By Olusegun Ogundeji

US-based Houston Chronicle Wednesday reported that Roger Crooks, a purportedly ‘well-known businessman in Sierra Leone who mined diamonds and helped fleeing refugees during the country's bloody coup in 1997', has taken the government to court for ‘breach of contract.'

The lawsuit, prompted by government's apparent failure to reimburse him as earlier agreed for losses he incurred renovating Hotel Mammy Yoko which he owned before and after the coup, was reportedly filed in state district court in Houston .

The suit states that he leased the 212-room hotel from the then government in 1995 for $190,000 a year for 15 years with a 15-year renewal option.

Crooks said he spent $3.2 million refurbishing the six-story inn, which boasts of lush tree-shaded grounds, Internet service, a swimming pool, three elegant restaurants, three bars and a casino.

He said he paid another $2.3 million for renovations after fighters ransacked it during and after the 1997 coup.

Further, the suit states that the government seized the hotel in 1998 and deported Crooks. His deportation was rescinded and he regained control of the hotel in February 2000.

The suit also asked the government to pay Crooks for his helicopter, hovercraft and airplane that troops destroyed all valued at about $1.7 million. It also asks that he be compensated for housing the United Nations members at the hotel since 2002 at a rate of about $40,000 a month.

On why he filed the lawsuit in Houston , Crooks said his firm that oversees his businesses, West Africa Holdings Inc., is based in Houston .

Also, he said he was uncertain if the Sierra Leone judicial system is corrupt free.

According to the report, Crooks, who is presently recovering from gallbladder surgery, said he has tried to improve the lives of the Sierra Leoneans.

He said he has financed and built schools, clinics and roads in an impoverished nation that has struggled for political and economic stability since it gained independence from England in 1961.

Meanwhile, ministry of information and communication has distanced itself from the suit suggesting that the attorney general and minister of justice could be in the best position to acknowledge receipt of the lawsuit on behalf of government.

“We would have to talk to the government's attorney first before making any comments,” a senior official at the ministry said.

While the attorney could not be reached, efforts to confirm certain claims by Crooks regarding the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone proved futile.