By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Justice Adrian Fisher has ordered the main opposition party, All People’s Congress (APC) to pay a conditional fine of 50 million Leones if they fail to address the issue of ‘unresolved membership’ within the party in a fortnight.
The Judge handed down his ruling on the 1st of December this year after the plaintiff in the matter, Alfred Peter Conteh through his lawyer, filed an application for contempt against the second defendant, Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh and the third defendant, the APC Party.
The plaintiff, in his notice of motion, posits that there was a breach of certain orders that were handed down on the 19th of April and 9th of August 2021 rulings respectively.
Conteh through his counsel said that the court ordered that a 21-man committee of which the Chairman of the said committee must not occupy any executive position in the party but of which Honourable Sheku Badara Bashiru Dumbuya was made the chairman of the 21-man committee albeit him being a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC); an arm of the executive that runs the affairs of the party (3rd defendant)
The plaintiff also brought to the judge’s attention that elections were not held in all 132 constituencies before proceeding to the emergency national delegates conference where a draft constitution was adopted as ordered by the court.
Conteh, through his counsel, said elections were only conducted in 125 out of the 132 constituencies and that Yansaneh (2nd defendant) ‘neglected, failed or refused' to conduct elections in the said constituencies in Bo, Kono and Mambolo.
He also said that delegates from the seven constituencies were not elected but selected by Yansaneh even after the disenfranchised constituency members raised a ‘series of concerns’ to both Yansaneh and the APC party.
The plaintiff also filed an affidavit that both the Party and Yansaneh failed to address the issue of unresolved membership as ordered by the Court.
Counsel for the defendants also filed an affidavit in opposition to the one filed for contempt by Counsel for the plaintiff.
The defence counsels argued in their affidavit that it was NAC that nominated Honourable S.B.B Dumbuya to be Chairman of the 21-man committee and ‘not co-opted into the national executive’ of the party.
They also argued that the reason elections were not held in the seven constituencies was as a result of 'chaos and violence’ that necessitated the interruption of the police.
They further stated that the reason a rerun was not done was based on the decision of the 21-man committee in order for strict adherence in abiding by the timeline stipulated in the orders of the court.
Lawyer for the APC Party, Ady Macauley submitted that the issue of membership was not addressed at the emergency national delegates’ conference and elections were not held at seven of the constituencies because of violence.
Justice Fisher took notice of the fact that Counsel for the plaintiff made specific reference to the second defendant breaching the 9th August 2021 orders but failed to exhibit the said ruling in the plaintiff’s affidavit.
The judge notes that Lawyer Jengo agreed that he failed to exhibit the said 9th August ruling. Justice Fisher found it inappropriate for the court to go into its archives to check for orders that were issued during the course of proceeding ‘particularly where there is an expressed intention as communicated in the notice of motion as to which exhibits are relied upon'.
“The consequences of the infringement of the procedural rules about contempt proceedings may be just as serious as the consequences of breaches of the orders of the court,” Justice Fisher affirmed.
Justice Fisher, therefore, refused to consider the 9th August ruling against the second defendant, Yansaneh and reiterated that the only order to which he could have been held for contempt would have been a failure to pay a 5 million Leones ordered by the court for his absence at an earlier sitting of the matter.
The judge, in that regard, found the second defendant not guilty of contempt and discharged him from the proceedings.
The High Court Judge, on the other hand, found out that the third defendant (APC party) failed to address the issue of ‘unresolved membership’ which in turn constitutes a breach of Order 2 mandated by the court on the party.
The court also noted that the party flouted Order 5 which is a mandate for the party to conduct elections in all 132 constituencies.
In a similar vein, the judge noted that Jesse Jengo, counsel for the plaintiff said that the party had made ‘partial compliance’ with regards to the fulfilment of Orders 2 and 5
Justice Fisher, after submissions by counsel for all parties involved, ordered, the APC party to pay a 50 million Leones fine as a result of contempt of Order 2 if they fail to issue a public statement on how they are going to address the issue of unresolved membership in a fortnight.
Copyright © Politico Online 03/12/21
