DID THE DRAFTMEN OF THE SIERRA LEONE 1991 CONSTITUTION FORESEE THESE DILEMMAS 30 YEARS AHEAD OR WHERE THEY DRAFTING FOR THE MOMENT IN CONTEXT?
DIASPORAS WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP MAY BE DISQUALIFIED FROM CONTESTING THE 7th March 2018 GENERAL ELECTIONS AS SUCH DUAL CITIZENSHIP CONTRADICTS SECTION 76 (1) OF THE 1991 SIERRA LEONE CONSTITUTION.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE HAS BEEN FOUR (4) GENERAL ELECTIONS SINCE THE INCEPTION AND OPERATION OF THE 1991 CONSTITUTION IN WHICH SIERRA LEONEANS FROM THE DIASPORA HAD PARTICIPATED AND HAVE BEEN APPOINTED MINISTERS BY SLPP AND APC PARTIES RESPECTIVELY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CAUTIONS AGAINST THIS BREACH FOLLOWING THE INTERVENTION A FEW WEEKS AGO BY MR FRANCIS GABBIDON - A BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR, FORMER OMBUDSMAN AND LECTURER AT THE SCHOOL OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE.
Once again, we see an unforeseen mischief within the 1991 constitution drafted by our clever men and women in the Constitutional Review Committee headed by Dr Sir Peter Tucker 30 years hence! This is another omission/gaff in the 1991 constitution as was bitterly exposed in the Ex VP Sam Sumana saga which the Supreme Court gave final judgement sometime ago but still generating argument after the EOWAS debacle.
Strasser appointed Tejan Kabba to Review the constitution: after a much wasted money the draft was dumped. One major pin in the saga was the DUAL CITIZENSHIP ISSUE. I recall one Irish lady married to a Sierra Leonean. She was very concerned about her children who are half Irish and half Sierra Leonean. That provision by dint of its non-application has become redundant as MPs and Ministers have been in the system since elections in 1996 and 2002, which the SLPP ’won’! and ruled up to 2007. The place of the diaspora is important for a the country. This provision was an oversight by our clever constitutional drafters again trying to copy cat (falamakata) laws that are not fit for our own country’s purposes. The new Parliament must repeal this confused non-beneficial provision!
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I have always proclaimed that there in nothing like ‘a bad law’! The Law is the Law and it remains so until it is repealed or amended. This provision is another facet of our copy- cat mentality in Sierra Leone. Our constitutional draftsmen sitting in the Constitutional Review Committee headed by Sir zoster Tucker in 1990/1 supported by the likes of other cleaver legally eminent men (and women) who drafted, discussed and pushed the 1991 Constitution to be rubber stamped by Parliament did not foresee this mischief their copying (and pasting) of other jurisdiction’s provisions will result in. New Zealand and Australia have these provisions and being Commonwealth countries, our lawyers most of the time take cognisance of their Case laws, statutes and other legal provisions. The whole thing becomes more confused, in recent times since the late 1960s/early 1970s when our new lawyers do not rely only on British Legal Training. A very well known politician who himself is a constitutional lawyer obtained his Bar in Australia after gaining his first level law degree in Cambridge and has been before selfishly getting himself into Sierra Leone Politics and now messed up, took part in several world wide constitutional issues. The combination of all this learning, and our propensity to COPY-CAT (‘FALAMAKATA’), puts us in all sorts of trouble. The same level of confusion created by this copy-cat mentality brought about the Sam Sumana debacle where the Executive President’s hand was tied behind his back and had to embark on an escapologist gamble to sack his recalsitrant Vice President who can no longer be a ‘Team Player’ but an embarrassment and an albatrust. The Judges Of the Supreme Court had to strain themselves to reach a controversial and difficult decision which has now been muddled up by the Regional ECOWAS COURT who should not have entertain any line of reference to that case at all shot of threading on the toes of our soverignity and a our Supreme Court’s and our Constitution’s superiority and provisions.
Captain Valentine Strasser tried to interfere with this same case of Dual Nationality when he appointed Tejan Kabba as Chairman Of his Constitutional Review Committee. After having committed treason with MAADA Bio Capt S A J Musa, Nuyma and others, and suspended the President Joseph Saidu Momoh’s 1991 constitution which was already in force ushering new parties to our new democracy and back to multi- partyism, they wasted a lot of money in this futile venture only to DUMP the draft of the New Constitution into the ‘gutter’. One of the bone of contentions , I fully recall, was this DUAL CITIZENSHIP issue. One Irish lady (can’t recall the name now) took them to task as she was married to a Sierra Leonean. Her arguments were for the sake of her children who had duality Of citizenship - IRISH AND SIERRA LEONE! And much more. But thank God all went ‘hay while’ and after many months of no White Paper coming out the whole thing was DUMPED and Tejan Kabba hang to dry up with the failed process!
If our learned Cambridge Jurist luminary, Hon Justice Dr Abdul Conteh had had DUAL nationality in 1992 when those little SOJA Boys overthrew the APC Government (being a one time Foreign Minister (and I think Vice President), he would not have suffered the humiliation he did undergo when he escaped by fisherman canoe, through bush road, through to Belgium and finally to England. Trusting that he had a house in London and the then Conservative lady Overseas Minister (who was so, much unhelpful to the Sierra Leone crisis unlike the much more high profile Labour Secretary Of State Clare Short)was his ‘contemporary’ and so called ‘friend’ he will be given asylum with little difficulty. BIG NO! Dr Conteh was askad to leave under the threat of deportation! Belgium was considered his first port of call for asylum basis nevertheless he had a house in England and no house in Belgium. The case took several months in the UK Courts but had to fight hard outside to and from Belgium. The point I am making here is that diasporaians take DUAL Citizenry for future protection in the country in which they live (provided they are qualified) to avoid unforeseen situations like that of Dr Abdulai Conteh who for the past almost 20 years now serve British Carribean Territories as Chief Justice etc. THE LAW IS THE LAW NO MATTER WHAT YOUR STATUS IS! The law must be obeyed and enforced no matter what embarrassment it may bring to the government of the day! Yes, this disqualification May embarrass and inconvenient the APC (and ALL political participants in this election. This sort or quagmire ignites the adage”...THE LAW IS AN ASS”! SO, The NEW PARLIAMENT POST 7th MARCH 2018, MUST QUICKLY PASS AMEMDED LEGISLATION to remove this mischief which our Able Artorney General has now earmarked - (thanks to my very good friend and brother Francis Gabbidon. Mama Oni will be proud of you for bringing out such rectification and hope our cleaver men and women will follow suit in situations where necessary without fear or favour. The only thin line of reprieve for our dual citizenship aspirants (who may be deprived from contesting the elections) is that they could test the varasity of this ‘unfair’ provision through the discrimination vs Equality Rules with a HUMAN RIGHTS’LAW face, and let the judiciary - The SUPREME COURT- have a game of JUDICIAL REVIEW of the Attorney General’s stance being that since the constitution became effective, there has been at least four (4) General elections in which diasporas with DUAL CITIZENSHIPS have participated, Ministers appointed without much ado. Effectively, those provisions are “REDUNDANT” and by action in the electoral processes by ALL political parties, nullified and practically dead. BUT IT MAY BE ARGUED THAT “THE LAW IS THE LAW”! as there is nothing like “A BAD LAW”. Since it is in the Statute Books until repealed or amended it is ‘good law’. YOU EITHER OBEY THE LAW OR BE SANCTIONED BY THE AUTHORITIES (OR EVEN BY YOUR OWN PEERS)! LUNTA!!
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THIS DUAL CITIZENSHIP DISENFRANCHISEMENT DEBACLE IS A DILEMMA WHICH OUR 1991 CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFTSMEN DID NOT FORESEE OR EXPECT TO CAUSE NATIONAL UNFAIRNESS TO ALL POLITICAL PARTIES AND CITIZENS OF SIERRA LEONE.
WAS THIS THE REAL INTENTION OF SECTION 76(1) OF THE SIERRA LEONE (1991) CONSTITUTION? I PRAY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REFERENCE CASE NOW WITH THE CHIEF JUSTICE AT THE SUPEME COURT TO TEST THE VERACITY AND FAIRNESS OF THIS PROVISION.
Culled from Cocorioko News
Quote:
DIASPORAS WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP MAY BE DISQUALIFIED FROM CONTESTING THE 7th March 2018 GENERAL ELECTIONS AS SUCH DUAL CITIZENSHIP CONTRADICTS THE 1991 SIERRA LEONE CONSTITUTION.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE HAS BEEN FOUR (4) GENERAL ELECTIONS SINCE THE INCEPTION AND OPERATION OF THE 1991 CONSTITUTION IN WHICH SIERRA LEONEANS FROM THE DIASPORA HAD PARTICIPATED AND HAVE BEEN APPOINTED MINISTERS BY SLPP AND APC PARTIES RESPECTIVELY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CATIONS AGAINST THIS BREACH FOLLOWING THE INTERVENTION A FEW WEEKS AGO BY MR FRANCIS GARBIDDON - A BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR, FORMER OMBUDSMAN AND LECTURER AT THE SCHOOL OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE.
Once again, we see an unforeseen mischief within the 1991 constitution drafted by our clever men and women in the Constitutional Review Committee headed by Dr Sir Peter Tucker 30 years hence! This is another omission/gaff in the 1991 constitution as was bitterly exposed in the Ex VP Sam Sumana saga which the Supreme Court gave final judgement sometime ago but still generating argument after the EOWAS debacle.
Strasser appointed Tejan Kabba to Review the constitution: after a much wasted money the draft was dumped. One major pin in the saga was the DUAL CITIZENSHIP ISSUE. I recall one Irish lady married to a Sierra Leonean. She was very concerned about her children who are half Irish and half Sierra Leonean. That provision by dint of its non-application has become redundant as MPs and Ministers have been in the system since elections in 1996 and 2002, which the SLPP ’won’! and ruled up to 2007. The place of the diaspora is important for a the country. This provision was an oversight by our clever constitutional drafters again trying to copy cat (falamakata) laws that are not fit for our own country’s purposes. The new Parliament must repeal this confused non-beneficial provision!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
--------------------------------------------
THIS DUAL CITIZENSHIP DISENFRANCHISEMENT DEBACLE IS A DILEMMA WHICH OUR 1991 CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFTSMEN DID NOT FORESEE OR EXPECT TO CAUSE NATIONAL UNFAIRNESS TO ALL POLITICAL PARTIES AND CITIZENS OF SIERRA LEONE.
WAS THIS THE REAL INTENTION OF SECTION 76(1) OF THE SIERRA LEONE (1991) CONSTITUTION? I PRAY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REFERENCE CASE NOW WITH THE CHIEF JUSTICE AT THE SUPEME COURT TO TEST THE VERACITY AND FAIRNESS OF THIS PROVISION.
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Culled from Cocorioko News
Quote:
Ambassador to the UN predicts robust action by incoming Parliament to address dual citizenship issue
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the UN predicts robust action by incoming Parliament to address dual citizenship issue
January 12, 2018 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU
BY KABS KANU
The Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, Ambassador Adikalie Foday Sumah, has said that it is his belief that the new incoming Parliament will robustly deal with Section 76(1) of the Sierra Leone constitution with a view to resolving the issues it has created in the national polity.
Ambassador Sumah , who was responding to questions from the COCORIOKO Newspaper, which sought his opinion on the present situation where diasporans with dual citizenship were denied symbols to contest for parliamentary seats, described Section 76(1) as “a hot potato of national constitutional ingredient that has affected political parties across the broad spectrum of the nation” .
The UN Ambassador, a celebrated legal luminary , reader and commentator on the laws of the constitution, stated that “the dual citizenship issue should not be viewed with a monofocal bird’s eye view on the narrow perspectives of politics , designed to marginalize the diaspora. Rather, it should be seen as a legislative and judicial conundrum to be addressed “. He is calling on all supporters of the various parties to remain calm and law abiding and seek peaceful means to resolve it . He stressed that : “It is a constitutional and legal matter between the Legislature and the Judiciary. ”
Ambassador Sumah is of the conviction that the Legislative, as per Section 105 of the Sierra Leone Constitution , that is vested with the unfettered competence to legislate law of and for Sierra Leone , can amend any laws of its legislation; and the judiciary , in the stead of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, has exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and any other laws enacted by the Parliament of Sierra Leone , pursuant to Section 124 of the 1991 Constitution.
Ambassador Sumah emphasized the point that everybody is affected, as long as they are connected to the diaspora and it is for this reason that he is calling for Sierra Leoneans to collectively work together across party lines to circumvent the apparent disenfranchisement and marginalization of the diaspora, which is regarded as the sixth district of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Ambassador Sumah is therefore calling on all Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora to work together with their respective political parties to ensure that the constitutional and legal issues raised by Section 76 (1) is addressed during the incumbency of the incoming Parliament to make sure that diasporans are not disenfranchised.
Ambassador Sumah’s advice is designed to calm down rising passions and help Sierra Leoneans understand that this is not an APC political policy intended to marginalize the diaspora but a constitutional issue which must be addressed in a concerted manner devoid of passion to bring clarity and possible solutions to the situation.
Ambassador to the UN predicts robust action by incoming Parliament to address dual citizenship issue
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the UN predicts robust action by incoming Parliament to address dual citizenship issue
January 12, 2018 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU
BY KABS KANU
The Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, Ambassador Adikalie Foday Sumah, has said that it is his belief that the new incoming Parliament will robustly deal with Section 76(1) of the Sierra Leone constitution with a view to resolving the issues it has created in the national polity.
Ambassador Sumah , who was responding to questions from the COCORIOKO Newspaper, which sought his opinion on the present situation where diasporans with dual citizenship were denied symbols to contest for parliamentary seats, described Section 76(1) as “a hot potato of national constitutional ingredient that has affected political parties across the broad spectrum of the nation” .
The UN Ambassador, a celebrated legal luminary , reader and commentator on the laws of the constitution, stated that “the dual citizenship issue should not be viewed with a monofocal bird’s eye view on the narrow perspectives of politics , designed to marginalize the diaspora. Rather, it should be seen as a legislative and judicial conundrum to be addressed “. He is calling on all supporters of the various parties to remain calm and law abiding and seek peaceful means to resolve it . He stressed that : “It is a constitutional and legal matter between the Legislature and the Judiciary. ”
Ambassador Sumah is of the conviction that the Legislative, as per Section 105 of the Sierra Leone Constitution , that is vested with the unfettered competence to legislate law of and for Sierra Leone , can amend any laws of its legislation; and the judiciary , in the stead of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, has exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and any other laws enacted by the Parliament of Sierra Leone , pursuant to Section 124 of the 1991 Constitution.
Ambassador Sumah emphasized the point that everybody is affected, as long as they are connected to the diaspora and it is for this reason that he is calling for Sierra Leoneans to collectively work together across party lines to circumvent the apparent disenfranchisement and marginalization of the diaspora, which is regarded as the sixth district of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Ambassador Sumah is therefore calling on all Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora to work together with their respective political parties to ensure that the constitutional and legal issues raised by Section 76 (1) is addressed during the incumbency of the incoming Parliament to make sure that diasporans are not disenfranchised.
Ambassador Sumah’s advice is designed to calm down rising passions and help Sierra Leoneans understand that this is not an APC political policy intended to marginalize the diaspora but a constitutional issue which must be addressed in a concerted manner devoid of passion to bring clarity and possible solutions to the situation.
IT IS GETTING MORE AND MORE INTERESTING: Click Link.
Courtesy: Abdul Kabba:Facebook post: Cocorioko Forum
🇸🇱 *SIERRA LEONEANS WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP CAN BE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT*
A response to the flawed opinion of barrister-at-law Francis Gabbidon
“SIERRA LEONEANS WITH DUAL CITIZENSHIP CANNOT BE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT”
By Abdul Kabba, a citizen of Sierra Leone.
In a published and widely circulated article written by the aforesaid Barrister Francis Gabbidon, he opined that “Sierra Leoneans who hold DUAL CITIZENSHIP are not allowed to contest in the elections for MEMBERSHIP of Parliament; either as a candidate for a political party or as an independents candidate.” Citing Section 76(1) of the 1991 Constitution, Act no 6 of 1991 which states.
“no person shall be qualified for election as a member of Parliament (a) if he is a naturalized citizen of Sierra Leone or is a citizen of a country other than Sierra Leone having become such a citizen voluntarily or is under a Declaration of Allegiance to such a country."
Mr. Gabbidon then proceeded to site an example where the Australian High Court invalidated the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Barnaby George Election after it was discovered that he held dual citizenship as he was also a citizen of New Zealand by virtue of his dad been born in New Zealand.
Mr. Gabbidon further opined that “The High Court of Australia stated in the judgement to the petition.
“at the date of his nomination Mr. Joyce was incapable of being chosen or sitting as a member of the House of Representative because he was a citizen of New Zealand” said the Court.
Australia’s Constitution Bars dual citizens from sitting in Parliament defining them as “any person who is under any Acknowledgement of Allegiance, Obedience or Adherence to another country.”
Therefore
“Consequently, as Sierra Leoneans with dual citizenship cannot be elected members of parliament they cannot also be appointed Ministers of Government by the President.”
I beg to differ with the opinion of Mr. Gabbidon in the instance that the citizenship laws of Australia are fundamentally different that the citizenship laws of Sierra Leone especially in relation to the eligibility of dual citizens being eligible to be elected as members of parliament and to be appointed as ministers of government by the president of Sierra Leone. Furthermore Australia is the exception rather than the norm for nations with advanced democracies as Great Britain, France, Canada and the United States to name a few, do allow citizens with dual nationalities to run for public office with the most recent high profile example being Senator Ted Cruz, a citizen of Canada and of the United States, who is a long serving senator in the United States congress, a senior member of the Republican party and was also a presidential candidate vying for the Republican ticket in the most recent presidential elections in the United States.
While it is agreed that the 1991 constitution is the supreme law of the land and any law, act or amendment that contradicts the 1991 constitution is null and void it is in my opinion that the 2006 citizenship amendment that allows for dual citizenship does not contradict the 1991 constitution.
*In my estimation, Mr. Gabbidon’s opinion is flawed in two instances:*
1. First he failed to take into consideration that Section 76(1) of the 1991 constitution was looking backwards to the 1973 Citizens act which did not allow for dual citizenship and therefore when the 1973 act was amended it changed the import and relevance of Section 76(1) of the 1991 constitution which, I submit, at the time of it’s construction did not take into consideration the advent of dual citizenship.
*The relevant portion of Section 76(1) state:*
“76. (1) No person shall be qualified for election as a Member of Parliament—
a. if he is a naturalised citizen of Sierra Leone or is a citizen of a country other than Sierra Leone having become such a citizen voluntarily or is under a declaration of allegiance to such a country…”
*The relevant portions of the 1973 citizenship acts state:*
*PART II - CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH*
*2. Citizenship by birth*
Every person who, having been born in Sierra Leone before the nineteenth day of April, 1971, or who was resident in Sierra Leone on the eighteenth day of April, 1971, and not the subject of any other State shall, on the nineteenth day of April, 1971, be deemed to be a citizen of Sierra Leone by birth:
Provided that-
(a)his father or his grandfather was born in Sierra Leone; and
(b)he is a person of negro African descent;
*3. Citizenship by birth in Sierra Leone*
Every person born in Sierra Leone on or after the nineteenth day of April, 1971, in the circumstances set out in section 2, shall be deemed to be a citizen of Sierra Leone by birth.
*PART IV - DUAL CITIZENSHIP*
*10. Dual citizenship*
No person shall have Sierra Leone citizenship and any other citizenship at one and the same time.
*11. Loss of Sierra Leone citizenship by person of dual citizenship*
Any person who, upon attaining the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of Sierra Leone and also a citizen of another country shall cease to be a citizen of Sierra Leone upon his attaining the age of twenty-two years, (or in the case of a person of unsound mind, at such later date as may be prescribed) unless he has complied with paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 9.
*The relevant portions of the Sierra Leone Citizenship (Amendment Act) 2006 state:*
*Being an Act to amend the Sierra Leone Citizenship Act, 1973 so as to grant the right of dual citizenship..*
Section 10 of the principal Act is repealed and replaced by the following section:-
10. A citizen of Sierra Leone may hold a citizenship of another country in addition to his citizenship of Sierra Leone".
It is clear that the authors of the constitution did not take dual citizenship into consideration when inserting section 76(1) into the constitution as the section makes no reference to a situation in which a person can be a citizen of Sierra Leone and of another country as the 1973 citizenship act section 10 did not allow for dual citizenship.
I submit that Section 76 of the 1991 constitution is predicated on section 10 of the 1973 citizenship act which affirms that by becoming a citizen of another country you have automatically given up your citizenship and allegiance to Sierra Leone, which in a dual citizenship situation does not hold true as the person is still a citizen of Sierra Leone by birth and has only acquired citizenship in another country without given up his or her citizenship or allegiance to Sierra Leone.
2. Mr. Gabbidon also failed to take into consideration section 75 of the constitution which states that.
“75. Subject to the provisions of section 76, any person who—
a. *is a citizen of Sierra Leone (otherwise than by naturalization);* and
b. has attained the age of twenty-one years; and
c. is an elector whose name is on a register of electors under the Franchise and Electoral Registration Act, 1961, or under any Act of Parliament amending or replacing that Act; and
d. is able to speak and to read the English Language with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of Parliament,
shall be qualified for election as such a Member of Parliament”
I further submit to you that section 75 of the constitution settles the matter on whether or not a dual citizen is qualified for election and can be a member of parliament as it clearly states that if you are a citizen of Sierra Leone subject to the provisions of section 76 then you are qualified to be elected to parliament.
Section 76 does not nullify or void a Sierra Leonean’s dual citizenship status as guaranteed by the 2006 citizenship amendment act. This fact clearly manifests that section 76 was predicated on section 10 of the 1973 citizenship act that did not allow for dual citizenship and since the 2006 amendment has nullified section 10 and now allows for dual citizenship then a Sierra Leonean citizen by birth who has not given up their citizenship voluntarily is qualified to be elected to parliament.
Therefore, I submit that Mr. Gabbidon’s summation or opinion that a dual citizen cannot be elected to parliament is flawed and incorrect and that Sierra Leone like most of the advanced democracies in the world like Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada and France now allows dual citizens to run for parliament or her equivalent, as provided for in our 1991 constitution and the subsequent 2006 citizenship amendment act.
© *Abdul Kabba (AK47)*
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See this argument about our constitution below.
{Courtesy: Rosetta B. Zizer-Springer> Post in: Sierra Leone Constitutional Review and Petition Forum}
11 MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THE CURRENT CONSTITUTIONAL MATTER AND BEFITTING ANSWERS
1. Was the former Vice President voted for?
Ans:
a) His name and face were not on the ballot paper
b) Only Ernest Bai Koroma's name, and the name and symbol of his party, the APC, were on the ballot paper, and it was the Name, Ernest Bai Koroma, APC that was announced as having won the elections. The former Vice President was only a beneficiary of that election that even law says is 'only regarded' as vice president because the person whose name was on the ballot had won the elections.
2. Can the President relieve the Vice President of his duty?
Ans:
a) If the VP loses one of the express and continuous requirements of section 41 of the 1991 Constitution the President as custodian of the Constitution can automatically enforce such provisions by relieving him of his duty.
b) If the President finds out that the VP or anybody is endangering the security of the state, he has the Supreme Executive Authority to relieve him of his duty. The Former Vice President sought to abandon his post as Vice President and Chairman of the very important Police Council by seeking asylum. That is what is called constructive resignation and threatens the security of the state by leaving an important security arm, the Police Council, without leadership.
3. Why would the President relieve the Vice President of his duty without going through Parliament?
Ans:
a) The Vice President lost an express continuous qualification requirement in sec 41 of the Constitution, that is, membership of a political party. The constitution (Section 51) gives parliament power to initiate removal of the Vice President in relation to two clear situations: gross misconduct of the VP in performance of his duties; and violation of the constitution. The former VP losing his membership of a party does not fall under any of these two ambits, but falls under the fact of the former VP losing his eligibility to hold office because he is no longer a member of a political party. Hence the president cannot go to parliament for this; he had to invoke his Supreme Executive Authority and the fact that he is guardian of the constitution to ensure that a person who has lost one of the continuous requirements for holding the office is removed
b) There is vacancy in the Office of the Vice President already by losing party membership and seeking asylum.
Routes to vacancy include:
i. Abandonment of office
ii. Resignation
iii. Death
iv. Loss of citizenship
v. Loss of party membership
vi. Seeking asylum etc.
vii. Removal by parliament and tribunal
4. Why does the President not wait for the expiration of the 30 days appeal period that the APC constitution provided for before relieving his Vice President of duty?
Ans:
a) He stands expelled. Even in a court of law, a ruling could be implemented before or during an appeal process. The former VP never asked for a stay of his expulsion from the party because he was appealing, he never asked for it.
b) He can still appeal and regain his membership without being VP
5. Does asylum amount to abdication of duty?
Ans:
a) Merely expressing an intention to seek asylum in another country amounts to constructive resignation. The former did not only express an intention, he made moves to do it by calling the American Ambassador and some other officials of foreign missions in the country
b) The President only granted him his wish.
6. Has the President acted unconstitutionally by relieving his Vice President of duty?
Ans:
a) The President merely enforced the provisions of the Constitution as its guardian
b) The VP was expelled from his party which automatically denies him the right to continue as Vice President.
7. Can you be a VP without being a member of a political party?
Ans:
a) The constitution does not make provision for persons who hold the office of President or Vice President to be without a political party. Even in relation to a member of parliament, the Constitution states that he/she should lose his/her seat in parliament if he/she loses membership of a political party whose symbol he/she used to become an MP
8. What is the meaning of Supreme Executive Authority?
Ans:
a) He is the highest person that can make obvious decisions regarding the constitution and the running of the state.
b) Absolute power in enforcing the constitution
c) He is the guardian of the constitution
9. Can the President appoint a VP
Ans:
a) Yes whenever the office of the Vice President is vacant (see sec 54(5) )
10. Can an Ambassador be a VP
Ans:
a) By statutory rules of interpretation known as the Ejus dem generis rule ambassadors fall within the exceptions in sec 171(4), relating to public servants. Ambassador Foh is therefore eligible for appointment into the office and he has been legally appointed
11. Can the public pass judgment on matters in the Supreme Court?
Ans:
a) Nobody has the right to weigh in or make conclusive statements on a matter that is before the Supreme Court, not even lawyers.
It can be swing anyway
Fellow Sierra Leoneans know me as someone who cannot be forced to say what she does not believe in. So my current circumstances should not dilute the strength of my message today. It is not made under duress but is done very freely to ensure I distance myself from certain nefarious activities, state my position on National Security and apologise to all those in and out of the Judiciary who have been offended by abusive words thrown at them by persons alleging to be my followers, admirers or supposedly claiming they were writing in defence of me. As a leader, I am choosing to apologise on behalf of my followers in order to show my distaste for such actions and to condemn those who are not my followers but are seeking to inflame situations.
