Yada Williams Responds to NRA Action Over Sealed Office Premises
Lawyer Yada Williams has strongly condemned the actions of the National Revenue Authority following the sealing of the offices of Yada Williams & Associates on Tuesday, describing the move as illegal, malicious, and in contempt of a High Court order.
In a public statement issued after the incident, Williams disclosed that officials of the NRA, accompanied by armed police officers, cameramen, and photographers, stormed the law offices of his firm located at 7 Walpole Street in Freetown and sealed the premises despite what he said was a valid High Court injunction restraining such action.
According to Williams, legal proceedings had already been initiated in the High Court on May 18 regarding allegations of outstanding rental income tax obligations claimed by the NRA. He stated that the Court order prohibiting enforcement actions was communicated to the Commissioner-General, the NRA’s Director of Legal Affairs, and other relevant officials before the operation was carried out.
Williams accused NRA officials of acting in “utter contempt” of the court injunction and described the enforcement exercise as unlawful and politically motivated.
The senior lawyer maintained that he does not owe any outstanding rental income tax in connection with a property located at Fourah Bay Close, Off Main Motor Road, Wilberforce, which is currently occupied by the United Nations Development Programme.
He explained that the UNDP has been his tenant since September 2018 and that all tenancy agreements signed between both parties clearly stipulate that rent payments are made net of Government of Sierra Leone taxes.
According to Williams, the agreements expressly provide that taxes on rent are deducted at source by the tenant before payment is made to him. He added that copies of the tenancy agreements were submitted to the NRA on March 4, 2026.
Citing Section 120 of the Income Tax Act No. 8 of 2000 and Section 11 of the Finance Act No. 2 of 2018, Williams argued that the withholding of rental income tax by institutional tenants is mandatory under Sierra Leonean law.
“The law makes it mandatory for tenants such as the UNDP to deduct taxes at source before remitting rent payments,” he stated.
Williams further argued that the NRA acted outside the law by sealing the offices of his legal practice instead of the Wilberforce property connected to the alleged tax obligation.
He noted that Section 120(3)(i) of the Income Tax Act authorizes enforcement actions against the premises from which the rental income is derived, which in this case is the Wilberforce property and not his law chambers at 7 Walpole Street.
According to him, the temporary closure of his office was later reversed and the premises reopened shortly afterward.
In his statement, Williams accused the NRA of using the incident as an attempt to repair what he described as the institution’s damaged public image.
He alleged that the Authority’s actions were “high-handed, malicious, and devoid of factual basis,” while also referencing previous allegations of financial mismanagement raised against the institution by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Williams concluded by stating that he remains determined to challenge what he described as the NRA’s illegal conduct through all lawful means available to him.
