Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 January 2023:
Sierra Leone’s Supreme Court has today made a landmark ruling in favour of President Bio’s decision to change the country’s electoral system to proportional representation, less than five months before presidential and general elections are held on the 24th of June 2023.
Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards (Photo) in agreement with four other Justices, said that the directive of President Julius Maada Bio to the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) to hold the 2023 national elections for ordinary Members of Parliament by the Proportional Representation system instead of Constituencies is constitutional and lawful.
The case was brought by lawyers representing the opposition APC party – J.F.K and Partners on behalf of the first Plaintiff – Abdul Kargbo MP, and the second Plaintiff – Councillor Hakiratu Maxwell-Caulker against the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as first Defendant and the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone as the second Defendant respectively.
In their ruling, the Supreme Court Justices – Desmond Babatunde Edwards (presiding), Nicholas Brown-Marke, M. Deen Tarawally, Alusine Sesay and A.I. Sesay, dismissed all claims made by the Plaintiffs’ lawyers.
“An order restraining the 2nd Defendant, Electoral Commission, its agents, servants, privies or however called from taking steps aimed at conducting the June 2023 multitier public elections on the District Block Proportional Representation system is refused,” Chief Justice Edwards said in agreement with his colleague Justices.
Click on the link below to read the full Judgment:
SUPREME COURT RULING ON PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION – 26 JAN 2023
I personally believe that the decision made by the destructive APC party which was led and orchestrated by the former lifetime leader Earnest Koroma will go down in history as the biggest political gimmick in our country . The available best option of the APC agenda of “Maada Bio must go” failed miserably on August 10 and now they have tried to hoodwink our citizens and the international community that they believe in the rule of law. Dr. Abdulai O. Conteh who was the architect of the 1991 constitution under the one party APC dictatorship is aware of the enormous power of the president and was hoping to enjoy that power as the future president. Fortunately, the 1992 revolution made him the shortest serving Vice President in the history of our nation.
Even questioning the mandate of the Electoral commission is delusional. I hope and pray that he will finally take advantage of the democratic process of Proportional Representation system.
May God continue to bless Chief Justice Babatunde Edwards for restoring INTEGRITY and CREDIBILITY in our judicial system.