Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, who was called to the Sierra Leone Bar in October 2009, has declared his interest in running for the presidency of the Bar Association on 17 May 2024 during the Annual General Meeting.
Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, a human rights defender and a pro-democracy activist, says he is running for the Bar Association presidency because he thinks the association needs to be reclaimed from capture. “The promise of justice on the nation’s coat of arms remains unfulfilled. I believe that the omissions of the Bar Association is largely responsible for the laughable state of justice in our country. This is why I am running. To reclaim the bar. To defend the constitution of Sierra Leone. To uphold the rule of law and to defend our democracy”, he notes.
He states that, “I have been at the forefront of the defence of the constitution and the rule of law. I have been consistently on the side of the law and justice. My devotion to justice and the rule of law has been tried but not extinguished. My voice on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone interrupted but not silenced. I have shown over and again that the law is supreme, second to none. I have sided with justice over politics and with loyalty to the constitution above all considerations. I believe that this is what makes me the best fit for the presidency of the Bar”.
If elected on 17 May 2024 as the president of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah promises to “engage government, the judiciary, and other developmental partners to improve access to justice for the people. Where engagement fails, we will litigate to correct the wrongs of pour society. We shall be uncompromising to expand access to justice all across Sierra Leone”.
He calls on his colleagues to join him in his quest to “reclaim the Bar”, as his desire is to “restore the dignity of the oldest bar association in sub-Saharan Africa”. He believes that the Bar Association will not be free if it is left at the mercy seat of politics. “This is why we must take it back. I commit to uphold and to pursue this cause until the Bar is completely free and insulated from the manipulations of partisan politics”.
Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah has been a committed member of the Bar Association since he joined the legal profession. He served in the General Legal Council as Secretary for three years. He was Coordinator of the maiden edition of the General Legal Council Law Journal. He has acted as counsel for the Bar Association and the General Legal Council. And recently, he started the first comprehensive online legal resource to digitize the legal resources of Sierra Leone.