Members of the Kono community in Sierra Leone, alongside their civil society partners, were left disheartened after an Appeals Court hearing on Thursday, May 9, 2024, resulted in yet another setback in their case against the diamond-mining giant, Koidu Limited.

The prolonged legal saga, spanning over five years with numerous adjournments, has left the community members feeling frustrated and powerless.

The Sierra Leone Court of Appeal once again postponed the hearing of the Kono community’s human rights claims, which center on the alleged harm caused to their livelihoods, health, and traditional lands by the multinational mining company. The new hearing date is set for May 21, 2024.

Despite the readiness of Presiding Judge Justice R.S Fynn, the hearing was delayed as one of the judges, Justice Amy Wright, cited being ill-prepared due to administrative tasks related to the arrival of an ECOWAS delegation to the country. However, it’s anticipated that the delegation will have concluded its visit by the rescheduled hearing date.

Expressing concern over the repeated delays, Mr. Prince Boima, Chairman of the Marginalized Affected Property Owners Association, questioned whether the government or Koidu Limited was influencing the proceedings behind the scenes.

Lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Dr. Chernor Mamoud Benedict Jalloh, emphasized the importance of timely justice delivery, asserting that “justice delayed is justice denied to all parties in this litigation.”

The recent possibility of the Koidu community’s human rights case being heard emerged following a ruling on February 29, 2024, which dismissed preliminary objections filed by Koidu Limited. This ruling breathed new life into the plaintiffs’ case after it was initially dismissed by the High Court in Makeni on October 27, 2022.

The dismissal had been based on the assertion that the plaintiffs were not qualified to bring their claims to court and should have pursued a non-judicial grievance mechanism, despite the mechanism’s non-existence at the time.