By Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, Esq.
Freetown, 20th October 2026- Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, has used his recent detention at the Male Correctional Centre at Pademba Road to draw attention to what he describes as a deepening crisis within Sierra Leone’s prison and justice systems.
In a reflective commentary titled “The Cries for Justice Behind Bars,” Kamara said spending nearly a week in custody gave him a firsthand understanding of the challenges faced daily by thousands of inmates, particularly remand detainees awaiting trial.
Kamara, who has served in several senior legal positions including Senior State Counsel, Deputy Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, and Attorney-General, said he had long understood the challenges of the criminal justice system from a professional perspective. However, experiencing detention himself offered a different and more personal insight.
According to him, Sierra Leone’s prisons were originally designed to accommodate just over 2,000 inmates but currently house more than 5,000 people. He noted that most inmates are remand prisoners who have not been convicted of any offence but remain incarcerated while awaiting trial.
Reflecting on his tenure as Attorney-General, Kamara recalled efforts to address prison congestion, including the release of hundreds of detainees held on weak charges or without indictment. He also highlighted collaboration with the Legal Aid Board, which led to the review of more than 1,500 cases and the release of numerous inmates.
Despite those interventions, Kamara said his recent detention underscored the human impact of delayed justice.
“What changed was not my understanding of the law, but my understanding of what the law feels like when it is delayed,” he wrote, describing prison life as a constant cycle of waiting for court dates, legal representation, family visits, and case reviews.
He said overcrowding remains one of the most visible challenges within correctional facilities, affecting living conditions, sanitation, and the overall welfare of inmates.
The former Attorney-General argued that prolonged detention without trial represents not only a humanitarian concern but also a justice and public safety issue. He warned that prisons operating far beyond their capacity cannot effectively fulfill their rehabilitation mandate and that excessive reliance on remand detention risks punishing individuals before guilt is established in court.
To address the problem, Kamara proposed several reforms, including regular statutory reviews of remand cases, increased resources for the courts and Legal Aid Board, dedicated remand courts, improved case management systems, faster disclosure procedures, and greater use of alternatives to detention such as community service and effective bail arrangements.
He stressed that such measures should not be viewed as being lenient on crime but rather as efforts to strengthen the rule of law and improve the efficiency of the justice system.
“As a former prosecutor, I know public safety matters,” Kamara stated. “These reforms are not soft on crime. They are hard on delay, illegality and neglect.”
Concluding his reflections, Kamara urged policymakers and justice sector stakeholders to pay greater attention to the plight of inmates who often lack the resources, influence, and legal support needed to secure timely justice.
He argued that the true test of a country’s criminal justice system lies not in how it treats prominent individuals who briefly experience incarceration, but in how it treats ordinary detainees whose voices often go unheard behind prison walls.
