By Blessing C. Cole
Ex- Operation Support Department (OSD) officer, Alpha Kamara yesterday committed to the High Court of Sierra Leone by Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Pademba Road Court No.1 for allegedly murdering Abu-Bakr Munu on the 14th August 2023 in Waterloo.
During his first appearance at the Magistrate Court, the charge was read and explained to the accused by the court registrar, no plea was taken because it a capital offense.
Before the matter was committed to the High Court, Ibrahim Baimba Sesay who was the fourth prosecution witness said he recognized the accused as a police officer and he also know the deceased.
The witness said on Monday 14th August 2023, whiles he was at a bar within Waterloo together with the deceased, the accused came with one man called Fisher and the accused attacked the deceased saying that he has his chain.
He further explained that the accused told the deceased that if he does not produce his chain he will dealt with him, adding that the deceased later told him that the accused have to give him 200 thousand new Leones and that if he does not give him his money he will not give the chain to the accused,
He stated that whiles they were arguing, the accused held on the deceased clothes, and during the fight, one of the accused colleagues came to the scene with a pepper spray and handed it over to the accused which he use to spray in the face of the deceased.
“Whiles we were trying to stop them from fighting, one Isho restrain us from separating them and the accused continued to spray the deceased and in the process the deceased became helpless. When the accused saw that the deceased was helpless, he left the scene and went to the Waterloo police station,” he explained.
The witness said they later called a police officer who came to the scene and took the deceased in the vehicle belonging to PW1 and take him to the police station, but at that time, the deceased has already dead before they could reach the police station.
“At the station, I met the accused making report and I immediately informed the police that he has killed the deceased so he was arrested whiles I and one of the police officers took the remains of the deceased to the Connaught mortuary and I later made statement to the police,” he said.
The accused who was unrepresented asked the witness during cross examination if he was the first person that hit the deceased, he replied in the affirmative.
The accused further put it to the witness that he only spray the pepper spray on the air and not on the deceased, but the witness said it was not on the air, but directly on the deceased which led to his death.
He also put it to the witness that the deceased was holding a bottle of stout and kush in his hands at the time they were arguing, the witness replied in the negative.
After the completion of the cross examination by the accused, the prosecutor ASP Ibrahim S. Mansaray closed the prosecution’s case.
Meanwhile, Magistrate Ngegba in his ruling stated that having looked at the evidence adduce before him by the prosecution against the accused, he therefore committed the matter to the high court for further trial and he further ordered the accused to be remanded in custody.
The accused Alpha Kamara was charged to court on the 19th September 2023 and thereafter made six subsequent appearances before the matter was committed to the high court.
