Phone Evidence Sparks Legal Showdown, Stalling Abdul Kpaka Murder Trial
By Patrick Sallia
High-stakes technical arguments over the admissibility of the deceased’s mobile phone forced a temporary halt in the murder trial of Abdul Kpaka on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.T
The proceedings before Justice Alfred Ganda devolved into a voir dire (a trial within a trial) at the High Court in Freetown, as the prosecution and defense battled for over 90 minutes regarding procedural compliance.
Abdul Kpaka stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Sia Fatu Kamara, in August 2024. The mobile phone of the deceased is anticipated to play a critical role in his defense.
The admissibility argument arose at 11:36 AM when Kpaka took the witness stand and identified a phone with a pink floral design as belonging to the late Sia. Defense Counsel Emmanuel Teddy Koroma led Abdul to tender the device into evidence but the State Prosecutor Yusif Isaac Sesay immediately objected.
He argued that the defendant lacked the legal authority to tender the phone because a proper foundation had not been laid to establish his capacity to do so. “The court would want to know what had been done to the phone,” Sesay submitted to a nearly empty courtroom. “We have no problem in tendering it, but let the right thing be done.” The prosecution maintained that information technology experts should be the proper authority to present the device after verifying its authenticity and contents.
In response, Teddy Koroma countered that the prosecution was missing the point. He noted that the court had previously ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to release the phone by May 6, and it had remained in defense custody since.
Koroma argued that the defendant was merely identifying the physical device, not its digital contents. “There is no injustice that will be occasioned if the phone is tendered to form part of the records of the defense,” Koroma averred.
Justice Ganda sustained the prosecution’s objection. He ruled that the defendant lacked the authority to tender the device, aligning with his earlier directives.
Following the blow, the defense requested to interpose the witness a move the prosecution fiercely resisted on the grounds that it lacked legal basis under the circumstances. Koroma argued that interposing the witness was a necessary “interim measure.”
Justice Ganda granted the defense’s application, allowing Kpaka to step outside temporarily. The defense then called its second witness, Emmanuel Hindolo Simbo, an IT officer for the Judiciary of Sierra Leone.
After a 30-minute court stand-down, Simbo took the witness stand, and the accused was escorted out of the courtroom. Prosecutor Sesay swiftly objected to the continuation of the session.
He stated that capital offenses, such as a murder trial, cannot legally proceed in the absence of the accused.
Confronted with the procedural impasse, Justice Ganda adjourned the matter to Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
