Over supreme court orders…SLPP falls apart
The current National Executive Council (NEC) of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), whose tenure of office expired six months ago, has gone ahead to schedule dates for the election of zonal, constituency, district, regional and national officers in contravention of the Supreme Court judgment on 15th December, 2015.
Amongst other orders, Order two of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone states: “The elections for National Officers of the SLPP are to be conducted by the National Executive Council of the Party; in lieu of the fact that the tenure of National Officers elected in August 2013 has expired.”
Interpretation on portions of the NEC composition is as follows based on the Supreme Court judgment: (i) current Members of Parliament (ii) old Members of Parliament; and (iii) four Elders of the party excluding National Executives (elected) whose tenure has expired.
Another directive from the Supreme Court was that normally the National Officers of the party are responsible for organizing all intra-party elections including officer elections. In lieu of this, the “order or process” is to have the National Officers transfer responsibility of all elections to the National Executive Council (NEC) that will prepare an independent Electoral Board to oversee the conduct of all intra-party elections. The court also ordered that NEC will have no authority to extend the tenure of any officer.
The former National Chairman and Leader of the SLPP, Mr. John Oponjo Benjamin, who is one of the flag-bearer aspirants, has warned that the party may end up in court again if it fails to handle directives contained in the Supreme Court ruling last year in the case brought against the elected National Officers of NEC by Ambassador Alie Issa Bangura.
The firebrand politician expressed concern over what he described as the indecent haste to conduct zonal and constituency elections, while he cautioned that any attempt to sacrifice fairness and transparency and skew the process in favour of one candidate would lead to fresh litigation.
Similarly, the Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella Movement (KKYM) has in no uncertain terms condemned the diabolic plan by some “factions” in the SLPP to conduct elections against directives of the Supreme Court.
The movement warned that any attempt to proceed with the diabolic plan outside the prescribed order of the Supreme Court will be met with massive resistance.
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