Chief Justice Honorable Komba Kamanda has assigned four High court Justices to five districts headquarter towns across the country, to reduce the waiting list of criminal cases and speed up justice delivery.

These meetings aim to quickly resolve over 174 criminal cases, including charges like murder and sexual penetration. The districts chosen for the initiative are Koinadugu, Kambia, Kono, Pujehun and Tonkolili.

The sessions, which began on February 17, 2025, in Koidu and Magburaka, are slated to last until March 1, 2025, with additional sessions planned for Kambia, Pujehun, and Kabala, involving over 200 detainees.

Moses Kamara, Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary, underlined the growing worry about crime figures for this session, stressing that there are 19 murder cases, with Kabala having the largest number, while Kono leads in cases of sexual penetration.

The justices tasked with these hearings are Honorable Justice Augustine K. Musa, Honorable Justice Abu Bakarr Sannoh, Honorable Justice Mohamed Bawoh, and Honorable Justice Banks-Kamara. The proposal comes during a judge scarcity, which has been worsened by the deaths and retirements of some judicial authorities.

Kamara stressed that the Chief Justice is working actively to recruit additional judges to address the expanding demands of the judicial system, while realizing the enormous task faced by the existing judicial Officers.

“The current workload on judges is overwhelming,” Kamara said. “However, the Chief Justice is doing everything possible to manage the limited resources effectively and ensure that justice is served swiftly and fairly.”