By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) say they are investigating a senior officer for allegedly failing to follow the due process of voluntary retirement from the army.
Brigadier Mohamed Kargbo faces disciplinary actions if found wanting for staying away from duty without approval, the MoD and the Military High Command say, according to a statement read out at a press conference by army spokesman Major Yahyah Brima
They say Kargbo voluntarily retired without going through the right process which entails an in-person interview, a point his lawyer has contested.
Kargbo, who is currently in a self-imposed exile in Ghana, was recently investigated for alleged discrepancies involving ammunition under his control while he headed the Third Infantry Brigade located at Murray Town in the Western Area. He was suspended during the course of the investigations in line with military policy.
However, on conclusion of the investigations, the suspension was lifted after he had been exonerated.
RSLAF say while Brigadier Kargbo was waiting to be posted to his official duty after his exoneration, he requested for medical leave, which was granted.
Major Brima said that shortly before Brig Kargbo’s leave was to elapse, he applied for voluntarily retirement.
The RSLAF Act of 1961, as amended, provides for voluntary resignation, meaning any personnel can opt for premature retirement, subject to the approval of the Defense Council of the army.
The RSLAF high command say the process of approval by the Defense Council involves interviewing the applicant. They said Brigadier Kargbo refused to attend an interview session with the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) and, instead, asked that his lawyer be contacted to respond on his behalf.
Major Brima says Kargbo’s lawyer, Ade Macauly, was accordingly asked to advise his client to follow the procedure of voluntary resignation.
“Since then, Brigadier Kargbo has neither complied with the voluntary resignation procedure nor returned from abroad upon the expiration of his medical leave,” Brima says in a statement read out at a press conference held at the Defense Headquarters.
“As senior officer still subject to military law and discipline until he is honorably discharged, Brigadier Kargbo ought to have returned upon the expiration of his medical leave. Hence, his continued stay-away in Ghana has now been considered as ‘absent without leave’”, the statement adds.
According to the RSLAF, in line with its policy for someone who is “absent without leave”, a board of inquiry has been set up to investigate Kargbo’s conduct and proffer recommendations after a 21- day grace period.
Lawyer Ade Macauly, who is representing Brigadier Kargbo, told Politico that his client had genuine grounds of staying away from the country, suggesting that he felt his life was under threat.
Macauly confirmed that he’d been contacted by the Defense Ministry who asked him to advise his client to avail himself for interview. But the lawyer said his client was not refusing to subject himself to the interview, rather, he didn’t want to appear in person. He said there was no legal requirement for an obligatory in-person interview as far as RSLAF’s voluntary resignation policy was concerned.
“I have read the military code, there is nowhere that the man must give an exit interview, that he must be present in Sierra Leone,” Lawyer Macauly said in a telephone interview.
“I am sure a man that served the military for 31 years, a man that got shot and almost killed during the eleven-year civil war, is someone that loves the military. To resign is not an easy thing. He must have a very good reason,” he added.
Macauly said he personally delivered Kargbo’s resignation to the RSLAF, and that he told the CDS in discussions that his client wasn’t opposed to subjecting himself to the due process, but that he only wanted it done without him setting foot on Sierra Leonean soil.
“Basically he doesn’t trust the leadership of the military. He doesn’t trust the government. That’s why he will not come.
“And the fact that they are insisting that the man must come ‘paopa’ has left the man extremely suspicious,” he stressed.
According to Lawyer Macauly, Kargbo was initially accused of heading a group of military people who plotted to assassinate then opposition presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio, during campaigns for the 2018 general elections, prior to his accusation of involvement in the missing ammunition.
He was exonerated in both cases.
According to the RSLAF, Brigadier Kargbo was one of three senior military officers who tendered their resignation letters over the past three months. The other two are Lt Col MAE Kargbo and Squadron Leader Alfred Kamara.
Lieutenant Colonel Kargbo’s resignation was on grounds of poor health, whiles Squadron Leader Kamara cited in his resignation letter that there was no future in the Air Wing where he was attached, having been allegedly denied appointment as Commander of the Air Wing on two occasions. According to RSLAF, the claims are “absolutely inconsistent with the fact.”
© 2019 Politico Online
