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I first met Mary Kaingbanja in January 2018 at a friendโs wedding. Mary came in for a trial and ended up doing the makeup for the wedding day, even though she was not the makeup artist originally hired. I convinced my friend to give Mary a chance and she did an amazing job. During this meeting, Mary mentioned that she was studying law at FBC and often saw me lecturing on taxation and revenue law. She expressed her desire to be mentored by me and asked for my contact details, which I gladly gave her.
From that moment on, I was both her mentor and her substitute client. On July 22, 2021 at 20:10, Mary asked me to help her pay for law school. I agreed, and she successfully completed her final bar exam.
After graduating from law school, Mary joined Jabbi Associates as a trainee solicitor. I believe strongly in the empowerment of women and girls and would take Mary to international conferences at my expense, giving her the opportunity to gain valuable experience. Our trip included Rwanda, South Africa, Algeria and the United Kingdom, with all expenses and visa fees covered by me.
I gave Mary access to my personal space, my home, and everything I owned. That was the extent of my tolerance for her. On December 12, 2022, I told Mary that there was a supervisor position available in the NRA Internal Affairs Department and encouraged her to apply. She applied and was hired in early 2023. Soon after, I invited her to join my delegation to China for the Belt and Road Forum hosted by the Chinese President. There, she met with world leaders including President Putin, the Chinese President, the UN Secretary General, and the President of Brazil.
In December 2023, I was invited to attend the ECOSOC meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. I again included Mary in my delegation. The issuance of her US visa was delayed, so I stepped in to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to expedite the process. Despite the delays, Mary eventually joined the rest of the delegation and traveled to New York for the ECOSOC meeting. Apparently, I later learned that while I was facilitating her travel, Mary was busy trying to figure out how to stay in the United States and never return to Sierra Leone.
After arriving in the US, Maryโs attitude suddenly changed. On the first day of the conference, she had the audacity to tell me that the main purpose of her official visit was to visit her uncle in the US. I sternly reminded her that this was an official visit with a limited visa validity and advised her to return to the US later on a visit visa. Maryโs attitude towards me further deteriorated. In fact, she did not attend the scheduled main conference of the trip and on March 22, 2024, she suddenly left our accommodation at 4 am and later it was learned that she had gone to her uncleโs place. At first, we could not contact her. I said to myself, what if something happened to her? After failing to contact her, I reported her missing to the police first as the head of the delegation and then as the agency that issued her visa (NRA) to prevent any consequences.
Two days later, the police informed me that Mary was in Maryland. That evening, Mary left me a derogatory audio message threatening to โextraโ destroy my image because I disclosed to the police that she was missing in the United States. Mary remained in Maryland, abandoning me and the delegation. After I returned to Sierra Leone (and Mary still had not returned), I filed a complaint for insubordination under the Authorityโs terms and conditions of service. Mary was questioned by HR and all she could do was respond to the official inquiry through her lawyer, an unnecessary move for an internal inquiry. She maliciously and defamatoryly wrote statements about me and purposely leaked them on social media during my campaign for the Bar Associationโs presidency.
I reported the leak to the NRA Board of Directors as a violation of the oath of confidentiality and data protection policy. The Board referred the matter to the CID for investigation. During the investigation, Mary further distorted the facts by inciting my opponent in the Bar Association Presidential race with lies and malicious intent.
I want to end this brief narrative by stating clearly that I am responding to this because of my name and current position (Chairman of the NRA Board and President of the Bar Association). I realize that I must set the record straight primarily because the publisher pretended to contact me, but they never did.
In conclusion, I would like to say that all my efforts to provide opportunities and guidance to Mary were in vain. I was rewarded with ridicule, ingratitude and betrayal simply because she (Mary Kegbanja) failed to achieve her personal goal of staying in the United States after our official visit.
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