By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone’s main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), has called on the government to accept the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice’s ruling on the matter between former Vice President Sam Sumana and the government of Sierra Leone.
Speaking at a press conference held at the party’s headquarters on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown, SLPP’s Secretary-General, Barrister Umaru Napoleon Koroma, said in 2015 the elected Vice President was removed from office by President Koroma, but the case has been adjudicated by the Sierra Leone Supreme Court, which ruled that the removal was constitutional.
He said as a way of seeking further redress for the violation of his constitutional and human rights, Sam Sumana brought the case to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, which ruled that the decision of President Koroma to sack him was unconstitutional.
“We applaud the ECOWAS Court ruling of 27th November, 2017 which has declared the removal of the Vice President unconstitutional. The Office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice issued a statement in which he stated that “Nevertheless, upon receipt and review of the said judgment, government will be advised accordingly on the appropriate action” even though the government has earlier argued that the Court did not have competence and jurisdiction in the matter,” he said.
He said SLPP finds government’s pronouncement as arrogant and disrespectful to not only the citizenry of Sierra Leone, but to ECOWAS, which has always been in the forefront of sustaining our democracy and rule of law even in the most trying and turbulent times.
“This same government in 2008 honored a default judgment against Sierra Leone by the same ECOWAS Court in the matter involving businessman-Mohamed Wanza and a compensation of twenty-five million United States Dollars (US$25m) was given to the latter. SLPP calls on the Attorney-General, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, to immediately resign because of gross disrespect and empty response to the ECOWAS Court ruling,” he made the party’s position very clear to the press.
Presidential candidate of SLPP, Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio, said President Koroma’s decision to sack Sam Sumana was wrong because it violates his fundamental human rights to fair hearing and to freely participate in the politics of the country, rights which are guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, the Protocol establishing the ECOWAS court and several other international conventions on human rights to all of which Sierra Leone is a signatory.
“The judgment of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone based on conviction that respect for the rule of law as interpreted by Superior Courts is always paramount, having overturned by the ruling of the ECOWAS Court, I want it to be known that I fully respect the ruling of the ECOWAS Court,” he said.
He recalled that the same ECOWAS Court in the matters involving the government of President Koroma and the ECOWAS Regional Court, namely the Wansa and Tayyib Bah cases, ruled that the government pays US$25 million for a non-existent gun-boat and the second the payment of damages amounting to US$250,000 and the latter adhered.
“Why had the government now said the ECOWAS Court lacks competence and jurisdiction in this matter having respected the two earlier rulings,” he asked.
He said he would not hesitate to implore President Koroma’s government to swiftly and diligently accept and honour the ruling of the ECOWAS Regional Court in respect of its wrongful removal from office as elected Vice President.
SLPP’s Chairman and Leader, Dr. Prince Harding, said SLPP is founded on the trademark of respect for human dignity and the rule of law, adding that the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) party has caused large fraction on the international scene especially in the area of disrespecting the rule of law.
“We are witnessing a very sad day in Sierra Leone after the government has stated that the ECOWAS Court lacks competence and jurisdiction in the matter of the sacked Vice President-Alhaji Sam Sumana. The country’s respectability is seriously at risk,” he said.
He cited that the judgment of the ECOWAS Court has gone in favour of Sam Sumana which means Sierra Leone now has two Vice Presidents.
He said if the APC did not abide to the ruling of the ECOWAS Court, it will be an embarrassment to the country.
