Kambia Judicial District, North-West Region, 3rd February, 2026: The Port Loko Resident High Court Judge covering the Kambia Judicial District, Honourable Justice Sahr Elogima Kekura, has sentenced Mohamed Yillah to sixty (60) years’ imprisonment for the Unlawful Keeping of prohibited drugs without lawful authority.
Three Defendants were arraigned before the High Court to answer to fifteen (15) counts of unlawful possession, selling of prohibited drugs, and unlawful keeping of prohibited drugs, among others. The aforesaid offences are contrary to Sections 8(a) and 7(c) of the National Drugs Control Act, 2008 Act No. 10 of 2008, and Regulations 15 of the Drugs and Substance Abuse, Public Emergency Regulations, 2024.
According to the particulars of offence, Mohamed Yillah, on the 8th of November 2025 at Bamoi Luma, Magbema Chiefdom, Kambia District in the North-West Region of the Republic of Sierra Leone, was found selling 17.5 grams of Cannabis Sativa without lawful authority. On the same day, he was also found unlawfully keeping one black rubber bucket containing a loose quantity of dried leaves of Cannabis Sativa.
Similarly, the second defendant, Foday Ali Kamara, on the 8th of November 2025 at Bamoi Luma, Magbema Chiefdom, Kambia District, was found in possession of 294.5 grams of Cannabis Sativa without lawful authority.
The third defendant, Ibrahim Kamara, on the same date and at the same location, was found selling 36.5 grams of Cannabis Sativa without lawful authority.
Addressing the Court, Honourable Justice Sahr Elogima Kekura stated that the rampant abuse of drugs has caused serious public health harm to productive youth in society and has contributed to social breakdown.
In delivering judgment, Justice Kekura noted that following the guilty plea of the first Defendant, Mohamed Yillah, the Court had taken into consideration his allocutus and the plea in mitigation made on his behalf.
The first Defendant pleaded guilty to counts one, two, three, seven, eight, and nine.
On counts one, two, and three, Honourable Justice Kekura sentenced Mohamed Yillah to five (5) years’ imprisonment each.
On counts seven, eight, and nine, he was sentenced to fifteen (15) years’ imprisonment for each count.
The Court ordered that the sentences be served concurrently, amounting to a total of sixty (60) years’ imprisonment.
On count ten, the second Defendant, Foday Ali Kamara, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five (5) years’ imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the matter has been adjourned to the 4th of February 2026 for proceedings on the remaining counts to which the Defendants have not pleaded guilty.
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