LAB to launch Kono office on Saturday

All roads lead to the Kono district headquarter town of Koidu as staff of the Legal Aid Board around the country and members of the Sierra Leone Motor Drivers Union, traders and okada riders amongst others will converge on Saturday 20^th May 2017 for the much awaited opening of the Legal Aid Board office there.

As usual, the official launching of the office will be performed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (AG), Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara.

The AG announced at the launch of the office in Waterloo on May 6 2017 that another Magistrate Court will be opened in the town after listening to concerns about the high crime rate and the statement regarding the high number of accused persons from Waterloo provided legal assistance by the Board in the Cline Town courts.

According to Ms. Carlton-Hanciles, the launch of the offices across the districts is not about politics, noting that the Board is an independent non-profit scheme and will remain as such come rain come 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 the achievements since the establishment of the office in the District. More importantly, to highlight the challenges we are facing in catering for the justice needs of the people.

“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 which follows the 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.