Did Afsatu Kabba Deceive Herself? Part 2

The Afsatu Kabba corruption matter has ended in the High Court but the verdict is still being widely debated. In part one of this piece, the Roaming Pen in an objective wit highlighted sequence of events as recorded in the matter, starting from an ‘erroneous’ report aired on BBC to the mysterious disappearance of the then Anti Corruption Commission Boss, Abdul Tejan Cole, onto the media hype.

This episode seeks to look into a strange submission by the lawyers of Afsatu Kabba. The decision not to challenge the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses ended up being ‘the last straw that broke the camel’s back’ in the matter, as the judge made emphasis on it whilst handing down the three year jail sentence or an alternative fine.

Following the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, the defence lawyers unanimously submitted that they were not going to present a single defence witness; a submission that left the learned High Court Judge with no other choice other than that of relying on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses to decide whether or not Afsatu Kabba was guilty as charged.

Logically, this is a typical scenario of two people having a serious disagreement over something that requires to be decided on principles by a neutral third party. At the end of the explanation of the one party, the other decides that there is no need to counter the allegations made against him/her. Since it is widely believed that silence is consent, the judge in such a scenario cannot be blamed for believing that what the other side had explained is undisputable, and giving a judgment in favor of the party that explained. No one should blame the Honourable Judge!

Corrigendum

Before proceeding, let me hasten to correct an erroneous assertion made in part one of this piece. Under the sub headline: The BBC Report, I mentioned thus: “…That report was strongly contested by the only female newspaper publisher in Sierra Leone, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, who accompanied the then minister to the ACC office and also happened to be one of the few eyewitnesses with a proper account of what transpired”. It has been brought to my attention that Sylvia Olayinka Blyden never accompanied Afsatu Kabba to the ACC office. Rather, she zoomed into the ACC office with her house documents, several hours after Afsatu Kabba had already been at the ACC, when it became imminent to Blyden that there was a ploy to use a certain section in the ACC Act of 2008 as a yardstick to detain/lockup Afsatu Kabba at the CID Police under the guise of an arrest that was not an arrest. That ploy was destabilized when Sylvia Blyden used her valuable house documents to sign the half billion leones bonded surety.

An Invitation to State Lodge

Now to the crux of the matter, vis-à-vis highlights on why Afsatu Kabba’s defence team did not contest the ‘inconsistent’ prosecution testimonies.

Without numbers, very reliable sources close to State Lodge have confided in the Roaming Pen that the decision not to present a single defence witness might have been reached at State Lodge.

During the trial when it was now clear that the Prosecution’s case was falling apart, a late-night meeting was summoned/organized by no less a person other than President Ernest Bai Koroma and in attendance included Afsatu Kabba and her two primary defence lawyers namely Foday Dabor and Sulaiman Tejan-Jalloh, security sources at State Lodge gate intimated.

At that particular point in time, the defence team had already completed arrangements to line up a battery of defence witnesses to knock off balance all what the prosecution witnesses alleged.

These defence witnesses who were to have been subpoenaed, willingly or unwillingly, it has been learnt, included but not limited to the son of Afsatu Kabba, Abdul Wahid Kabba, who was all set to make startling revelations about the country’s fish thieves and expose the ploy to get his mother out of the way, the APC’s Southern Province Youth Leader by the name of Abdul Malik Jobe, a twenty years expert in Sierra Leone Fishing matters by the name of Ahmed Morlai Kamara, officials at Yeani Enterprises (plan was to have forcefully subpoenaed the owner, Dauda Lumeh), the Clerk of the House of Parliament, Bank Managers of Afsatu Kabba at Rokel and Commercial Banks, the Accused’s personal driver, Mani Ghandi and OSD security personnel, Teddy Massaquoi and former Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Rosaline Oya Sankoh, to name a few of the defence witnesses who were to have taken the stand. Also to have been subpoeanaed were valuable documents of the Fisheries Ministry.

What was Discussed at State Lodge?

Following a tête-à-tête at the said late night meeting, the president might have been the one to move that the defence team not bother to bring up a single witness as he needed his Minister back at work to help his agenda for change and the matter had been prolonged. It could be recalled that some of the prosecution witnesses testified that the money in question was not taken to Afsatu Kabba’s house or office, but was whisked to State House, the office of the APC Leader, as President, for the purpose of using it in the ruling APC’s national convention that was to be held in Makeni. And if the information that the aforesaid motion was moved by the president is anything to go by, one cannot be far from reality for thinking or judging that such a motion not to call up defence witnesses cannot be unconnected with the fear that the defence witnesses might expose the ‘sharks’ that ‘swallowed’ the money. Or even more sinister, it was a deliberate move to ensure that indeed Afsatu Kabba got convicted.

The sources further alleged that following oratory utterances, persuasions and the use of political gimmicks and promises of assurances, it was reportedly resolved that the prosecution witnesses must not be challenged. In all of this, no other defence lawyer attended except Sulaiman Tejan-Jalloh and Foday Dabor. Lawyer Blyden Jenkins-Johnston was not invited. Lawyer Yada Williams was not invited. Lawyer Melron Nicol-Wilson was not invited.

Deceived by Loyalty?

Poor Afsatu Kabba, being an ardent Muslim and very loyal to the APC and President Koroma, will have no cause to believe that such a decision can be detrimental to her political career and public life. If the information is true, then all what Afsatu could imagine by then was that ‘the president, whom I had known as a man of his words for several years now, had spoken and the matter would be ruled in my favour with or without presenting defence witnesses’. It also might have crossed her intellect that the presiding judge was a contract judge who can be influenced or succumb to suppression from the powers that be or risk losing his job. It is important to note that no matter what the pressure, the Contract Judge could not have convicted her if she had put up a robust defence after the floundering prosecution witnesses. However, she deceived herself into listening to mis-advise during the Dinner date at State Lodge with her two lawyers in tow.

Sacrificial Lamb

What remains a mystery however, is whether or not the aforementioned decision was a deliberate ploy to use ‘poor’ Afsatu Kabba as the sacrificial lamb of the APC, in the government’s desperate aspiration to portray itself as having no sacred cows and goats in the fight against corruption, or was intended at providing a smokescreen/cover for the actual beneficiaries of the misappropriated funds or just to ensure Afsatu Kabba’s political career was ruined for life. Whatever it was, Afsatu Kabba probably never saw it coming and the ardent Muslim woman accepted it hook, line and sinker.

‘State Lodge Lawyers’

At least one of the two defence lawyers, who reportedly accompanied Afsatu Kabba to State Lodge, were said to have returned to State Lodge again after the first visit.

An intermittent dispute was said to have ensued between the lawyers who reportedly escorted Afsatu to State Lodge and the remaining defence lawyers who were not privy to constitute the aforementioned State Lodge meeting. Later the opposing lawyers were said to have reluctantly accepted the decision, since their client Afsatu Kabba was reportedly on the side of the ‘state lodge lawyers’. One of the opposing lawyers, Blyden Jenkins-Johnston was said to be so embittered at the decision that he wrote a strongly worded letter to his client warning her that whilst the prosecution had the burden to prove the case, it was risky to subject herself to wrong advice. And just as he had advised so did it happen. She gave the Contract Judge an opening to finish what was the original plan. So, that was it: conviction as a dishonest fraud with three years jail or whopping fine.

Afsatu’s Argument

Meanwhile, Afsatu Kabba has made public pronouncements that she is still loyal to the APC and President Koroma; she never defended the matter because there was no need to counter inconsistent testimonies. Poor woman.

With the aforementioned statements, Afsatu Kabba has proved herself as a typical example of a leader, a Muslim and a loyal politician, and I am sure some senior politicians in the APC will continue to bow their heads in shame for not only letting her down, but also for deceiving a major pillar of their party so badly. God will surely see her through and thank God the truth has been revealed. Though Afsatu Kabba has been convicted and now faces the challenge of paying four hundred and fifty million Leones, the prosecution witnesses succeeded in letting the citizens and the world know that the money was never consumed by Afsatu but was ‘gbashi-gbashi’ at State House.

In conclusion to this part of the piece, Afsatu’s loyalty, trust in God, and her reverence for the laws of the land ought to serve as a precedent for not just politicians but every citizen. This is why the citizens continue to pray for her in mosques and churches all over the country because they are not convinced she alone is guilty; if indeed she was ever guilty and not grandly set up.

By Abdul Karim Fonti Kabia, Freetown

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!

---

© 2010, https:. All rights reserved.