Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 August 2020:
Sierra Leone’s most controversial minister of lands – Dr Denis Sandy, is in the news once again after he was seen in a video last month talking about voodoo men trying to cast a spell on his ability to perform his job. The video which went viral on social media is said to have caused president Bio much embarrassment to the international community.
But worse was to come, when the minister was last week accused of abusing his office after he was seen at the High Court in Freetown giving moral support to a private defendant in a land dispute against his colleague – the Director of Public Prosecutions and the State.
Many Sierra Leoneans are now accusing Sandy of committing mutiny against his own government, and calling on the president to sack him.
His critics say that the purpose of his appearance in court as an observer was to intimidate the Judge by his presence.
Writing to the Sierra Leone Telegraph, this is what local journalist and commentator – Theophilus Sahr Gbenda said:
Dr. Dennis Sandy, the Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment, has come out short in a High Court matter between the Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) versus three persons charged with offenses relating to malicious damage and larceny.
Presided over by Honourable Justice A. S. Allieu J. of Court No. 5 & 6, the matter stemmed from the action by Dr. Dennis Sandy to forcefully take over a privately owned property and piece of land at Mongegba in the Regent – Grafton axis, granted a few years ago to Miss Elizabeth Squire for the construction of an ultra-modern nursery, primary and secondary school complex in that community.
It is reported that during the course of action, a makeshift ‘pan-bodi’ structure on site alongside a concrete wall fence were completely vandalized and properties worth millions of Leones carted away. The items alleged to have been unlawfully carted away include trips of sand, bags of cement, concrete blocks, three tonnes of iron rod, trips of granite stones, milla tanks and barrel containers.
It is alleged that the suspects in court were the architects of the above criminal act, for which they now face prosecution by State Counsel Yusuf Isaac Sesay, representing the Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Michael Sovula. If found guilty, the suspects, Abu Sesay popularly known as Benjamin (former headman of Mongegba), Abass Denkeh and Musa Sesay, could face up to two years in jail for the malicious damage charge, and five years for the larceny charge, consecutively.
In a clear show of support for the accused persons, Dr. Dennis Sandy together with top officials of the Ministry of Lands including Deputy Minister Rex Bonapha and an armed Operational Support Division (OSD) bodyguard accompanied Defence Lawyer Jessie Jengo into the courtroom, in what came out as a big surprise to many.
Accordingly, Minister Sandy is throwing his weight behind the accused persons because courtesy of unconfirmed sources, they (accused persons) acted under his (minister) instruction. Unconfirmed reports also indicate that it is Dr. Sandy who is paying the legal fees for the defence of the accused persons.
“What shocked me most was seeing the minister leaving his busy schedule just to show solidarity to persons facing criminal charges in a matter involving the state”, said an onlooker who prefers anonymity. The unfolding drama took a different twist when the presiding judge, feeling somehow disturbed by the presence of an armed bodyguard, ordered him out of his court without delay.
This was where Dr. Sandy stood up to say “My Lord, he’s my bodyguard”. The seeming no nonsense judge however stood his ground, thus making the minister looked pretty funny in the eyes of onlookers and his much obliged entourage.
The minister could not help but matched out of the court when right in his presence, the judge ruled in favour of the prosecution in a motion that had to do with the reinstatement of three vital charges which were said to have been surreptitiously dropped at the Magistrate Court level in a bid to lighten the case against the defendants. Asked about his impression seeing a whole minister in outright solidarity with the accused persons, State Counsel Yusuf Isaac Sesay said, “Sorry Bro, I can’t comment on that. I am focusing on the case”.
For her part, Miss Elizabeth Squire who is currently held up in the United States of America courtesy of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak, expressed dismay that the minister is showing so much interest in the matter, adding that, “What bothers me most is the fact that my school project would have been completed by now had the minister not interrupted the construction work that was rapidly progressing at the material time”.
She went on to state that Mongegba is a badly deprived community with absolutely no school, and that children there have to cover at least two kilometres on foot daily to access education in the nearby communities of Charlotte, Regent and Grafton; often times encountering fatal road accidents. According to her, this was what motivated her to opt for the school project, using her own personal funds as a pay back to the community where she herself resides.
“I feel bullied in this matter by the minister”, said Miss Elizabeth Squire, adding that “I know he is acting out of undue hatred for me”. She furthered that, “I am calling on His Excellency the President and Madam First Lady to intervene by telling Dr. Dennis Sandy minister to hands off the matter and let justice take its course”.
Meanwhile, the matter stands adjourned to Monday 17th August, when seven witnesses listed on the prosecution side, will start making their testimonies. The Honourable Justice A. S. Allieu J. has warned against any lackadaisical approach towards the matter by both sides, saying “I want to deliver ruling on this matter by the end of the month latest”.
Immediately following the publication of the above story, the ministry of lands published this rebuttal accusing his colleague – the government’s director of public prosecutions – Easmon Ngakui, of siding with the defendant in a matter involving the Inspector General of Police (IGP):
It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning that one Mr. Theophilus Sahr Gbenda is accusing the Ministry and the Minister in particular of backing defendants in a private matter involving land issues involving the State. We would like the public to know that there is a case in Court N# 5 and 6 between the headman of mongegba and one Elizabeth Square.
In his article, Theophilus Sahr Gbenda is accusing Dr. Denis Sandy to have attended a session in a High Court matter between the Inspector General of Police (SLP) V Three Persons charged with offenses relating to malicious damage and larceny on government land. Without going into any details here it should suffice to make clear the fact that the Ministry is aware of a case at the High Court of which a certain Miss Elizabeth Square wanted to convert State Land into Private Land using fake documents.
It should be noted that Miss Elizabeth Squire is using High Profile Authorities especially the Director of public prosecutions Mr Easmon Ngakui and Journalist Theophilus Sahr Gbenda to support her in this matter even though she has no legal claim to that piece of land.. Her documents are not only fake but trying to deceive the courts into believing that she had her building materials destroyed at the site which is not hers.
The public should be informed that the Ministry is working with Communities especially the Headmen and women to help protect State Lands across the country and in the case of Mongegba, Abu Sesay and others were brought to Court by Elizabeth Square after demolishing her make shift structure called ‘Pan-bodi’ on the said Land which belongs to the state.
Although the said Elizabeth Square continues to flash fake documents in the faces of those supporting her actions, yet it is the responsibility of the ministry of Lands to ensure that things are done right and the ministry will not sit by and allow fraudulent behaviour to succeed.
Knowing fully well that the Land in question is not a private property but a state one, she has already sold a portion of it to someone staying overseas who is now on her throat to refund his money as the guy has now realized that the Land is State property.
Last week, the Minister, Dr. Denis Sandy, his Deputy Rex Bhonapha, the Director of Survey and Lands Mr. Tamba Dauda, Permanent Secretary Mr. Israel Jigba and Staff of the Ministry were in Court to witness proceedings and to show support to the headman of the said matter at the High Court presided over by Justice AS Allieu. This act of the ministry is to give confidence to headmen and women that the ministry will always stand by them to do the right thing by protecting govt lands in the best interest of the country.
This is not the first time Journalist Theophilus Sahr Gbenda is accusing the Minister and his Ministry falsely; he did a similar thing when the Ministry provided a piece of Land to GICOPRESS at Lumley Beach for the construction of a First Class Hotel; then the said Jounalist claimed that the Land belongs to his girl friend Amie Mezzo who till date cannot produce a single document to ascertain such ownership. So Mr. Gbenda has gone on a personal “free talk” vendetta believing that his way must prevail.
The Ministry has absolute trust in our Judiciary especially the Honorable Justice A. S. Allieu, who is presiding over the matter and we know he will do the right thing for the good of the country- nobody should be encouraged to squat or grab government land or private land for that matter. The ministry will always demand legal documents to establish entitlement.
We as Ministry don’t want to be charged with contempt of Court or else we’ll have produced the fake documents Miss Elizabeth Square has been parading with for the said Land. This is the same Theophilus Gbenda that was driven out of Culture Radio for always bringing journalism to shreds by falsely accusing state officials who are only doing their rightful job.
The ministry of lands and the minister in particular Dr Denis Sandy will always stand by and with community people at anytime and anywhere so long they continue helping the ministry to protect and preserve state lands around Freetown. So the days of Elizabeth Square and Co grabbing state lands and using fake land documents are well and truly over. (END OF MINISTRY OF LANDS’ REBUTTAL).
And as the war of words continue and in response to the rebuttal by the ministry of lands, journalist Theophilus Sahr Gbenda, has made more revelations, This is what he said, further tarnishing the image and credibility of the minister of Lands Sandy:
In what came out clearly as an amateur write-up authored by a faceless individual attached at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, an attempt was made to misinform the public on a matter currently on trial at the High Court of Sierra Leone.
In the said write – up, the Ministry of Lands rather foolishly accused the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Easmon Ngakui, of siding with Miss Elizabeth Squire in a matter between the Inspector General of Police (IGP) versus three persons accused of very serious offences relating to malicious damage and larceny.
The immaturity of the author who might as well be the Minister of Lands Dr. Dennis Sandy himself, was exposed when rather unknowingly or deliberately, committed a contempt of court by raising issues that have nothing to do with the ongoing matter, and which by extention have the tendency of influencing the matter negatively.
As far as we know, the land at Mongegba in question is not in dispute. The rightful owner remains Miss Elizabeth Squire. What is before the court is that three persons stand accused of committing acts relating to malicious damage and larceny, for which they could be sentenced to seven years imprisonment or less, if found guilty on both counts.
We all know that when Dr. Sandy became Minister of Lands, he unlawfully cancelled all land documents duly granted to Sierra Leonean citizens by the past administration. It is therefore not surprising that the ministry is referring to the authentic documents Miss Squire has regarding the legitimate ownership of the said private land as fake. Miss Squire has all legal documents to the effect, and they can be made public anytime as may be deemed prudent.
In the amature write – up under review, the author stated that “Last week, the Minister, Dr. Dennis Sandy, his Deputy Rex Bhonapha, the Director of Survey and Lands Mr. Tamba Dauda, Permanent Secretary Mr. Israel Jigba and staff of the Ministry were in Court to witness proceedings and to show support to the headman of the said matter at the High Court presided over by Justice A.S. Allieu. This act of the Ministry is to give confidence to headmen and women that the Ministry will always stand by them to do the right thing by protecting government lands in the best interest of the country”, thus lending credence to the centerpiece of my carefully written report which assertively states that the minister’s action amounts to backing defendants facing criminal prosecution in a matter involving the State.
Can you imagine the minister halting all official duties at his ministry just to show solidarity to defendants in a matter the ministry is not in any way a party to?
As if that is not enough, the ministry, in their write – up earlier referenced, accused the DPP who is merely doing his job as dictated by the Constitution of the land, of siding with one side in the matter. This obviously calls for a reaction by the DPP, if only to save his name and make foolish the fictitious and malicious claim against him.
It has to be made very clear that the second paragraph in the write – up at stake is totally misleading. The matter in court is not between the headman of Mongegba and Miss Elizabeth Squire. It is a matter between the IGP and three ordinary residents of Mongegba. No headman is involved. The records are there to show.
In the write – up at stake, reference is made to Gicopress and a beach land owned by Miss Anni Metzger, popularly known as Annie Mezo. It states, “The Ministry provided a piece of land to Gicopress at Lumley Beach for the construction of a first class hotel……”.
This is ridiculous. How can a sane man provide a disputed piece of land to a third party when the matter is at the Appeals Court awaiting judgement. It takes nothing but a madman to openly disrespect the due process of the law. Because I stood my ground on behalf of Annie Mezo, the Ministry now claims rather vaguely that she’s my girlfriend. They could as well say that Elizabeth Squire is also my girlfriend because I’m associating with her in this matter as a human right defender.
In the second to last paragraph of the said write – up, it is claimed that “This is the same Theophilus Gbenda that was driven out of Culture Radio for always bringing journalism to shreds by falsely accusing state officials who are doing their rightful job”. This is arrant nonsense. Show me the evidence. If anything, it is the Ministry that is falsely accusing the DPP for doing his rightful job.
The fact is that I duly resigned from Culture Radio as Project Coordinator to take over from Dr. David Tam-Baryoh as General Manager of Eagle Radio. Doesn’t this shows toughness? The Management of Culture Radio could be contacted to set the record straight. I must add that after subsequently resigning from Eagle Radio due to personal reasons, I went back to Culture Radio to take up a new job in a project currently being implemented.
Let me close by stating very categorically that I stand very firmly by my piece, and hereby dismiss as complete rubbish the entire content of the unprovoked write – up emanating from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
We are witnessing/seeing the consequencies of the corruptive/bad leadership from previous/recent/current governance of such governments in the executions/distributions of state’s lands for private/public inhabitations/trades/commerce purposes resulting to what we are seeing/hearing as to who is right/wrong and is the superior or answerable to who etc may the almighty GOD help us to be honest/sincere to one another in mama Salone
Mr Thomas – I heard you loud and clear big brother (lol) Its all good. I’m already fired up and ready to move on to other bigger and more important things that concern our beloved nation that the Criminal SLPP has crippled…Come rain and sunshine,hell and high water,one thing never ever changes – I will always remain APC all day everyday!
I am still hoping that Mr SLPP Coleman will come to the rescue of Dr Sandy as he has always done in the past;his silence has been totally deafening perhaps because he has now become totally disappointed by the criminal SLPP cabal he loved so much. Who can blame him – a series of abject confounding failures is exactly what it is, a mindless quest for kingdoms in a game of thrones hosted by shady SLPP losers.(lol)
Oh well, it seems this time Dr Sandy is on his own because the bravest and brightest among them all has gone AWOL, like a mist that quickly transformed itself into a fog, and then vanished into thin air no longer interested in being a part of gloomy cloudy weather. But Stargazer what happened to him? Well he entered a marathon and ended up limping and had no other choice but to walk away – he had thought it would be easy. Who is going to defend David Francis and JJ Saffa now when their thieving hands become tainted with rampant robberies?
Is Maada Bio aware that Mr SLPP Coleman has finally thrown in the towel like an battered worn-out boxer, soaked and drenched with tears and sweat? (lol) Come out, come out wherever you are – the SLPP needs your unwavering loyalty in order for them to thrive and we are also very anxious to hear your superficial laughable excuses that never seem to end.
Stargazer – please stop trolling Mr Coleman! He does not want to engage and thats fine. Taking part in a debate on this forum is not political warfare, so please let him be. Thank you. You too get nar han!!
This is a strange coincidence. I just read two articles about this Minister which is quite opposite of this article. Which probably proves that he is an imperfect human. Below are the links to the articles: https://thecalabashnewspaper.com/lands-minister-bags-govt-minister-of-the-year-award/
https://thecalabashnewspaper.com/deputy-lands-minister-pays-le-250-million-leones-to-land-owning-families/
In observance of a continuous pattern of flouting established legal protocols, opting instead to take the law into their own hands with the constant use of gullible trigger happy security personnels as well as illegal substance inhaling party thugs, the citizens of Sierra Leone are repeatedly being LIED to by delusional propagandist supporters, parading cyberspace with claims of law and order being instilled by these power drunken ministers. If chief minister is not ordering the kidnapping of journalists, the likes of Abu Abu and Lawrence Leema will give orders to shoot to kill anyone standing in their way.
Our first lady who prides herself in calling for mob justice towards anyone sabotaging her husband’s regime is another, with Dr. Sandy of lands going about seizing private family lands owned by generations without due process, with a subsequent distribution of such lands to party supporters and SLPP officials. Those who dare challenge his archaic stone age jungle justice are either beaten up, or suffer massive loss with their invested properties demolished with no judge or court involvement. As far as the minister of land Dr. Sandy is concerned, he is the litigator and arbiter (plaintiff and judge) at the same time. If you don’t fall within his distorted and biased requirements to own a particular land, no amount of legal documentation notarized by past governments will save you from his gavel.
One thing that is evidently clear since independence, the land Ministry has been a controversial ministry. Siaka Stevens and Albert Margai were removed from their cabinet positions by Sir Milton Margai because of tampering with government lands. Akibo Betts was made unpopular because he tried to retrieve government lands. Dr. Bobson Sesay was the most hated minister in the Ahmed Kabba Government because he tried to inject some sanity in the land Ministry. Bobson Sesay’s director of surveys and lands Mr. Moore was attacked and murdered in the full view of the SLP personnel that were assigned to him because he tried to retrieve government lands. Dr. Sandy when he served in that Ministry was made public enemy number one because of his quest to clean the ministry and retrieve government lands. He was sacked on the premise that he refused to resign from the PMDC and registered with the APC.
But every one knew that the main reason was that the APC considers the western area to be their support base and the people affected by Dr Sandy’s zeal were their supporters. Diana Konomani took over the ministry and she was the darling of land grabbers because she allowed them to get their way. One of the results of that lackadaisical leadership was the 2017 mudslide at sugar loaf that claimed more than a thousand lives. Dr Sandy for the second time has been given the mandate to bring sanity in the land sector in the country. He has continued from where he left. And of course he is the most hated minister in the current government. Corruption as they say will fight back using all at it’s disposal including forth columnist. The question is how can we solve this land issue especially in the western area.
The government claims to have inherited all the lands in the western area since the British paid the local Temne and Shebro inhabitants for it before slaves were repatriated to the land? I think that the government should stop leasing land to private people for the paltry sum of fifty thousand Leones (Le50000/=) only. This is a recipe for corruption. Rather the government should sell at competitive prices. Many of the persons acquiring prime lands are rich, highly placed government officials and from the diaspora. They can bribe land officials $1000 dollars or more to get lands which they end up selling for more than $15000 or more. Yours truly bought a land at ogoo farm from pa Bangura in the 2000s. The hills was declared government forest reserved. That has now been deforested and sold by the same pa Bangura as his personal property. Someone, some government has to take the blame and if that person is Dr. Sandy God will bless him if he is doing it for the just course
What ever the shenanigans of this case before the court, who owes what and how, is beside the point. What is clearly not in doubt is that president Bio is now presiding over a government that has no respect for the rule of law and the rights of the private citizen. His ministers and the security forces are out of control. They are running riot with no consequences. It seems Some of his ministers and security agencies are using the barrel of the gun to intimidate private citizens, and even interfering with court proceedings. This is unheard of in the history of the way justice is dispensed in Sierra Leone. The closest thing you can associate with such behaviour is in a mafia state. I have to say this is a new low. Now even judges should be scared for their safety, before they make any ruling. This is more like Idi Amin’s Uganda in the 1970s. What is Dr. Sandy doing in a courtroom with a loaded gun? Was the presiding judge made aware of his attendance?
Or better still was an invitation extended to him by the judge? Better still as a government minister, with all the security around them, did he notify the presiding judge he will be attending court proceedings? This abuse of state power by members of this government has to stop. If a man with a doctorate degree can behave like that, what hope have we got to expect high standards of behaviour from his ordinary supporters? Or is Hon. Minister Dr. Sandy walking around with an empty brain cell? This so-called educated African brothers have ruined our country. It doesn’t escape the eagle eye of the public, that there is one rule for his gun carrying ministers, while a former defence minister, Paolo Conteh who was entitled to some form of security provided by the state in retirement is serving time for carrying a gun for his own private security.
Here is a man that served his country with honesty and integrity, and his reward, to share a cell room with common criminals. When president Bio took the oath of office, he swore to protect and respect the constitution of Sierra leone. Now I start to wonder who is really in control of Sierra leone. Two years after he was sworn in, we seem to lurch from one crisis to the other. And this is all of his making. President Bio is incapable of sacking these embarrassing ministers. Indeed their erratic behaviour always seem to solicit a promotion. Hon Abu Abu Kamara, comes to mind. It seems like these individuals have something on the president. So the president only go after the low hanging fruits that have no way of fighting back. May God bless Sierra Leone.
Power corrupts absolute power … absolutely!! I wonder what the Chief Justice has to say about the action of the Lands Minister. Nothing i guess because he is licking his wounds after losing the Palo Conteh treason case.