The former President of the just concluded Court Martial, Captain (Navy) Lawrence Jabati has, in an interview with The Exclusive at his offices at De-fence Headquarters on Tower Hill, dilated on how fair and transparent the Court Martial proceedings went.

“Before now, we used to conduct court martial proceedings at the Court Martial Centre at the Cockeril Military Headquarters on Wilkinson Road but because we wanted the entire trial to be transparent, we decided to transfer the trial to the Law court,” Capt. (N) Lawrence Jabati disclosed.

According to Capt. (N) Jabati, the entire proceedings were generally fair and transparent and devoid of any interference from the powers-that-be.

The sentences, he said, were handed down based on evidences adduced, beyond all reasonable doubts. The final verdict, he continued, was unanimously reached by all the members of the Court Martial Board.

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“It was a unanimous decision by the Board. Normally, if there are doubts in the verdict, the Board votes to ensure that justice prevails,” informed the no-nonsense erstwhile Court Martial President. He continued, “we were working in the interest of the State and people and we believe, we did justice to the entire process as sufficient evidences were adduced, including call logs from Orange and Africell, pictorial evidences, audio messages that were played in the open court.”

Capt (N) Jabati confessed that it was not an easy assignment but he thanked God that he was able to sail through to its logical conclusion. “All is well that ends well,” Capt (N) Jabati said.

Asked why he was appointed to serve as President of the Court Martial, Capt. (N) Jabati said, “Well, I believe it was based on merit, performance, integrity and above all, experience as I have previously served as Board Member in the Col.

Clifford Thoronka led Court Martial in 2014, whilst Lt. Col S.O. Williams (late) was the Convening Authority.

Capt(N) Lawrence Jabati joined the Sierra Leone Navy in 2021 and has navigated his way to an enviable position through thin and thick.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geology from Fourah Bay College

(FBC), University of Sierra Leone (USL), Msc in Environmental Management and Quality Control, Njala University (USL), MA Defence from the Kings College, London.

He has also bagged other prestigious certificates including Advance Command and Staff Course at the Joint Ser. vices Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, UK; Senior staff Course, Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC); Junior Staff Course (JSC), GAFCSC, TESHIE Ghana and Horton Command and Staff College (HCSC).

The young and dynamic senior Navy officer has also attended a number of Maritime courses including but not limited to, Head of Navigation Course, Fareham, UK; International Maritime

Warfare School, HMS Collingwood, Farahem, UK; Tactical Operations Planning Course, Yorktown, Virginia, USA; National Incident Management System Course, Coastguard Training Centre, ) Yorktown, USA, among many others.

Prior to his assumption as Court Martial President, Cpt. (N) Jabati participated in a conference on Strategic Implication on Climate Change, hosted in Abidjan, Cote D’Voire organized by USA

AFRICOM were he spoke on the topic, “Inclusion of Climate Factors in Military Training and War Gaming.”

Col. Jabati is happily married with three children.