Mohamed Kamara: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 29 June 2023:
Those who want the APC to go to Court have not put forth any good and convincing reasons. Many APC members simply believe that going to court is an opportunity for the “want-to-be-seen actors and lawyers” to showcase their elegance in legal rhetoric.
This is so because they themselves (pro-court advocates) do know the outcome of going to the courts on such a matter and at this time too. Even the lamest know that when such political matters go to court, the outcome is always negative for the APC, whiles favouring the SLPP and Bio.
The APC already has enough evidence of what the outcome of the Court will be. It is now a public knowledge that the APC going to court is more beneficial to the SLPP and Bio. And this matter makes no difference, the court will only legitimize the ECSL decision and by extension it will legalize and legitimize the action of SLPP and the Bio as the approved government.
It must be noted that even though Bio has been sworn in, he hasn’t got the approval of the victorious APC. He so desperately that his advisers have forged congratulatory messages, pretending to be from the APC Party leadership.
The SLPP and Bio are now working on getting the APC to go to court to gain legitimacy. Maybe an apt way to put it to those wanting to go to court is that, ‘this is a Political Matter, and not a Legal Matter’.
It behoves the APC to apply political strategies and tactics and not legal action. This matter is not about showcasing one’s legal prowess and elegance in rhetoric and legal jargons. THIS IS ABOUT PUTTING A FINALITY TO POLITICAL ABUSES AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND TO GIVE BACK VALUES TO THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE. To make it happen, political strategies and tactics are key.
The APC has to take a political stance and fight for its beliefs and vow to protect the votes of Sierra Leoneans. It must be noted that Legal Matters are different from Political Matters. I repeat: THIS MATTER IS A POLITICAL MATTER AND NOT A LEGAL MATTER.
The approach for a legal matter is done legally in court, and that of a POLITICAL MATTER SHOULD BE DONE POLITICALLY. Political matters require political action. But once we go to court, the Court’s decision will then be binding on the APC and that automatically means that the APC petition/complaint has legitimised the SLPP and a President Bio.
The argument that going to court will beef up records of irregularities against the ECSL and the SLPP Bio government is lazy, weak and lame at its best. We already have a plethora of records (references and precedents) against them on many fronts covering election irregularities.
The fact that there are enough legal records of irregularities that can be attributed to both the ECSL and the SLPP Bio Government, it is but prudent to apply political action and put pressure on them now that the rest of the world understands the APC’s concerns.
It was a legal action that was used to remove 10 or so of the APC MPs out of Parliament. It was a legal action that was used to legitimize the Proportional Representation System (even the Constitution mandatorily expressly state that such system is only applicable to Political Parties to contest).
On a very similar case, it took the court almost three years to give judgement. And because it was in court it was ‘subjudice’ to comment on the matter in public all through those three years. So why go for such a tedious, unnecessary and restraining process?
In all honesty, there is now a serious growing common concern about those wanting the APC to go to court. Generally, people are now concerned about whether those advocating for the APC going to court are just mere stooges of the SLPP/Bio, or whether they are being consciously or unknowingly used by the SLPP and Bio to legitimise Bio in power; or whether the they are simply “Want-to-be-seen” lawyers that want to use this matter to showcase themselves in the guise of keeping records for posterity and be seen as those that took up the matter to court.
THE APC SHOULD NOT GO TO COURT TO CHALLENGE THIS ECSL RESULTS. ECSL-KONNEH TOOK A POLITICAL DECISION TO IMPOSE BIO ON SIERRA LEONEANS AND THE APC SHOULD ALSO TAKE A POLITICAL DECISION BY NOT PARTICIPATING.
The era of a ONE PARTY STATE in Africa is over and this will have dire consequences on the SLPP and Bio, and by extension its imposed government. APC must be resolute with its political decision, and keep detractors at bay.
Once the APC decides on its political action, its leadership and membership should frown at any form of sellout from within to participate in this ECSL imposition of Bio on the people of Sierra Leone.
Mr Kamara, I find the logic of your preferred solution to the daylight electoral robbery perpetrated by Bio and the Paopa regime somewhat problematic. Failure to contest the validity and legitimacy in the courts of the deliberately skewed presidential election results will automatically and indeed paradoxically lend legitimacy to Bio’s illegitimate claim to victory. Perhaps, more importantly, what does ‘political action’ mean in this case? What shape will it take, and how quickly will it bring about the much-justified redress that Mr Samura Kamara and his party are seeking? Do the ‘political strategies and tactics’ you envisage include ceaseless countrywide protests/demonstrations/strikes by the APC and its army of supporters, culminating in bringing the country to a standstill? Will such strategies and tactics not lead to more killings by the ever trigger-happy security forces? Are these forces not only too ready to do Bio and his Paopa regime’s bidding at all times?
I think Mr Samura Kamara and his party find themselves in a catch-22 situation. They are damned if they seek redress in the courts – a judicial system that, over the years, has worked hand in glove with Bio and his regime. However, they are damned too if they resort to political action – a recipe for a bloody confrontation with a murderous regime and possibly for another civil war. Heaven forbid that a second civil war should break out just two short decades after the first one ended.
I personally believe that APC party members are now suffering from “ Legal fatigue disorder”, Since 2018 , they have been in and out of court, and Samura Kamara need to save his energy for the upcoming trial next month for the New York Chancery building. They waisted their time and energy whilst in governance as shown in the below link, and they are about to do the same in opposition, which can be best described as INSANITY:https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/sierra-leone-electoral-commissioner-dragged-to-the-high-court/
Mr. Mohamed Kamara,
Interesting article. You argue that the All People’s Congress (APC) should not pursue a case against the Electoral Commissioner of Sierra Leone in the supreme court relative to the declaration of President Bio as winner of the just concluded presidential elections. According to you, such an effort legitimizes the ECSL’s results. But is a court case necessary for the ECSL’s results to be legitimized? Once a president is sworn in by the chief justice of the supreme court, the results of the elections and the presidency are immediately legitimized.
When a president is sworn in by the country’s chief justice, he commits to upholding the constitution while the people commit to accepting the leadership of the president. And swearing in a president on the same day that the presidential results are announced is not unprecedented in our history. President Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in on the same day that the presidential election results were announced in 2012 and so was President Julius Maada Bio in 2018.