Hi my name is Sallieu Alhaji Sall Esq. Like so many of my colleagues in the profession I am the first generation lawyer in my family. The son of a tailor and an ordinary house wife, I feel lucky enough to go to college, finish law school and become a lawyer. Being a lawyer for me is not only about wearing fancy suits neither about puffing big grammar nor going to court and litigating matters. For me, being a lawyer is about aligning my allegiance to bridge the meaning of our country’s motto; Unity, Freedom and Justice. Unity when we come together as Lawyers to promote the common interest of the majority whilst protecting the interest of the minority members. Freedom, on the other hand is when the quality of our mind speaks the truth when and if necessary for and on behalf of our members is utilized with one voice. Justice is when we act towards each other with honesty and a measure of humility.
Until we understand the meaning of the aforementioned motto of Sierra Leone, we as lawyers will never truly appreciate the role of the Sierra Leone Bar Association. The Sierra Leone Bar Association is a pressure group. The role of a pressure group is to lobby for it members. They are referred to as special interest group. Special interest that seek to influence the policies of government and/or society in favour of it members. Thus the need to have a Bar Association president that has a good rapport with the sitting government. Team Tuma lobbying technique will be cultivating direct contact with policymakers to influence government decisions in favour of the Bar Association members. It is however worthy to note that The Bar Association is not an extension of government as the detractors of Team Tuma will want you to believe. The display from the other camps however show that voting Team Warah or Marrah will relegate the role of the Bar Association to that of opposition. Do we want that as an association? The answer is an emphatic NO! We don’t want a Bar Association president that will do the bidding for the opposition political parties. Even though it is very difficult to divorce politics from the Bar Association, it is not however impracticable for us to lobby for our members without politicking the process or the decisions we arrived at. It has now being the norm for the political parties to use the Bar Association as tool to score political goals.
Therefore this Bar Election is one that will go down in history, it will go down in history as the election that helped shaped the debate of the politics in our nation, from the politics of partisanship to that of individualism, individualism that examine and scrutinized those vying for power in our country. The society is looking up to us and as lawyers we must deliver and demonstrate the true meaning of democracy. We must shake off and save our association from the old dogma that says “if you are from the Northwest you must vote a certain candidate likewise if you are from the Southeast”. The idea of protecting narrow interest must be met by putting off unpleasant decisions.
We must vote a candidate that can deliver. Deliver by tackling the challenges of the association. Challenges like:
The growing number of lawyers being called to Bar: The share number of lawyers being Called to The Bar every year is massive. Sierra Leone has moved from single and double digits being called every year to that of three figures. By three figures I mean three hundred and above. Its good though because every sector of our society need a legal mind; from sole traders to large Corporations, NGOs, Government Departments etc. But how many of these businesses, Organizations etc has in-house lawyers? I bet you the number is very small. This leaves the lawyers especially the junior lawyers to fend for themselves in the magistrate court. The growing number of junior lawyers are left fending for themselves in Magistrate Court either prosecuting or defending Public Order offences for mere pittance. Excuse my language, pittance by no mean is meant to degrade their pay cheque. But truth be told, lawyers deserve better both financially and socially to match up with rising expectations and demands of our society.
The degrading of Lawyers by Police Officers: a growing phenomenon is the recent spate of the increase detention of Lawyers in police custody. A testament of falling standard at the Bar. There comes in Team Tuma to Raise the Standard of our noble profession. With all due respect to the police force, you cannot equate even a Local Unit Commander to that of a lawyer who is one year at the Bar, let alone a Lawyer of more than five years standing like Lawyer Ansumana. What happened in Kenema was a complete and blatant disrespect to the profession. But thanks to Prezo Tuma Kamara in waiting she was able to demonstrate her leadership skills by swiftly intervening to quell the situations. She secured the release of our dear colleague, performing the role of the Bar Association President even before assuming office. This is what the Bar Association need at the moment, a leader that commands the respect of both divide of the society. A leader that speaks and the nation listen with keen interest. My personal encounter with some police officers at various police stations across the city is nothing to write home about and it came as no surprise to see Lawyer Ansumana being treated that way in the provinces in the hands of some police officers.
The filing process: Another key but overlooked area that is of concern to Team Tuma is the filling of court processes. For those lawyers in active practice, sometimes it can be a bit frustrating when you as a lawyer toil all night, you research and file your papers ready to litigate. Boom! Your clerk tells you that there is a delay; the NRA machine is down, the papers are missing in the filing room etc. your client who is a member of the general public sometimes will not understand this, they end up blaming you their lawyer. But with Team Tuma, the filing processes will be expedited to meet the growing need of our ever growing litigants.
The growing negative perception of the society about the profession: The sheer number of students been Called to The Bar for the past two years has been unheard of in our society. Sierra Leoneans are used to seeing large number of graduates been recruited into the teaching field, nursing field etc. But for the legal profession to produce such numbers has been met with a negative backlash to with; “Lawyer dem don boku”. How can we adequately inform our family members, friends, neighbors and the society at large that the increase number of Lawyers in Sierra Leone is a blessing in disguise. Sierra Leone need at least eight thousand lawyers, and the current number of lawyers both in private and government service is less than three thousand. Therefore we say to you “wi need more Lawyers”. Team Tuma will ensure that the legal profession not only produce lawyers but produce quality lawyers that can meet the need of our society.
In a profession were the shrinking few seniors continue to succeed whilst the growing number of juniors barely make it, Team Tuma is here to change the narrative by Raising the Standard of the Bar. To understand why you need to vote Team Tuma here is a short Biography of the prezo await and that of her PRO.
A PEEK INTO A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TUMA ADAMA GENTO-KAMARA (NEE-JABBI)
Mrs. Tuma Adama Gento-Kamara (Nee- Jabbi) is a UK born Sierra Leonean Legal Professional with experience spanning over 13 (thirteen) years in Legal practice. She holds a Masters of Law Degree (LLM) in Corporate and Business Law from the University of Central England in Birmingham and a Certificate and Diploma in same, a Bachelor of Laws Degree from De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom, Barrister at Law (BL) from the Sierra Leone Law School. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at the University of York in the UK. She lectures Tax & Revenue Law at the University of Sierra Leone, a course she pioneered and have written extensively on.
Tuma is the Sierra Leone Bar Association representative at the Council of Legal Education, the body responsible for Legal education in Sierra Leone. She is also a member of the General Legal Council (GLC), the body responsible for the regulation of lawyers in Sierra Leone. In her professional career, she has appeared in several high-profile cases with fierce legal battles described by many as a novelty. She has earned a reputation of a strong willed, tenacious litigator who does not flinch at the prospect of controversial, convoluted battles in a mostly male dominated profession. She is also very lucid and lethal with criminal cases involving felonies, organised crimes and general legal practice at all levels. In 2019, she was named among the top 100 most outstanding persons in Sierra Leone.
Tuma Adama Gento-Kamara has recently been reappointed by the President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Rtd. Bragadier Dr. Julius Maada Bio as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) for a second term.
In her first term as Board Chair, the institution she made lots of progress in digitization as well as revenue mobilization, something that has never been achieved before. The Institution went on to bag best performing Revenue Institution in Africa by the Africa Business Report and a host of other national and regional accolades. She is also one of the current Vice- Chairpersons of the World’s largest tax administration Mechanism (The Belt and Road Tax Administration Corporation Mechanism (BRITACOM) with headquarters in Beijing- China. She is an Entrepreneur, Advocate and Human Rights Defender. She is also very passionate about Community development and from time to time reach out to the poor and destitute in Society.
Mrs. Gento-Kamara was recently invited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to address a Special Meeting on International Cooperation in Tax Matters at the Twenty-Sixth Session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters in New York. She also delivered a passionate speech at the London Stock Exchange during the celebration of the International Women's Day Week.
Last year, Mrs. Gento-Kamara made the shortlist of the 100 Most Reputable Africans, together with current Kenyan President H.E. William K. Ruto and Lazarus Chakwera, President of Malawi. She is the Chairperson of Kamboi Eagles local Football Club. She is married to Mohamed Gento- Kamara and are blessed with beautiful kids.
ALFRED KAMANDA is a young Sierra Leonean Lawyer, feminist, writer, activist, and social media commentator who was called to the Sierra Leone Bar on the 20th day of October 2017. He is renowned for his vibrant and patriotic approach to issues that contribute to national cohesion, democratic consolidation, amelioration of poverty and advocating for global peace. Alfred had brief stints working in such non-profitable organisations as The National Commission for Democracy, the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law and the Church Relief Services Sierra Leone.
In 2012, Alfred was selected among a group of young Sierra Leoneans who attended the Anglophone West Africa Youth Integrity Camp in Lagos Nigeria to help formulate policies and programs that will help address corruption in the Sub- region. At age 17, he won the Anti- Corruption Commission National Essay Competition for his outstanding Essay: “How Corruption affects me”.
Alfred has volunteered in many causes and he has lent his effort, skills and financial resources to such humanitarian causes as providing relief to compatriots that were affected by the Ebola Outbreak.
He is a strong advocate of Human Rights and the Fundamental freedoms of the persons with a special focus on the rights and liberties of women and girls, proper family planning to ameliorate poverty, and democratic good governance.
In 2018, Alfred was selected and awarded as one of the 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans by Ilead. He is an alumnus of the Young African Leadership program. He graduated with BSc in Peace & Conflict Studies and also LLB Hons from the Fourah Bay College.
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