SLPP Chairman/Leader responds to Lawyer Eke Halloway’s ‘Legal Opinion’
SIERRA LEONE PEOPLE’S PARTY NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 15 WALLACE JOHNSON STREET Eke A. Halloway Inner Chamber 2nd Floor, Spiritus House Howe Street FreetownJuly 21st 2011
Dear Lawyer Eke Halloway,
I am in receipt of your Legal Opinion dated 20th July 2011 but which I only received today 21st July 2011. I wish to first state, my disappointment at your refusal to attend the National Executive Meeting I called up to discuss the Delegates Conference and Voting Procedures only to send in a so-called Legal Opinion without participating in the discussions we jointly held on the matter. Let me now state, in writing, my abhorrence for some of your unsavoury tactics so far since you were elected as Legal Adviser. Your performance as Legal Adviser has been lacklustre and leaving much to be desired creating room for suspicion. Let me now place it down in writing that I am highly suspicious of your motives within the SLPP National Executive.
My personal suspicions of your motives first emanated from your connivance with Mr. Jacob Jusu Saffa to thwart the intentions of SLPP delegates at the Kenema 2009 Convention under the guise of ‘cut-and-paste’ computer glitches and ‘sanitisation’. It continued with your deliberate mal-handling of the Bankole Thompson Commission of Enquiry into the unfortunate victims of Rape at our party offices as well as your inability to prosecute the Rapists even after the victims had personally identified them to you as the Lead Counsel. Although you are a very senior legal practitioner in this country, you claimed to me that you were unable to execute an Arrest Warrant issued by the Judiciary! My suspicions grew with your serialised deceptions some of which you have perpetuated through public media outlets like newspapers with no regard for your subjection of this party to unwarranted public embarrassments. Now, we are forced to experience this current suspect move of yours, once again, in concert with Mr. J.J. Saffa.
In my opinion, your latest so-called legal opinion is nothing but a farcical piece with ill-motivation shrouded in totally irrelevant quotes from Sierra Leone’s National Constitution and the Electoral Laws Act of 2002 which are of no consequence to the so-called “issue” at hand but are being deliberately cited by you so as to blur the picture and confuse our members. A close look at your ‘legal opinion’ reminds me of the Shakespearean ‘full of sound and fury but signifying nothing’.
Contrary to your stated opinion, the internal elections of flagbearers and leaders of political parties in the world’s leading democracies are a far cry from what you refer to as “Best Practise”. I advise you for example, to take a look at the electoral voting procedure for the election of leaders of the political parties in the United Kingdom. Then, you can move over to the manner of voting for the presidential flagbearer of the USA’s political parties which are nothing similar to your ‘Best Practise’ of ballot papers cast into a Single Box. Such internal party elections are uniquely designed to fit the party’s internal dynamics. Please research into the procedure for the conduct of elections for the Labour Party of Great Britain. You will find a lot to educate yourself on!
Lawyer Halloway, we are not running a National Election but an internal Political Party Election for Leadership and Flagbearership. In the said circumstances, please allow me to quote from the recent Ruling of the Supreme Court as read out by the Honourable Chief Justice:
With the greatest respect, the Consent Judgment appears to contain extraneous matters which would not have been countenanced if the action had gone on to trial and judgement given… matters contained in the said declaration are matters for the internal consumption or information of party members, supporters and sympathisers and not for the Supreme Court. (emphasis mine)
The authors of the recent publicised threats from certain quarters that the party might suffer from another Supreme Court Injunction, should acquaint themselves of the contents of the aforementioned Supreme Court Ruling. Let me assure them through this Letter to you, their conniving cohort, that you can no longer intimidate members of the SLPP with bogus Legal Opinions and threats of Originating Motions to the Supreme Court for Constitutional interpretations. Those callous actions of your ilk will no longer inspire fear into the SLPP membership. They will be treated with the contempt they deserve.
I must here forewarn that any attempt to take the SLPP to Supreme Court for an Injunction on our Delegates Conference slated for next week, will result in the SLPP making a very robust application to the Supreme Court, for an Undertaking from the prosecuting litigant to pay a huge financial compensation to the party for wasting the party’s time if the case is lost. I assure you that this party is not as naive in the Law as it was on February 14th 2011 when your colleague Dr. Bu-Buakei Jabbi sued us in the Supreme Court. Be assured also that the party will NOT be magnanimous to waive off due costs as we did last Tuesday for Dr. Bu-Buakei Jabbi!
Let me reiterate that in my view, your Legal Opinion is a nuisance and a distraction borne of malicious intent. There is nothing in your stated Legal Opinion that covers the very grave concern of possible cheating and intimidation of the numerous illiterate delegates as well as the outcome of Void Votes; which two issues were the force behind the consideration by the honourable members of the Independent Electoral Board to use Multiple Boxes to eliminate such serious demerits of the Single Box voting system.
Void Votes constitute a very serious consideration in a tightly fought race where emotions run high. Imagine if the results of the flagbearer elections provide a difference of only a handful of votes between the two top aspirants and there is a significant number of Void Votes affecting the second placed aspirant (eg: Voters ticked out of this aspirant’s marked area into another contender’s thus automatically voiding the Vote) which Void Votes, if numerically added to this second-placed aspirant’s total will tip him above the pronounced winner. Can you imagine the fall-out? The avoidance of such potential fall-out, is the driving force behind the need for Multiple Boxes.
At this point, let me inform you and others of your kind, that I will not even dignify the allegation from certain quarters that our esteemed SLPP delegates will reduce themselves to hiding ballot papers in their clothing only to then sell such ballot papers to our honoured Flagbearer Aspirants which so far, is the only cited alleged demerit of using the Multiple Box method. I absolutely refuse to dignify such highly offensive allegations with a response or comment.
The Sierra Leone experience of voting with multiple boxes in National Elections was marred by malpractices that mostly occurred during the movements of boxes between Polling Stations and Counting Centers, as was recently cited as happening to the father of Easmon Ngakui Esq. Additionally, in those days, voters used marbles! Nowadays, we use ballot papers with validation. For this current case, we are speaking not of the use of marbles in national elections at various polling stations but of internal party elections at one location where voting and counting occur in the presence of all and with no movement of boxes. Infact, the Boxes will actually be welded into place behind the curtains thus making them immovable.
In my opinion, applying Scare Tactics by reminiscing of days when multiple boxes would be geographically moved and marbles poured from one box into another during such movement, is unfortunate and extremely inconsiderate.
Once again, let me very firmly state that I consider your so-called Legal Opinion to be nothing other than an attempt to continue to confuse this party more than you and your ilk have already done but this time, we will NOT be intimidated nor be confused by any deliberate unhealthy blurring of the issues with inconsequential and irrelevant quotes from the National Constitution. I cannot make myself clearer on this position.
Yours faithfully,
………………………………………………………
John Oponjo Benjamin. National Chairman & Leader Sierra Leone Peoples Party.CC: All National Executive Members CC: All MPs through the Leader of the Parliamentary Council CC: The Chairman of SLPP Electoral Board CC: All SLPP Flagbearer Aspirants
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.
