Over Land Corruption… Minister Senessie’s Errand Boy Indicted -Who’s next?
The Anti-corruption Commission has indicted Noah Alpha Fornah on four counts of corruption offenses. Noah Fornah, until his indictment, is the Director of Lands North-East Regional City of Makeni and he is also one of the errand boys of the Minister of Lands, Dr. Turad Senessie.
According to charges proffered against him, Noah Fornah is indicted on 4 counts charges including Soliciting an Advantage, contrary to Section 28(2)(a), Accepting an Advantage, contrary to Section 28(2)(a), Abuse of Office, contrary to Section 42 (1), and Abuse of Position, contrary to Section 43, of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 12 of 2008 as amended by the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act No. 9 of 2019.
According to the particulars of offence, NOAH ALPHA FORNAH,* being the Director of Lands at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning in the North-East Regional City of Makeni, on diverse dates between the 4th April and 7th October, 2024, solicited the sum of Twenty Thousand Leones (Le 20,000) for the signing of a survey plan for land bought by one Abu Bakarr Sillah, through his representative Alfred Kamara. NOAH ALPHA FORNAH later received the sum of Ten Thousand Leones (Le 10,000) as an advantage from Alfred Kamara. The trial will proceed in Freetown.
Information reaches Voice of Salone Newspaper revealed that Noah is very notorious of using his office to solicit advantage for money or property as he did to Alpha Conteh who refused to dance to his tune and a result his land was reclaimed and sold to many people who are connected to the power that be. In one particular day after Alpha Conteh received the news that his land has been reclaimed by the Ministry of Lands, Noah Contacted him that inorder for Alpha to regain his family from the state, he should agree to give him a portion of the land to strike a compromise but Alpha refused to dance to his tune. Immediately after that, the Ministry of Lands under the leadership of Turad Senessie ordered a bulldozer machine to destroy the perimeter fence of the land erected by the claimant at Tokeh Village.
The land was dispossessed from the Conteh family and distributed to several people, most of them, are connected to the first family and other big guns in the Government. Minister Senesie has stood on his grounds for robbing peter to pacify paul, insisting that “all land in Sierra Leone are state land”.
Many are asking if the Minister action resonates with the President strides for land equality and to ensure that every citizens have access to land in SierraLeone.
However, with the ACC indicting Noah Fornah for land corruption, many are now urging the ACC to look at the depth of the issue to know how many people are in this syndicate and if the Minister has a knowledge about what his errand boy did.
