Supreme Court Judge, Justice Alusine Sesay and three other staff of the Judiciary have on Independence Day received the highest presidential awards and honours as Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone. This follows their nominations by the Hon. Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards, in recognition of their unwavering commitment and dedication to work and service to the nation.
The awards and honours, Grand Officer of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Grand Commander of the Order of the Rokel; Commander of the Order of the Rokel and Grand Officers of the Order of the Rokel are the highest to be conferred on anybody in recognition of their dedication to the service of the country. The awardees also included Sylvanus Eustace Adekunle Wilson, Registrar Southern Region; Fatta Deen Gabisi, the Undersheriff and Ibrahim Kamarakeh, Office Messenger.
Hon. Justice Alusine Sesay JSC, is a Supreme Court Judge who had served as High Court Judge for a period of 10 years, both as a Resident Judge in the Northern Province and other Judicial Districts including the Western Area. He also served as a Court of Appeal Judge before his elevation to the Supreme Court. He is a tutor in Criminal Law at the Sierra Leone Law School and a representative of the Judiciary at the Council of Legal Education.
Prior to serving on the Bench, he was a private practitioner and worked as a Consultant State Counsel at the Law Officers Department in the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and a co-counsel at the Special Court of Sierra Leone. He is an alumnus of Fourah Bay College and the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEEA) in Botswana.
Mr. Sylvanus Wilson served as the Principal Assistant Registrar of the High Court in the Southern Province for over 8 years and with over 30 years work experience. He has gone through several trainings conducted by the Judicial and Legal Training Institute to position him well in the discharge of his duties.
Ibrahim Kamarakeh, an Office Messenger, has worked for the Judiciary since 2006 in various capacities ranging from Messenger, Office Assistant to a Cleaner. Reacting to his nomination, Ibrahim Kamarakeh said that he was extremely grateful and excited to know that the Hon. Chief Justice recommended him to the President. “I never expected this kind of national recognition especially from the President of the Republic. I feel so proud of myself and I believe that I’ve also made my family proud,” Kamarakeh said.He said that as an ordinary messenger, he’s shown remarkable commitment to his work including being punctual to report for work. He disclosed that he has always been the first to report for work and the last to retire home and with joy to perform any other duty assigned to him by his superiors.
He went on to state that with his experience working with three other Chief Justices in the persons of Justices Valesius Thomas, Umu Hawa TejanJalloh and Abdulai Charm, he considered the current Chief Justice as the most outstanding in light of the many remarkable achievements he has made within the judiciary over the past two years of his leadership.
“I believe that Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards is the most outstanding Chief Justice I’ve worked with so far,” he said, adding that, “When he assumed office and told us that he had come to transform the judiciary, most of us misunderstood him at the start because of his strict discipline and approach to work. But today, that perception has completely changed.”
