By Abu Shaw in London (29/01/2023)
Treason charges are hanging over the heads of the Supreme Court Judges, the Chief Justice, and others for violating the Sierra Leone Constitution.
What a disgrace to violate the Sierra Leone Constitution to satisfy the country’s tyrannical leader President Bio. The judiciary is a disgrace. Equally in the hot soup is President Julius Maada Bio who authorised the Proportional Representation system forced on the citizens for his own self-aggrandisement and electoral rigging agenda. The international community including the African Union AU and the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, the United Nations, UN, and the European Union EU, are alarmed at the passing of the controversial Proportional Representation PR system in Sierra Leone, just five months before the crucial general and presidential elections. They are presently pressurising President Bio. The illegal passing of the Proportional Representation PR system has not only violated the Sierra Leone Constitution but has also overtly undermined the ECOWAS electoral rules and regulations. (Photo: Supreme Court Judges disappointed Sierra Leoneans).
Like the Sierra Leone Constitution, ECOWAS electoral rules have stipulated in its electoral mandates that no member state has the right to amend or tamper with their respective Constitutions less than one year before general or presidential elections. Violators of the Constitution have to face the consequences. As for Sierra Leone under President Bio tampering with the Constitution barely five months before the elections is unforgivable. Those responsible for passing the illegal PR system which included the five Supreme Court Judges, the corrupt Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards, the biased SLPP Speaker of Parliament Dr Abass Bundu, the SLPP Members of Parliament, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone Mr Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, and others have all committed treasonous acts and would face trial in the not too distant future.
Leading the race to face treason trial is President Julius Maada Bio who had successfully used and misused all the corrupt judicial and electoral stakeholders including the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive, to achieve his selfish political ambition. The SLPP PR system became a contentious issue when the main opposition APC party openly criticised the untimely implementation of the PR system which means the abolition of Constituencies and Wards in the electoral process. It means the voters will no longer vote for their parliamentarians. Rather, it is the President or the party who will appoint candidates to vie for parliament. Despite taking the matter to the Supreme Court defended by APC lawyers Dr Abdulai Osman Conteh, Joseph F Kamara Esq, and Ady Macaulay Esq, the five Supreme Court Judges did the unthinkable by passing the PR System much to the disappointment of most Sierra Leoneans. (Photos: Corrupt Chief Justice Babatunde Edwards and Maada Bio).
The fist-fighting surrounding the PR system started at the Sierra Leone Parliament where the corrupt SLPP MPs sided with President Bio’s proclamation by endorsing the PR system which clearly violated the Constitution. Sierra Leoneans are clearly unhappy after the forceful implementation of the PR system on Friday, January 27, 2023, and have vowed to teach the Bio presidency sour lessons to come, June 24, 2023 elections. “We will vote the Bio cabal out of power,” angry citizens have promised. The latest information reaching the Organiser newspaper says the besieged President Bio is however contemplating reversing the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the adoption of the PR system because of the tremendous pressures from global partners who are not happy with the introduction of the PR system merely five months to the elections. Sources say President Bio wants to give the impression that he is democratic and a good guy who always protects the Constitution by reversing the unpopular PR system.
What a pretense. Citizens still remember a few months ago when ECOWAS parliamentarians from Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia warned the Bio government about the senselessness of the PR system for the June 24, 2023 elections. But the Bio presidency never listens to advice. Sierra Leone’s most vibrant social media activist Adebayor, real name William Kamara, based in Holland has also confirmed that international pressures have mobbed President Bio and have forced him to renegade on his PR agenda. It remains to be seen if the global pressures would work. Sources also say the first option previously planned by the SLPP government was to postpone the elections for six months during the Supreme Court hearing. But pressures forced President Bio to change his mind. Instead, the failed SLPP regime resorted to passing the PR system as a consolation. Lots of information regarding what transpired in the last few weeks within the SLPP makes for interesting reading. Most Sierra Leoneans believe the PR system is a win, win situation for the people. (Photos: Defence lawyer Dr Abdulai Conteh, left, and APC lawyers and hierarchy).
On Friday, the corrupt Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards ruled that President Bio’s proclamation to conduct the next elections under the Proportional Representation system was made within the law. In rare live national television and radio stations, the ruling of the PR system read out by the Chief Justice, it was clear that the Supreme Court Judges had decided to aid and abet the SLPP government. But the defence team for the APC had argued that it is untimely to conduct the PR system now because the conditions prevailing today are not conducive for the PR system unlike in the 90s when the country was inaccessible because of the bloody civil war. The defence lawyers said even though the PR system is in the Constitution, it does not warrant President Bio to proclaim it for the June 24 elections since the conditions for it are not prevalent. But in Sierra Leone today, President Bio gets what he wants by any means necessary.
As Sierra Leone has Constituencies and Wards boundaries, it is inconceivable to adopt the PR system into a District Block System which is a recipe for chaos and disenfranchisement of many voters. The five panels of Judges unanimously agreed with the state lawyers that with the controversial Mid-Term Census of 2021, those boundaries need to be withdrawn to be consistent with Sierra Leone’s new population. They said it cannot be done with the elections taking place in five months’ time. The defence lead lawyer Dr Abdulai Conteh noted: “My reaction is that it is a sad day for the rule of law in this country when the issues of the plaintive vindicated in court were so clear. And I hope, ably presented before the court but they thought otherwise. That’s their prerogative and discretion. I only wish there was another court to Reclus. It was not vindicated by the 53 odd pages that Lordship Chief Justice read out this morning.”
However, President Bio’s Minister of Justice Mohamed Lamin Tarawally told the BBC: “Yes, I have a positive reactive to it because this has been a long-drawn matter. It began when I piloted the Bill in parliament. For the ordinary people of this country, this ruling at least exonerates and vindicates the justice system, vindicates the government, particularly the President.” But the APC party and other opposition political parties are very sceptical of the electoral processes by the ECSL and other SLPP state institutions. “We are going all out to kick out President Bio come June 24, PR or no PR,” residents of Freetown have vowed.
