By Abu Bakarr Tarawally

The Sierra Leone Police, in a Public Notice, issued late on Sunday, April 2^nd, claimed that calm has been restored at Mile 38 Checkpoint, following altercation supporters of Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara had with a faction of the Police manning the entrance checkpoint of the capital through the east hinterland highway, en-route Port Loko, the Northwestern District.

The Flagbearer candidate of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party was returning home to a tumultuous crowd welcome from the United State of America, where he has been for the past two weeks. He is standing trial in the High Court of Sierra Leone on corruption-related charges regarding an investigation of the Anti-Corruption Commission on funds transferred for the reconstruction of the United Nations Chancery building of Sierra Leone in New York.

The ACC alleged that the funds had been squandered by authorities in charge at the time of the transfer of the sum of US$4.9 million. Dr. Samura Kamara was the Minister of Foreign Affairs who facilitated the transfer of the funds to the chancery building project. It is alleged that he later ordered for a fraction of the funds to be transferred back to Sierra Leone, on what advice is the subject of the investigation by the ACC, which had brought the matter to Court for trial.

The chancery building project in New York was abandoned by the contractor, Jules Sanders and Co. Later, the building became a subject of litigation by members of the neighborhood in New York for posing danger and it is considered to be of threat to the safety of members of the public.

To ascertain the veracity of the claim and in order for the Court to have first-hand knowledge of the building a locus in co-visit was organised by the Judiciary of Sierra Leone in order words to pay a visit to the site in question. On that grounds, Dr. Samura Kamara was ordered by the presiding Judge, Adrian Fischer to travel to New York with the scoping mission team.

According to the Police, Dr. Samura Kamara left the Lungi Freetown International Airport with 10 vehicles. The number of cars later increased along the highway to a soaring crowd as he approached the capital, Freetown, says the police.

Concerning videos awashed social media with varying information. A portion of citizens who witnessed the scene via social media posting accused the police of acting irrationally to the situation. “They fired canisters of teargas at citizens who stood defenseless at the checkpoint,” one social media user claimed in response to a Facebook post on the issue.

Calls for calm have been made by citizens as normalcy returns to the area. Meanwhile, Dr. Samura Kamara’s defense team will commence their defense after, Judge Adrian Fischer ruled again their plea of no case submission.

The matter titled: the State Versus Saidu Nallo, Foday Vahfomba Bawoh, Adekali Foday Suma, Samura M.W. Kamara, Kandeh Foday Basi Kamara, and Jules Sanders comes up today at the High Court Holden in Freetown