The Environmental Protection Agency- Sierra Leone (EPA-SL) has secured judgment against two Ghanian foreign nationals who were surreptitiously undertaking mining activities without obtaining a valid Environmental Impact Assessment License from the EPA-SL. Both convicts Mike Mensah (first accused) and Dickson Jonathan (second accused) were arraigned on six counts under section 23(1) of the Environmental Protection Agency Act of 2008 at the High Court sitting in pujehun District presided over by the Honorable Justice A T Ganda, Residence Judge in Bo.

They were discharged on the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th counts on the grounds that there is no evidence depicting that they financed illegal mining activities either direct or circumstantial but were found guilty on counts 1 and 3 respectively and sentenced to two years imprisonment and after serving their jail terms, they should be deported and barred from entering Sierra Leone for the next ten years.

Initially, the two were charged with Jefferson plee(a Liberian national) with the same offense but acquitted and discharged by the court for lack of sufficient evidence to warrant his conviction.

Prior to the proceedings, the charges were read to the accused persons on the 27th June 2022 and they vehemently denied the allegations.

State Council then applied pursuant to section 144 (2) of the CPA of 1965 for an order that the accused person be tried by a judge alone instead of a judge and jury. This application was not challenged and the court granted as prayed for.

Six prosecution witnesses were called in a bid to prove the prosecution’s case against the accused persons and exhibits tendered in Court.

Section 23(1) of the EPA Act provides that notwithstanding the. provisions of any enactment, no person shall undertake or cause to be undertaken any of the projects set out in the first Schedule unless he holds a valid EIA License in respect of such project.

The three foreign nationals, two Ghanians and one Liberian, were arrested between August and September 2021 in Pujehun District by a team of EPA-SL regional staff in the Southern office, including members of the police in No and Pujehun Districts.

According to the Department of Public Relations and inter sectoral collaboration, Environmental Protection Agency Sierra Leone press release, the Agency is securing convictions against illegal mining activities in the country and has also won several cases in kenema, Kono and other places across the regions.

The EPASL welcomes this conviction and strongly believes that this would send a message to the general public that environmental crimes or violations would be fully investigated and prosecuted and perpetrators would be punished by the law the release contained