By Thomas Vandi Gbow
No gainsay that the seat of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice is the hottest in the Bio administration.
The first presidential nominee for that office was one of the most experienced, seasoned legal luminaries in the country, Charles Francis Margai Esq. Upon his approval by Parliament in April 2018, the month that saw Brig. (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio acceding to power as President, the firebrand lawyer was fired barely two months in that office.
Though the Office of the President did not give any reason for the sacking of Charles Francis Margai as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, I heard on the grapevine that he was removed from office because he suffered from lack of confidence.
But no matter the fact concerning that, his transient stay in that office was a harbinger of how hot and uncomfortable that office would be for its occupiers. And up to date, Lawyer Charles Francis Margai, who is very notable for his fearlessness especially in putting things bluntly, is yet to break the silence following his dismissal two years ago.
After the sacking of Lawyer Charles Francis Margai, it then pleased His Excellency to nominate a female lawyer and academic, Dr Priscilla Schwartz to that office.
Many Sierra Leoneans were very much impressed with her nomination, especially women activists campaigning for more women representation in government, because that was the first time in the history of this country for any Head of State to nominate a female lawyer to the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
Seemingly, with her efforts in setting up the three Commissions of Inquiry that were successfully concluded in less than two years and the report was consequently submitted to the President, Priscilla Schwartz was running her office effectively and efficiently until when the ex-APC Minister of Defence and Internal Affairs, Major (Rtd) Alfred Palo Conteh was caught in possession of a pistol at State House in April following his invitation by the Head of State.
As former National Coordinator of the National Emergency Response Centre (NERC) that was established by erstwhile President Ernest Bai Koroma to heighten response in the Ebola fight between May 2014 and November 2016, President Bio invited Paolo Conteh and other former senior officials of NERC to bring their experience to the campaign against COVID-19 which the President had declared following his announcement of the index case on 31st March, this year.
Though the Office of the President did not give any reason for the dismissal of Priscilla Schwartz, I heard on the grapevine that she deceived the presidency and the entire nation in the treason charges she brought against Paolo Conteh. Unconfirmed reports are that after the ex-APC Minister was investigated by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters and the police had proffered two counts charge against him, the police submitted the two counts of unlawful possession of pistol to the Office of the Attorney General and Minister for further advice. But instead of her adopting the initial two counts charge, she deceived the state into believing that the act of Paolo Conteh also constituted treason and consequently, she included three counts of treason.
The acquittal of Paolo Conteh on all treason charges and his guilt on the police charges, if the truth must be said, were a serious deflation of the judicial balloon under the Bio administration.
Such deception and humiliation to the government could have been enough to qualify Priscilla Schwartz as the most suitable candidate for a sack.
As the SLPP mouthpiece put it in its yesterday’s publication that reported the sacking of Priscilla Schwartz: “According to some political pundits, Priscilla Schwartz has paid dearly the price for leaving her defence wide open and allowing her opponents to run over and score many goals in an empty net. She is said to have paid the price for also being careless in front of goal when she had all the golden opportunities to score the vital goals to have won all the three points.” The aforesaid football imagery portrays her naïveté of handling a matter she could have used to make a niche in the temple of fame given her academic legal background.
For the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice to include treason counts in the indictment of Paolo Conteh when it was not supported by any evidence, it made complete nonsense of the country’s the legal system.
Many believe that the acquittal of Paolo Conteh on all treason charges wasn’t a demonstration of separation of powers or the independence of the country’s judiciary as many would think; it was the incompetence and naïveté of the sacked Attorney General and Minister of Justice to proffer treason charges against the ex-APC Minister without any supportive evidence. Had she been a well-grounded legal luminary with decades of practical experience in the court room, she would have only adopted the initial two counts of unlawful possession of pistol at State House proffered by the police after their investigation. As the high and mighty, she got on her high horse hoping that she would impress her employer but ended exposing her inexperience to occupy that honourable office.
Be that as it may, President Bio’s axing of Priscilla Schwartz following the acquittal of Paolo Conteh on the treason charges may stand to reason, but the huge resources which the government spent on expediting the treason trial is a mitigation that won’t wash, especially when the sacked Minister made absolute nonsense of the legal system by proffering wrong charges against the ex-APC Minister. Had she worth her salt, the government could have used the hundreds of millions of Leones it spent on expediting the treason trial in a more meaningful way that would impact positively on the poor people. It is now evidently clear that putting square pegs in round holes could lead to our country losing funds through wastage as we have witnessed the huge sum of money which the Bio administration spend on expediting the treason trial that never was.
Furthermore, though the new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Anthony Y. Brewah is a seasoned legal luminary with thirty years of experience in the courtroom as reported, the fact remains that the President’s unexplained reason for sacking him as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development could give many Sierra Leoneans the impression that the President is like putting garbage in, garbage out until he gets the right team to help deliver on his ‘New Direction’ Agenda. And no one would succeed in convincing me that Lawyer Anthony Y. Brewah could excel in his new appointment after he had woefully failed in his first ministerial appointment in the Bio administration. Perhaps his success in the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice would be the eight miracle of the world. My prediction is that very soon, the Office of the President shall announce the fourth nominee of that office.