Four individuals sentenced to 30 years for drug offenses

Four individuals sentenced to 30 years for drug offenses

On November 14, 2025, the Magistrate Court in Kenema, presided over by Her Worship, Magistrate Wilbri Hamida M. John of Magistrate Court No. 2, convicted four defendants on charges of prohibition of possession and use of illicit drugs. 

The convicted individuals are Ramatu Galia of Ngeihun village, Lower Bambara Chiefdom; Lucinda Thomas of Gombu Layout, Kenema City; Saidu Tarawallie of Panderu Section, Tongo-field; and Fatmata Kamara of No. 6 Duwai Street, Kenema, all within the Kenema Judicial District.

Court records indicate that the first defendant, Ramatu Galia, faced three count charges. On October 31, 2025, in Ngeihun village, Lower Bambara Chiefdom, she was found in possession of 62 wraps of Cannabis sativa, 15 tablets of 225mg Tramadol, and 41 capsules of 125mg Tramadol. Ms. Galia entered a guilty plea and sought leniency. 

She was subsequently sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre in Kenema, with concurrent sentences of 5 years for each of the three counts.

Lucinda Thomas was convicted on a single count of drug possession and use. On Saturday, November 1, 2025, at Gombu Layout in Kenema, she was apprehended with a loose quantity of dried leaf substance suspected to be Cannabis sativa. The alleged substance was submitted to the Toxicologist by the Trans-national Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) Eastern Region Office for examination, analysis, and report, which returned a positive forensic result.

Saidu Tarawallie was found guilty of possessing seeds of Cannabis sativa on October 31, 2025, at Panderu Section, Tongo-field, Lower Bambara Chiefdom. He received a sentence of 5 years imprisonment.

The fourth defendant, Fatmata Kamara, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for a single count of prohibition of possession and use of drugs, contrary to Section 8(a) of the National Drugs Control Act No. 10 of 2008. Ms. Kamara was found in possession of 50 polythene bags of Cannabis sativa and one bundle of Cannabis sativa weighing 6.3 kilograms on October 9, 2025, at No. 6 Duwai Street in Kenema City. She pleaded guilty and requested clemency.

The cases were prosecuted by Sgt. David Idriss and Sgt. Bakarr Watta, both attached to the Legal and Justice Support Department at the Kenema Police Station. The female defendants were represented by Defence Counsel, Joseph Bandabla Dauda (aka JBD) of AdvocAid in Kenema, who appealed to the Magistrate for minimal sentences on behalf of his clients.