The suspended Mayor of Freetown, Herbert Akieremi George-Williams, the city’s Chief Administrator, Bowenson Frederick Philips and five others have been found guilty for various corruption and procurement violation offences at the High Court in Freetown presided over by the Hon. Justice John Bosco Katutsi, according to a press release from the ACC.
Two other indictees, Arthur Kwesi-John, Deputy Chief Administrator and Mohamed Allie Shabaan were acquitted and discharged. A third person, 5th accused Desmond Thomas was also released on the following day on the grounds that the judge mistakenly skipped his acquittal.
The Commissioner of the ACC, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, welcomed the judgment describing it as “momentous in the fight against corruption”. He said the courts had “reaffirmed that indeed in Sierra Leone, no man is above the law”.
All seven were remanded at Pademba Road Prisons awaiting sentencing to be delivered tomorrow, 15th August.
It will be recalled that the trial of the Mayor and eight others commenced in the High Court in Freetown after an indictment on the 28th of November, 2011.
