By Sulaiman Jalloh

Chief Whip of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) in Parliament, Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara has recently lauded the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), 2024, but expressed concerns over the removal of the jury system.

Hon. AKK, as he is fondly called, stated that the enactment of the CPA Act, 2024 should be embraced by all Sierra Leoneans, as according to him, there are enormous opportunities in it.

According to the Opposition Chief Whip, it is a law that could address issues of preliminary investigations, custodian tendencies which implies that there were minor cases in which perpetrators had to spend more years in prison which in turn could cost more burden on the government, but with the new Act it would now become a thing of the past. He furthered that with the CPA Act, 2024 culprits for minor crimes would not be imprisoned but mandated to involve into community domestic chores, a thing that resonates with international best practices.

However, Hon. AKK expressed dismay over the abolition of the jury system which, according to him, was never debated as part of the CPA Act, 2024. The lawmaker furthered that he only took notice of what he described as ‘unfortunate aspect’ after they had enacted the Bill.  He maintained that the abolition of the jury system came as a surprise to him, stressing that during the discussion such was not mentioned. According to Hon. AKK, what the Attorney General presented to them was to reduce the jurors from 12- 10, claiming that in most cases jurors absent themselves from hearings and consequently causes delay; therefore, it was prudent to reduce the number of jurors in a bid to maximise speedy trials. He reiterated that from that angle they supported the motion for the reduction of jurors from 12-10 and they went ahead to include quorum.

He is therefore calling on the President Bio to serve as a gatekeeper as the only gentleman that has the power to save the image of Parliament and the democratic principles of the land.

Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, July 12th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)