Letter To The Editor

I hereby present my response to the keynote address delivered by Hon. Justice A. O. Conteh, former, 1^st Vice President, Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone and Chief Justice of Belize and currently, Justice of Appeals in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and Cayman Islands, at the Reunion of the Old Kolenten Students Association (OKSA), at the Radisson Hotel Maryland, USA on 5^th July 2013.

My compliments to the Honorable Justice for his observations and comments on the state of political affairs and the National Constitution. I will focus only on the constitutional comments in my response. He pointed out that “The current national Constitution is itself the product of historical necessity. It marked the first time when, after a nation-wide consultation and a national referendum, the people of Sierra Leone for the first time, voted themselves a national instrument that is supposed to delineate the powers, functions and role the various organs and institution for the governance of the country”.

A point of corrigenda is in order. In my humble opinion, I must state that there were three constitutional issues and concerns that were omitted during the Nation wide consultation and National referendum that led to the1991 constitution and here again in the address given by his Hon. Justice Conteh. This time, I’m assuming it’s an omission without malice.

Therefore, I feel obligated, a duty, that I owe to myself and the people of Sierra Leone to bring these constitutional issues to our collective consciousness, that we may never again forget about them in any and all National deliberations for constitution reform.

Namely: * First and foremost, our ‘Land Tenure Law’, Cap 122 of the constitution, which creates a massive bottle neck in economic transaction, as well as an unparalleled discriminatory consequences among all Sierra Leoneans.

* The second, Gender inequality. A woman’s right to contest and run for public office. A good case and point as was recently demonstrated in Kono District, where a female candidate was disqualified because of her gender due to local traditions, customs and practices.

* Thirdly, our patriarchal requirement of Sierra Leonean Citizenship. If former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, President Barack Obama of the United States, were Sierra Leoneans they would not have been qualified to run for the office of the President of Sierra Leone.

These three issues are embed ed in the constitution and the “Political Class” as is identified by the Hon. Justice, have failed to address them fifty years after independence. Since the Hon. Justice has opened the door for constitutional debate, I urge all well meaning Sierra Leoneans to include these issues in any and all attempt to reform the constitution.

“As an unrepentant constitutionalist”, to earn this distinction it must be your duty to bring these issues to the mindset and consciousness of every Sierra Leonean at every opportunity at your disposal. Fifty years after independence, during which time Sierra Leoneans were supposed to have chart their own destiny, the “ ‘political class’ which recruited the political elites that have, for most of the period since independence governed the country”, as identified by Hon. Justice Conteh, lacked the courage to show leadership in addressing these issues. Now is the time to come from behind the curtain and bring them on stage for open discussion and debate in preparation for constitutional reform, for prosperity for all.

As you stated, “the jewel in the crown of our constitution is tucked away in sub-section (15) of of section 171 of the constitution. This proclaims as follows: (15) This constitution shall be the law of Sierra Leone and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void and of no effect.” Thus, it is reasonable to say, the three constitutional issues mentioned above are inconsistent and discriminatory at best within the constitution itself and must be addressed by repeal, amendment or any other procedure deemed fit to reform the constitution under these circumstances.

In concluding, I must point out that the entire constitution need not be rewritten, since it’s rooted in the Magna Carta (1215) and the Rule of Law, which servers as inspiration for other instruments of personal liberty and five centuries later served as inspiration to the United States constitution.

Walter E Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University reminds us that, “Political liberty thrives best where there’s a large measure of economic Liberty.” To wit, Personal liberty is important, but the best route to true independence and prosperity is reforms that create economic liberty.

Dr. Walcut B. Metzger, J.D.

Atlanta, Georgia USA

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