10/03/2015
Update on Sierra Leone
Vice President Expulsion - Tonight, a source close
to vice president Sam Sumana told the Sierra
Leone Telegraph, that the expelled vice president
has been advised by lawyers to commence legal
proceedings against the ruling APC party, led by
president Koroma
But, with the vice president currently locked up at
home in a self-imposed Ebola quarantine after the
death of his bodyguard two weeks ago, it is not
certain how quickly an application for injunction
can be made to the courts.
Legal experts say that, an injunction could grant
the vice president a ‘stay of expulsion’ from the
party, while the efficacy of the allegations against
him are subjected to legal arguments in a court of
law.
The expulsion of the vice president has raised
several serious questions of impropriety by
president Koroma himself – who also act as
chairman of the party, and other key executive
members of the party’s inner circle.
A key issue in this saga is the harbouring of a
suspected or known criminal, who has allegedly
committed violent crimes in Kono. Does this not
make president Koroma himself complicit or
culpable to those violent crimes, which the vice
president is being accused of?
This question remains unanswered and must be
tested in a competent court of law. But in the
meantime, constitutional and legal experts have
been dissecting the reasons given by the ruling
party for the expulsion of the vice president.
This is what Counsel Alieu Iscandri – a Sierra
Leonean lawyer based in the USA, thinks about this
crisis, which quite conveniently for the government,
has overshadowed the worst human disaster to
have visited Sierra Leone – Ebola:
I have been following the recent events regarding
the expulsion of the seating vice president of sierra
Leone from the party and have come to the
conclusion that if anything there was a lack of due
process in all of this and the acts taken by the
Party violates even its own constitution.
Article eight of the 5th December 1995 constitution
of the APC party, addresses the discipline of
members of the party. Subsection 8.1.2 (iv) states
in pertinent parts as follows: “Every member shall
have the right to a fair hearing in all matters that
affect him with regards to discipline.”
The right to a fair hearing is what we lawyers call
Due Process. This includes the right to have your
side of the facts be heard by an impartial panel
and the right to be present.
In the event that someone subject to disciplinary
actions, due process and fairness demands that
they may request permission to proceed by
affidavits and declarations to have their side be
heard.
It is my understanding that Sam Sumana was not
present at the last meeting of the National
Advisory council of the APC and that his absence
was due to the fact that he was on a self imposed
quarantine on account of the fact that one of his
security detail had mysteriously contracted the
Ebola virus disease and died.
Thus his absence was an excusable absence. The
decisions taken against in him in his absence are
thus appealable to a higher court by a writ of
mandamus on the basis that said decisions were
without merit and lacked due process of the law.
If it seems that I am putting the cart before the
horse and addressing the decision rather than the
meat and potatoes of the case against Sam
Sumana, it is intentional.
The basis of the decision to expel the sitting vice
president of Sierra Leone from his political party
was based on the following:
1. That he Sam Sumana had lied about having
obtained a masters degree
2. That he Sam Sumana had lied about being a
Muslim
3. That he was responsible for acts of thuggery
against certain APC minister in his native Kono
4. That he had formed another political party.
Now, let us address these issues one after the
other, so that we can make some sense out of
them.
1. That he Sam Sumana had lied about having
obtained a masters degree
This accusation if true, reflects just as badly on the
APC as it does on Sam Sumana. One question that
comes to mind is whether or not the APC had
thoroughly vetted the VP candidate prior to the
2007 elections and why is it that it has come out
at the 11th hour and end of its second
administration to raise this as an issue.
The APC has had 7 going on 8 years to raise this
as an issue and its failure to do so suggest some
manipulation on its part and an evil intent to
replace him as is being suggested in social media
as the heir apparent by the powers that be.
Now, if it is in fact true that Sam Sumana
misrepresented his educational qualifications then
that is in and of itself an impeachable act and
Parliament must convene with immediate effect on
this matter.
And while parliament is at it we must expose any
and all persons who are misrepresenting their
educational qualifications and have the relevant
judicial entities review and verify these
misrepresentations.
There are people working for the government
presently with fake PhD’s and Masters Degrees
from non-existent universities and internet degree
pools. However I doubt that any of these will be
investigated if at all.
I understand that Karamoh Kabba – one of the
leading witnesses against the VP, is a former
staunch SLPP operative prior to the 2007 elections,
who later became a staunch PMDC member
immediately prior to the 2007 elections, and who
now I hear is a even more stauncher APC member,
has no college degree.
He may feel free to correct me if I am wrong on
this note and by this note I have no intention of
defaming him, but would like to have facts come
out, that will show that ours is a government of
liars, thieves, corrupt personalities and abject back
stabbers.
I would like to see his job resume and see what he
stated there as his educational qualifications, and
that goes for each and every one of the appointees
of President koroma – whether to those with
ministerial positions or governmental positions.
Given however the publicly reported rift between
the President and his second in command,
including the fact that they have not been on
speaking terms since about 2012, and the fact that
the VP has been the victim of personal attacks by
members of the President’s immediate team, with
seeming impunity and no recourse from the
president, one has a reason to question the
genuineness of the recent expulsion in light of all
these facts.
Was the recent expulsion of the VP an act to
maintain INTEGRITY within the party, or was it an
act in the continuum of acts to discredit his person
and eventually kick him out of a possible running
for the presidency of Sierra Leone?
2. That he Sam Sumana had lied about being a
Muslim
As a Muslim myself, I am aware that becoming one
is as simple as accepting Jesus Christ as one’s
lord and savior to become a Christian.
When one wants to convert to Islam, one needs
only repeat the SHAHADA which states
“ashaduanah la illla ah illah ashaduana
muhammadan rasullualllah”, which roughly
translates: “ I bear witness that there is one and
only one God and that Muhammad is his prophet.
That Sam Sumana had lied about being a Muslim
is what we boxing enthusiasts call a low blow.
To the best of my knowledge, being a Muslim or
Christian or an animist has never been a
requirement to enter into politics in our nation, and
what this charge has done is to inject the issue of
one’s faith into the vortex of our political
discourse. And it is utter rubbish.
As a matter of fact, I will spend no more time on it,
because it is as shallow a charge as probably the
person or persons, who ignorantly brought it up as
a charge against the VP.
What is clear from this specific charge, is that
there is a dearth of thinkers in the APC party, as it
is presently constituted, and that there are more
back stabbers and sycophants than there are
thinkers.
I have never seen a more ridiculous charge, which
by its nature, were the process legal natured,
would have been subject to an outright motion to
dismiss, which in all likelihood would have been
sustained.
3. That he was responsible for acts of thuggery
against certain APC minister in his native Kono
Now, this is a serious charge that could not be
sustained in the absence of a judicially conducted
evidentiary hearing, which would conclusively prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that the VP was
complicit in any acts of thuggery.
With regards to this matter also, there seems to be
a dearth of facts to support this. If there were, it
would have made a much more solid case against
the VP.
This case regarding this specific charge is built on
unreliable hearsay, and must also be dismissed in
totality.
Conclusion is that in the absence of a court
hearing – naming Sam Sumana as one of the
parties involved in the acts of thuggery, and
charges being proffered against him as a co-
conspirator to those acts of thuggery, this charge
is bogus and cannot be sustained.
4. That he had formed another political party
This is another ridiculous charge against the VP.
The law regarding the formation of political parties
in Sierra Leone is clear. The records at the PPRC
should indicate if Sam Sumana’s name is amongst
the names of those persons who have formed the
political party that is in question.
I cannot understand how a charge can be
sustained with as little verifiable proof as this one.
This is one of the records. These facts should be
verifiable from the political parties registration
commission’s records.
And in the absence of such verification, then this is
all bogus nonsense. The names of the people that
form any political party are a matter of PUBLIC
RECORD.
In the absence of a showing of that public record
that Sam Sumana was or is one of the signors to
the formation of a new political entity, then these
charges cannot be sustained.
If these records were available, then in a judicial
hearing they can be introduced over a hearsay
objection as a Business record exception, upon
proper foundational examination of the custodian
of records.
My opinion
I must state categorically that this piece is NOT in
support of Sam Sumana who, based on past
interactions, I have come to distrust. This piece is
in support of JUSTICE and the DUE PROCESS of
the law.
I believe that this is the second tabled attempt to
kick Sam Sumana off the party. The first one failed
woefully and for the reasons outlined in this piece,
must similarly fail for lack of due process.
It is my opinion that Sam Sumana is the target of
some people within the APC, the president not
excluded, who are intent to create a society of fear
and insist on abject control of the masses, through
unlawful manipulations of our governing rules to
wit the constitutions of the state and the party.
I believe that Sam Sumana should immediately file
a writ of superdeas or of mandamus with the
Supreme Court or a lower court of competent
jurisdiction; seek an injunction to preclude any
actions of the APC from being put into effect.
I believe that an injunction will maintain the status
quo and allow him time to file a brief on the
issues.
I believe that sections of the aforementioned APC
constitution is vague and ambiguous and more
specifically article 8 beginning with subsections
8.1.1 through 8.1.2 subsections I – through iii.
I believe that Article 8 subsection 8.1.2(j) is an
illegal clause since it precludes judicial review of
acts which may affect certain national
constitutional rights that an aggrieved may have.
In this article, I have refrained to touch on the
issue of whether or not Sam Sumana could remain
to be Vice President of Sierra Leone to avoid
confusion of the issues.
This article focuses ONLY on the decisions made
by the National Advisory Committee of the APC
party, a group that my own father is a member of,
and if at all my father was one of those who voted
to expel the VP, then I must say that in his 83
years on this earth, he has at least this once
showed a lack of understanding of the issues and
failed to show the sense of good judgment that he
taught me.
The introduction of religious politics into a Sierra
Leone that has apriori enjoyed freedom of religion,
is a dangerous wading into the waters of religious
strife, which if left to fester, will allow for
extremists to enter and take a foothold in our
society.
The defense of Justice in Sierra Leone and in the
All Peoples Congress Party, rests on these moving
submissions.
