By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone’s ruling party controlled-parliament wasted no time on Friday to swear-in nine new MPs following a landmark High Court ruling that stripped the main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) of the seats.
All nine new Members belong to the governing Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), which had petitioned the APC MPs over procedural matters leading to their elections in the March 2018 polls.
The new MPs took their oath at a ceremony presided over by the Clerk of Parliament, Umar Paran Tarawally, in the presence of Speaker of Parliament, Dr Abass Bundu, according to a statement from the House.
The SLPP back in June 2018 filed the petition against 16 APC MPs whose elections were questioned for issues ranging from violation of electoral laws concerning public servants and involvement in electoral violence.
Two High Court judges presided over two separate cases and on Friday they both handed down their ruling. Ten of the MPs lost their seats. The 10th seat was declared vacant and a by-election ordered by the judge.
Notable losers include the young lawyer, Osman Timbo of Constituency 130, he was fingered for receiving salary from the Consolidated Fund against a constitutional provision that requires civil servants to resign one year before elections. The others are: Hariyatu Bangura, a former ACC employee who served Constituency 116, Kemoko Conteh of Constituency 108, Momoh Kamara of Constituency 120, John Satti Kargbo of Constituency 111, Ahmed Mansaray of Constituency 121, Abu Bakarr Sillah of Constituency 128, Sirajin Rollings Kamara of Constituency 127, Mohamed Sheriff Carew of Constituency 122, and Kadijatu Davies of Constituency 110.
The new MPs are: Horace E. Vincent, Allieu Ibrahim Kamara, Ahmed Joseph Kanu, Tennyson Hindolo Sandy, Abdul Sulaiman Marray-Conteh, John Telson Koroma, Benjamin Turay, Emmanuel S. Gbekie, and Abdul M. Lansana.
Friday’s swearing-in seals the SLPP’s majority in the House with 58 seats against APC’s 57 seats. This was proclaimed by Speaker Bundu during the ceremony.
The opposition NGC has four seats and C4C eight seats, with three Independent seats.
Earlier, the vicinity of the APC headquarters was transformed into a war zone as opposition supporters engaged in a running battle with the police following the court rulings.
Several party leaders, including National Secretary General, Osman Foday Yanssaneh, were trapped in the compound while the police arrested their supporters outside. Dozens of supporters, including top leaders of the party, among them Mohamed Bangura, who is one of the MPs who lost their seats, were detained, according to sources.
The police, who fired teargas to disperse the opposition supporters, declined to confirm the number of arrests.
At the Police Criminal Investigation Department, a Politico reporter counted about two dozen detainees, among them women in visibly bad shape.
Video footages shared on social media also showed many people with injuries.
The APC condemned the actions of the police. Mr Yanssaneh, who spoke to Politico, also questioned the legality of the swearing in of the new MPs.
“We are saying we have petitioned 32 SLPP MPs. As I speak to you now, alternate Members of Parliament to APC members who have served for more than one year are being sworn in by this same Speaker who did not get the requisite support to become the speaker of parliament,” he told Politico.
© 2019 Politico Online
