The long-running case against former APC National Secretary General Lansana Dumbuya has been given a clear deadline.
On Thursday, 10 September 2026, Principal Magistrate Mustapha Brima Jah at Pademba Road Court No. 1 told the defence they have one week to file their no-case submission.
Lead defence lawyer Africanus Sesay asked for the time and apologised because Dumbuya was absent from the previous sitting. State prosecutor Yusuf Isaac Sesay did not object, but he stressed that the case cannot keep dragging.
“There must be an end to litigation,” he told the court.
Magistrate Jah showed clear frustration with how long the matter has lasted.
“This matter has taken quite a long time in my court,” he said, adding that “justice delayed is justice denied.”
He warned that if the defence is not ready when the case returns on 17 September 2026, Dumbuya will have to decide whether to open his defence or the court will rule based on the evidence already before it.
Dumbuya faces three charges: incitement, using insulting language, and behaving in an insulting manner under the Public Order Act of 1965. The charges relate to a speech he gave on 31 January 2026 at the Brima Attouga Mini Stadium. Prosecutors say he encouraged supporters to call President Julius Maada Bio a “thief,” directed insulting words at ASP Francis Momodu Tommy, and led the crowd in chanting against the President.
The case has drawn public attention because of the political tensions surrounding it. Dumbuya’s lawyers maintain the charges are politically motivated and that their client is entitled to a fair trial without unnecessary delays.
