Former Chief Examiner of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Issa Kamara, has been sentenced to five years in prison or pay a fine of 170,000 new Leones after pleading guilty to six corruption charges.
According to Global Times Newspaper, Justice Cosmotina Jarrett handed down the sentence on Wednesday 21st May 2025, after Kamara was convicted in April this year on charges including academic malpractice, abuse of office, and misconduct in public office. He was also banned from serving as a Chief Examiner or teaching in any school or vocational institution for the next five years.
Kamara received a sentence of three years or a thirty thousand Leone fine on counts 1, 2, 4, and 5. On count 6, he was sentenced to five years or pay fifty thousand Leones. He was cautioned and discharged on count 3. The judge ordered that the prison terms run together, meaning Kamara will serve a minimum of five years if he does not pay the fine.
The judge made it clear that the sentence should match the seriousness of the offence. She described Kamara’s actions as a betrayal of trust that hurt the country’s educational system. The sentence, she said, also takes into account both the factors that worked in his favour and those that did not.
The case involved exam malpractice during the May/June 2024 and 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in Freetown. Issa Kamara was jointly charged with Ibrahim Kamara, an Assistant Examiner at WAEC, who has pleaded not guilty. Ibrahim Kamara is currently out on bail, and his case has been adjourned for further hearing.
Lawyer Mohamed L. Sesay from the Anti-Corruption Commission prosecuted the case. During the first hearing, Issa Kamara appeared without a lawyer, but was later represented by Lawyer M.A. Kamara. The second accused is represented by Lawyer Omo Lisks.
A betrayal of trust. He deserves his punishment.
They are not serious.
Some of those making this laws were the worse Blatant fools during their school days. That’s why they are still misbehaving and underperforming in there offices today by destroying the country with corruption and embezzlement of state funds.
But prosperity will soon judje them all from Top to Bottom management.
You don’t know that power is a trial from God.