Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 February 2020:
Sierra Leone’s main opposition ALL People’s Congress Party (APC), has responded to the decision of the country’s Chief Justice to convene election petition hearings next Monday in the Appeals Court, involving ten of the opposition APC members of parliament whose seats were annulled by the High Court in May 2018, after winning the 2018 parliamentary election. (Photo above: Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice Edwards).
In a statement published yesterday, the National Secretary General of the APC – Dr Osman Yansaneh, challenges the jurisdiction and legitimacy of the Appeals Court to now adjudicate their High Court appeals, which according to the constitution should have been done at least four months of the appeal being filed by the APC.
It is now eight months since the appeals were filed by the APC party, and the disputed parliamentary seats have in the meantime been occupied by the ruling SLPP for almost two years now, without holding fresh elections for those disputed seats.
In its statement, the APC party said that it does not trust the judiciary to conduct fair hearing on this matter, and that having delayed and denied their members justice, the judiciary is guilty of human rights abuse.
The party says that it understands that one of the Judges who will be adjudicating on the election petition hearing next Monday, is a known member of the ruling SLPP party who contested the 2007 and 2012 parliamentary elections for the SLPP and lost to the opposition APC party.
This is the APC party’s statement published yesterday:
Thanks Mr. Abdul Rashid Thomas for your intervention and may God bless you.
What is fake news Young4na? Oh you don’t know that Justice Cham was once a parliamentary candidate for the APC. Unfortunately, it was during the days of proportional representation; and so he did not make the APC quota. Are you not aware that Justice Sengu Koroma’s twin brother Mr. Ismael Sengu Koroma was a strong APC member; and that from during the APC era of president Koroma he bagged the position of deputy Minister in the energy and internal security ministry.
Nope, nope, nope!! Ms. Conteh. I absolutely have no knowledge that former chief justice was once a politician vying for a parliamentary seat. For your information, up until 2010 when Justice charm was appointed as a high court judge, he was a civil servant under the NRA since 2003. According to elections laws, no civil servant can maintain his/her job while seeking a political office.
So, all of your wild claims pertaining to the mentioned judges and justices have no backing of evidence whatsoever Ms. Conteh. It appears your utterances are figment of your imagination, systematically concocted along the lines of biased political inclinations, with a dose of propaganda. Here is the wikipedia link for former Justice Charm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulai_Hamid_Charm
Ms. Conteh, I even forget to mention that Major Ishmeal Sengu Koroma was a staunch SLPP member until after 2012 elections. In fact, he was a flagbearer contestant along with president Bio for the 2012 elections. Major Koroma only cross-carpeted to the APC after being courted by the EBK regime. So please Ms. Conteh, stop the fake news peddling, get your facts right before venturing into this forum.
The great William Shakespeare once said; “All the world’s a stage,and all the men and women merely players.” Totally agree. Once upon a time in Sierra Leone the legendary APC were the main actors on the political stage, but today we have become spectators on the sidelines,being bullied,and pushed around having no option,but to watch the filthy tricks, pranks, ploys, and mind games the notorious, inept,SLPP are putting brazenly on display,on stage,for all to see. An interesting show it is, indeed!
A stage painted in green – New actors, and actresses: There are actors dressed as thieves hauling away huge sacks of rice,and there are actresses with suckling infants on their arms begging them to stop. And then on stage comes another weirdo,dressed in the attire of a Professor,carrying a briefcase,and an ECO Bank check for 1.5 million dollars in his hand. He is followed by men being dragged in shackles weeping,wailing,and pleading with him to take the money and release them from their chains.(lol)
Three minutes on stage, and they were gone. And then strangely,the green curtain was drawn;And when widely,it opened again,there was an actor,with a protruding pot belly,in military uniform brandishing a sharp, gleaming sword at men wearing long black gowns,and wigs,examining a scale which the statue of a blindfolded Lady Justice was holding in her hands. The scale was gold, and it had the inscription; “Law Is Blind To The Faults of SLPP In Sierra Leone” and then it continues again; “Uphold the Law,and a Good Portion,Pressed Down, Shaken, Measured, and Running Over Will Be Reserved For You “(lol)
Imagine that! (lol) A portion sifted,settled, and running over only comes from the hands of Almighty God,but these blasphemers,and idolaters now in power,are allegedly said to be going all out to achieve their goals,using their authority, positions,and truckloads of money,to influence,the mindsets,and opinions of our Judiciary,whenever their final decisions are being made,in matters of Law. These hearings are already over,folks,without having even started at all.
All the puppets that will be performing on center stage have all been hand picked by State House.And who has ever seen a dangling Puppet anywhere in Sierra Leone today,controlled by hands,rods,or strings, that was able to do anything on its own,without the Puppet Master in State House’s consent? Its all a Charade,full of masqueraders, parading, themselves as Judges.(lmao) Rising Sun Will Rise Again.
Oh. I feel sorry for Ms. Conteh for ignoring one of the core credentials of this glorious platform – credibility. However, I’ll forgive her this time. But, please make it a point of duty Ms. Conteh, to do some FACT checking and referencing the next time.
This glorious platform is being followed by thousands of people daily. So, the credibility of what way say here goes a long way. Thank you very much Ms. Conteh for your contribution on this glorious platform and may God bless Ms Aminata Conteh.
Please Forumites – can we stop the personal jibes and focus on the issues. Sierra Leone is faced with serious challenges – economic, social, environmental and political. So please lets stay focussed. Thank you ALL.
Another quasi judicial proceedings again. Will justice Komba Kamanda be part of these proceedings? I am totally in line with this all powerful press release by the all powerful Leadership of the APC party. It seems to me that, the APC Party is really moving these days with constant velocity and maximum acceleration in all fronts of the political arena in our country. I have no doubt in my mind that former President Ernest Bai Koroma is really in control of not only the APC party, but the unity of Sierra Leoneans as a whole.
All I would say to former President Ernest Bai Koroma and the APC leadership is this – be firm and decisive. Keep pushing and putting the political pressure on them till they do the right thing. In fact, they just have to do the right thing. The clock is ticking. They know that House is in sight. Again, have they started packing their suitcases? I hope they do. Talking to myself.
To my understanding of the press release, the APC wants to make sure, the right thing is done whilst the SLPP is trying to manoeuvre the process to their own benefit. One can really see who the real political trouble makers in our country now are. God bless the APC leadership and former President Ernest Bai Koroma. Amen and Amen.
Hahahaha. APC go kill me wit laf. Why would the APC not trust the judiciary of Sierra Leone? Was it not five years ago, in 2015, that this same judiciary ruled in favor of the APC against VP Samuel Samsumana who had been fired by president Ernest Obai Koroma, who at that time was labeled the Fountain of Honor?
What da hell is APC afraid of? Are we not the Athens of West Africa with the oldest western-styled university in sub-Sahara Africa, with a legal system that draws upon England’s Magna Carta? Moreover, don’t we have a legal system that is based on procedural fairness to all? These are the exact words that I heard from an APC friend of mine when I had raised concerns relative to the dispensation of justice in the Sam Sumana case in 2015.
I believe that APC stands every chance of winning its cases against SLPP in a court of law. But this lofty goal would only be achieved with trust in our institutions. For goodness sake we are a democracy with a judiciary that operates independently from the executive and legislative arms of government. And to raise concerns about the political affiliation of a judge is simply dumb because the judge’s political affiliation does not preclude him from exercising fairness in the dispensation of his duties. Wasn’t former chief justice, Abdulai Charm, affiliated with the APC?
APC’s foolishness on the national stage is nothing new. When the Commissions of Inquiry were established last year, APC called them a witch hunt and stated that its members would not cooperate with the commissions. For some strange reasons the party made a u-turn and started to cooperate. This is how responsible opposition parties operate in a democracy. Cooperate, cooperate and cooperate with issues of national import.
If the APC loses all its appeals, it will not mean that justice was not properly dispensed. It would simply mean that the party failed to prove its case. Most of the petitions launched against APC were for using violence to rig the 2018 elections. Is political violence not the modus operandi of the APC? Can the APC really win any elections without rigging? Bo leh APC go sidom sarful ya.
The current Chief Justice is not on record to belong to any political party. Unfortunately, his predecessor Justice Cham it is a well-known fact that he was and is a strong APCer who has been active in the politics of his APC party. The three supreme court justice are Manfred Sesay a known APCer. Sengu Koroma whose twin brother Ismael Sengu Koroma is a strong APCer. Ismael Sengu Koroma was deputy Minister of Energy and and later Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. Judge Sengu Koroma was appointed Appeal court judge by his brother’s government despite the fact that he was new to the bench since he was in corporate law from the inception.
So the only SLPP sympathetic Judge is the lady. But if it comes to a vote the APC judges would be two against a single lady.
My suspicion is that the APC evidence might be weak and they are therefore making the objection as a prelude to not accepting their failed bid before the judges.
Since when do we have judges and justices known to be declaring or participating in political parties openly Ms. Conteh? Exactly what evidence or proofs do you have to substantiate these wild allegations which are unfounded by all means necessary? To remind you, this forum is allergic to falsehoods and fake news peddling, so I advise you get your facts straight prior to posting.