Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. In Sierra Leone today, truth is often the first casualty when institutions overstep their bounds.
The latest episode claims that the Freetown City Council (FCC) “confirmed” popular musician and politucian, Natasha Beckley as the owner of a property where drugs were allegedly found is not just an error.
It is a scandalous distortion that risks trampling on justice and the rights of ordinary citizens.
Let’s get this straight: FCC cannot and does not, have the power to confirm who owns property.
That authority lies exclusively with the Registrar General’s Office at the Roxy Building.
It is the Registrar who records deeds, certifies titles and issues the documents that courts accept as proof of ownership.
To suggest otherwise is reckless at best and malicious at worst.
What FCC does is administrative.
It collects rates.
It maintains property rolls for taxation.
But those rolls are not title deeds.
They are not certificates of ownership.
A tenant who pays property tax is listed in FCC’s records but that does not make the tenant an owner.
A caretaker can pay rates on behalf of an absentee landlord does that make them the legal owner? Of course not.
So for the police to point fingers and say “FCC confirmed ownership” is a dangerous twisting of roles and responsibilities.
This matters because it sets a terrifying precedent. If the police can use a council tax roll to brand someone as an “owner,” then anyone in this country who pays rates tenant, caretaker or even good-willed relative can suddenly find themselves accused of crimes tied to properties they do not own. That is not just careless policing.
That is injustice in broad daylight.
Dragging FCC’s name into this controversy is more than sloppy.
It undermines the credibility of our institutions and the rule of law itself. Sierra Leone is already struggling with mistrust in governance.
We cannot afford to see our councils and police weaponized against individuals through half-truths and misrepresentations.
Natasha’s case is a warning bell for all of us. Today it is her; tomorrow it could be anyone whose name appears in an administrative ledger. The law is clear, and we must insist it be respected: only the Registrar General confirms ownership, not FCC, not the police, not anyone else. Anything less is a betrayal of fairness, due process, and the very principles of justice that hold this fragile society together.
The public deserves better than this. We must demand better than this.
Justice cannot be built on careless claims dressed up as fact.
Sierra Leone is bigger than that and our people deserve the truth not convenient lies masquerading as law.
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