By Alpha Kamara in Washington D.C
On Saturday November 6, 2021, 40-year-old Mohamed Koroma also known as Don Pole died at the emergency hospital in Freetown. He was admitted there after he was allegedly shot by OSD Julius Amara who was attached to the ruling SLPP party chairman Prince Harding outside the party office.
According to an eye witness Hassan Marrah, Prince Harding knows the personally because he worked for him in the campaign trail. Marrah said they were standing outside the party office. Harding then turned to them in a way of directing his security.
“There was some confusion outside the party office between Harding and some youths. Water was poured on him in the process. He immediately ordered his bodyguard to shoot Don Pole as his suspect. The body guard, OSD Julius Koroma responded immediately by using his pistol and shot at the deceased two times. He fell in front of me. Harding then drove away with his team,” Marrah said.
The mother of the deceased Jeneba Koroma, a resident of Bo city said she was informed that her son has been shot on the orders of Prince Harding in Freetown. She immediately left Bo for Freetown because Harding’s wife earlier warned her about her son. She said son also told her that he was been hunted by Prince Harding after he severed ties with him.
She said she went straight to the emergency hospital and found her son in pain. “I arrived at the emergency hospital and met my son bleeding. The doctors removed some of the bullets. But others were in a very sensitive position. My son laying in his hospital bed also confirmed to me that he was shot on the orders of Prince Harding whom he used to campaign for. The condition I saw him forced me to almost collapsed,” Koroma said.
Madam Jeneba said she later reported the matter to the police and was treated like a suspect herself. The police opened an investigation into the matter and invited Dr. Prince Harding who only spent a night at the CID headquarters in Freetown. He was released the following day.
The Inspector General of Police at the time Ambrose Sovula later told the press, that the victim, Don Pole only had stab wounds and his case was not very serious. Therefore, they had release Dr. Prince Harding for lack of evidence to connect him with the incident.
President Julius Maada Bio later visited the victim at the emergency hospital and promised to support his recovery and justice to his family. But nothing happened afterwards.
Before his death, Don Pole told journalists that Prince Harding ordered his security to shoot him. “His wife earlier told my mother to warn me to leave her husband alone. I used to work with him as his driver and errand boy. But I left him after the party came to power because he did not do anything to help my situation. He was not happy with my decision and was finding a way to kill me. Hence, he ordered his security to shoot me,” Don Pole said before his demise.
Dr. Prince Harding later accepted on radio that the deceased was working for him. He also accepted that the deceased was threatening his family and one of those that attacked him. “I saw Don Pole with others sending dirty water on me mixed with urine. He also tried to hit me with an object. My office car was also dented. The police had to respond. But I have no hand in his death,” Harding said.
On Saturday November 6 2021, Mohamed Koroma or Don Cole died at the emergency hospital in Freetown. A medical report seen by the press stated he died from bullet wounds sustained from the incident. The matter was later dropped by the Sovula police for lack of evidence.
One year after his death, the family is still calling for justice.
Don Pole’s widow said the late man left a four-year-old boy called Prince Alex Koroma whom he named after Dr. Prince Harding when he was working for him. But since Koroma’s painful death, her son’s situation has been desperate.
“The late man was taking care of his son. Since his death, no one has come to our rescue. I don’t know how I will continue to survive with him,” she said.
Jeneba Koroma, the late man’s mother said his soul will never rest until he gets justice for her dead son. “We voted for SLPP and Maada Bio. As a way of compensation, Prince Harding killed my son. Dr. Harding, I will never forget about this in a hurry,” Jeneba cried in Mende.