Reducing Overcrowding In Pujehun Centre…
Chief Minister Pays Over NLe100 Thousand Fines for 47 Inmates
On Friday 30th August 2024, the Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, Dr. David Sengeh paid fines to the tune of NLe 111,700 for forty- seven (47) inmates incarcerated in the Pujehun Correctional Centre, for various petty offences.
This gesture will help reduce overcrowding in the Pujehun Correctional Centre which was constructed to originally house seventy- Five (75) inmates. However, as at the time of the gesture, there were a total of One Hundred and Twenty Eight inmates lodged in the Centre.
Dr. Sengeh said the Correctional Centres were crowded with people who were poor- "they could not pay the fines for which they were convicted; more troubling is the fact that about 90% of the inhabitants are young people".
"While the Government of President Bio has now passed a new Law in the Criminal Procedure Act which addresses some of these issues, more justice still needs to be done, quickly," the Chief Minister said.
Dr. Sengeh indicated that he would see to it that a Judge was sent to "visit the prisons immediately" so as to resolve ongoing cases.
“About a dozen or more inmates have not been tried some of whom have now spent over two years in jail. We won't stop until everyone get access to quality justice," he said.
The Chief Minister also observed that the Pujehun Centre had a fence that does not meet security standards, and also lacked a separate structure to house female inmates.
He said he would take it up with the relevant authorities so that it will be address.
The Chief Minister also promised to make it a priority, by providing industrial tools to the Centre for inmates training and rehabilitation.
Thanking the Chief Minister, the Ag. DG of the SLCS- Brig. Gen. Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, said the fines paid for the release of forty- seven inmates is unprecedented in the country in terms of enormity.
"There is no time in this country that inmates have been released from any Correctional Centre in this magnitude, apart from the execution of Presidential Pardon. Even at that, it is only at Pademba Road Correctional Centre that such a number has been released," he said.
The Chief Minister visited the Pujehun Correctional Centre in the company of the Ag. DG of the SLCS; the Secretary to the President Dr. Emmanuel Gaima, two Members of Parliament (Hon. Dickson Rogers and Hon. Siaka Sama); Paramount Chief Sheku Koroma of Futa Pejeh; a District Councilor; and few other Local Stakeholders.
