25th March, 2010 when she wired the sum of USD 5,000 (Five Thousand United States Dollars) from her bank account and into the account of Dr. Konteh and also that on April 19th, 2010 she deposited another USD 3,000 (Three Thousand United States Dollars) into Dr. Konteh’s account and that she also on March 19th 2011, paid another USD 2,000 (Two Thousand United States Dollars) into the Defendant’s account, marking the final payment that amounted to USD 10, 000 (Ten Thousand United States Dollars) as payment for the four-town plot of land and for the fencing of the plot of land.
Madam Marie Sesay also informed the court that the she negotiated and agreed with the Defendant in 2010 to pay USD 2,000 per one plot of land and that between them she requested for four plots of land.
She further testified that she did not receive any registered conveyance for the four-town plot of land from Abdulai Sheriff in 2011 as alleged by Dr. Konteh in his testimony rather, she maintained, she received a conveyance from Mohamed Kamara in 2011 and the conveyance showed only two-town plot of land which she rejected.
Madam Sesay also rebutted Dr. Konteh’s statement that she never had an encounter with Abdulai Sheriff in 2011 but in on January 6th 2024, when Abdulai Sheriff called her on the phone saying that he received a call from Dr. Richard Konteh stating that he has been told by Dr. Konteh that she disrespected him for a piece of land.
Plaintiff, Marie Sesay further in her rebuttal testimony informed the court that in 2012, the Defendant called her and to enquire why she had rejected the conveyance and that she told him that she expected the conveyance to indicate four-town plot of land for which she made payments for and not two-town plot of land.
Madam Sesay further testified that Dr. Konteh then gave her instructions that she should give the conveyance to Abdulai Sheriff as they are both living in the same State in the United States of America for him to bring it back to him in Freetown.
She stated that she then drove from her house to Abdulai Sheriff’s house and handed over the conveyance of the two-town plot of land that while she was with Abdulai Sheriff, she called Dr. Konteh to let him know that she was giving the said conveyance to Abdulai Sheriff as he had instructed and that he, Dr, Konteh, acknowledged it and promised that he would give the conveyance for the four-town plot of land again to Abdulai Sheriff to deliver to her on his return from his visit to Freetown.
She said when Abdulai Sheriff returned the USA from Freetown, and enquired from him about the conveyance for the four-town plot of land, Abdulai Sheriff responded that Dr. Konteh did not give him any other conveyance after he had given him the previous conveyance of the two-town plot of land. She testified that Dr. Konteh did confirmed receipt of the conveyance of the two-town plot of land she had given to Sheriff to take back to him.
The Plaintiff further stated that she later traveled to Sierra Leone in 2014 when her mother passed away. She however pointed out that before she traveled, she called Dr. Richard Konteh to inform him that she was traveling to Sierra Leone for her mother’s funeral and pleaded with him to prepare the conveyance for the four-town plot of land so she could pick it up from him and that Dr. Konteh promised her that the conveyance would be ready by the time she goes to him.
She said when she came to Freetown and visited Dr. Konteh’s at his office then at State House, he gave her his driver with an instruction to drive her to Gloucester to show to her the plot of land he had acquired for her, but according to her, she was only shown bushes.
The Plaintiff said she out rightly rejected what was shown to her asserting that she was expecting to be shown a piece of land that is four-town and that is fenced since she had already paid for all of that and not a sloppy land.
Marie Sesay further stated that upon their return to Dr. Konteh’s office, Dr. Konteh and asked her if she had seen the land the driver showed her and that he himself had never seen the land before and that the land which was shown to her is owned by a friend on whose behalf he wanted to sell it.
Madam Sesay went on that at that point, she said to Dr. Konteh: “Uncle I don’t want that piece of land because of its location. You know I am a single parent who is struggling in the USA and I would not be able to develop that land because of its sloppy nature and it is not fenced.”
The witness said she was saying all of that to the Defendant while she was crying and also telling him that he was not doing her a favour nor offering her a gift; but that she has paid USD 10,000 for a piece of land she had negotiated for with him and she has paid the money into his account on the promise that he was selling to her a four-town plot of land that is fenced, the fencing she had also paid for.
She further states that after she then left the office of Dr Richard Konteh and two days after she called him again asking for her four town plot of land and Richard Konteh responded that she should not be worried and also told her that he has lots of land and four town plot of land means nothing to him but she responded that she just needed her four town plot of land she paid for.
She further told the court that after the conversation she nether received a conveyance for a four-town plot of land nor the piece of land until she returned to the USA.
The plaintiff Marie Sesay further explained that in 2015, she called Dr. Konteh again pleading for her land so that she will have a structure in Sierra Leone to call her own because she wanted to develop the land to build a house and that Dr. Konteh promised her again that when next she comes to Freetown, she will have the land.
She added that in the same 2015, she came back to Sierra Leone thinking that she will be able to do some work on the said land as was faithfully promised by Dr. Konteh but that he never made it possible.
She said during her visit, Dr. Konteh always gave her excuses that he was busy attending meetings. She told the court that throughout her three weeks stay in Freetown, she didn’t get any headway from Dr. Konteh, even though she had earlier informed him of her traveling to Freetown purposely to do some development work on the land she had bought from him. She maintained that she again returned to the USA with nothing concrete from Dr. Konteh.
The plaintiff Marie Sesay said in 2017 she called Abdulai Baratay explaining to him that she has a land issue with her uncle, Dr. Richard Konteh and asked him to talk with him in order to retrieve her plot of land as she wants to build a house. She said Mr. Baratay promised her that he will engage Dr. Konteh on the matter which he did.
She said Mr. Baratay later called her saying he has received a conveyance for the land from Dr. Konteh but that when she received the conveyance later, it proved to be the same conveyance for the two- town plot of land which she had earlier rejected and that she called Dr. Konteh but he never picked up.
After her testimony, the Plaintiff was cross- examined by Defense Counsel Gbondo during which she showed the bank slips clearly showing the dates of when the moneys were wired from her account.
The Plaintiff is, in a Writ of Summon claiming the recovery of two-town plot of land situated at Mamah Street, at Gloucester in Freetown.
The Plaintiff is also claiming the recovery of USD 2,000 paid to Dr. Richard Konteh to facilitate the erection of a perimeter fence around a four-town plot of land for which USD 8,000 payment was made by her to his bank account at Chase Bank in the United States of America.
The matter comes up again on 27th March, 2026 for continuation.