Preamble
S
::AC
lçment io,the'Sierra Leone Gazette Vol. CXIIY, No. 6
dated 2lst Jan uary,1982
tday·of anuary,,1982.
LS)
:CLASS NO
155)
LOCATKNCHECKED BY
SIAKA STEVENS,
President.
SIERRA LEONE LAM SCHOOL
LIBRARY
Sierra Leone
TheCommissions of Inquiry (Amendment) Act, 1982 short title,
[2lst January, 1982.] rate of
CcimenceT NACTED,by thc,President and, Members- of Parliament. in meat.
this present Parliament assembled, as.follows:
1Section 7of.theCommissions of Inquiry Act'is hereby Repeal ar.&
epaled and replaced by the following new section replacen
of sect n 7
of Car it,
2 No. 1
"Commis
sioners to
inquire and
report to
President.
President
may make
an Order.on
rceipt of
Commis
sioners'.
report.
Commissions lnquiry (Amendnnent) 1982
7. (1) (a) The Commissioners shall, after taking
such oath, make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry
into the matter specified in such commission, and
conduct such inquiry in accordance with the direc
tions (if any) inthe commission; and, in due course,
shall report to the President, in writing, the result of
such inquiry; and may make such recommendations
as may be necessary.
(b)The Commissionërs shall,when required,
furnish to the President a fullstatement of the proceed
ings of such commission, and of the reasons lcading
to the conclusions arrived atorreported.
(2) Upon the receipt of such report, if it appears
to the President that any person has acquired assets for
himself or in the name of any öther person in an un
lawful manner or is responsible for.any irregularity
or malpractice resulting in any financial loss to the
Government of Sierra Leone or to any local authority
Or corporation, or any other body whatsoever, the
President may, on the advice of the Cabinet, make an
Order
(a) requiring such person to make good the
financial loss to the Government of Sierra
Leone, or any local authority or corpora
tion or any other body as the case may be;
Or
(b) forfeiting to the Government of Sierra
Leone or any local authority or corporatiou
Or any other body as the case may be, all
or any part thereof of the assets of such
person, whether or not such assets are in
his name.
(3) Any Judge of the High Court shall, uponapplication by the Attorney-General and Minister of
Justice, make such Order or Orders as may be neces
sary forthe purpose of giving full effect to the Orderfor forfeiture of assets madeby the President under subsection (2) herof, and shall in particular but without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, wherenecessary, order any person to execute such instrument
as may be necessary for enabling any assets situated
No. i Commussions lnguiry (Anendnent) 1982
outside Sierra Leone to be vested in the Government
of Sierra Leone, or any local authority or corporation,
or any other body as the case may be.
Details of
assets.
Order to be
effective
notwith
standing
anythingto
the con
trary.
(4) Any Order made under sub-section (2) may
include provision for vesting the assets or any part
thereof or the property in such assets or part thereof
in a department of Government, a local authority or
corporation or any other bodyas the case may be and,
in particular, the Order may direct
(a) in the case of assets lodged in a hank, the
Manager or a person in charge of the bank
in which the assets are lodged shall pay
the assets into the Consolidated Fund, or
any bank account as the case may require;
(6)in the case of assets in the form of stocks,
shares, debentures, bonds or choses-in
action, the responsibie officer concerned
shall register them as required or necessary.
in the name of the Government of Sierra
Leone or any local authority or corpora
tion, or any other body as the case may
require;
(c) in the case of assets in the nature of im
movable property the Administrator and
Registrar-General shall remove the name of
the person or that of any person in whose
name the property is registered, from the
Register and register forthwith such pro
perty in the name of the Government of
Sierra Leone or any local authority or
corporation, or other body as the case may
be, and the property shall vest forthwith
in the Government of Sierra Leone or local
authority or corporation, or other body
(as the case may be) as from the date of
such Order.
(5) Any Order made by the President under sub
section (2) for the restitution or forfeiture of assets
shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the con
trary in any enactment contained.
No. 1 Commissions lnquiry (Amendment) 1982
Order of for (6) Notwithstanding any provisions to the con
feiture not to trary in any law contained, no court whatsoever shall
be challen
be competent to inquire into any Order made under
ged. this section.
Amendent 2. The Commissions of Inquiry Act is hereby amended by the
of Cap. S4. addition inmediately after section 17 thereof of the following
new sections
"Prohibition 18. From the date of the appointment of any Com
of transfer
of assets. misssion of Inquiry under this Act, no sale, lease,
transfer or other disposition as the case may be of any
asset specified in the Second Schedule hereto, being
an asset owned wholly or partly by any of the persons
whose conduct is being inguired into under this Act,
shall be valid, unless the sale, lease, transfer or other
disposition is made with the prior approval of the
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
Voidance of 19. From the date of the appointment of any Com
sales, etc.
made to mission of Inquiry under this Act, any sale, lease,
defeat the transfer or other disposition as the case may be
purpose of of any asset specified in the Second Schedule afore
this Act. said which was made in defraud of or calculated to be
made in circumvention of this section shall be deemed
to be void, unless the Attorney.General and Minister
of Justice approves the sale, lease, transfer or other
disposition as the case may be.
Withdrawal
of money 20. (1) Except with the permission in writing of
prohibited the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, no
except with person whose conduct is being inquired into under this
the permis- Act shall withdraw or authorise the withdrawal of more
sionof the than a total sum of five hundred leones from all his
Attorney
General and bank accounts for any one month, from the date of the
Minister of appointment of the Commission of Inquiry to the date
Justice. of any Order made by the President under sub-section
(2) of section 7.
(2) For the purpose of this section, the term
"withdrawal'" shall include any transfer of money
whatsoever.
Securities not 21. Except with the permission in writing of thetobe taken
rom ba shall obtain from any bank, any security deposited by
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, no person
any person whose conduct is being inquired into under
this Act or any other thing deposited with any bank
Ne. 1 Commissions f lnquiry (Am1endment) 1982 5
for safe kceping by any such person or any document
relating to any such security or thing, from the date
of the appointment of the Commission of Inquíry to
the date of any Order made by the President under
sub-section (2)of section 7.
Bank not to
part with 22. Except with the permission in writing of ihe
securities. Attorney.General and Minister of Justice, no banker
shall deliver to any person or otherwise part with any
security, thing, or document referred to in section 21.
23. Penalty.
Any person who contravenes any of the pro
visions of soctions 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 shall be guilty
of an offence, and liable on summary conviction to a
fine not exceeding fourshousand leones or to imprison
ment for a period not exceeding two years or to both
such fine and imprisonment.
24. Saving.
Nothing in this Act shall affect the sale, lease,
transfer or other disposition of any asset in pursuance
of any order made by any competent court or in
compliance with the provisions of any enactment.'9