By Mustapha Sesay & Mustapha Kamara Jnr
The Secretary General of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party has described as “illegal” the expulsion of Ambassador Alie Bangura from its ranks.
Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie told Politico that the party never gave Bangura a chance to defend himself and there was no enquiry that found him guilty of indiscipline.
He said such an expulsion could only happen if the provisions of the constitution were followed which he said did not happen.
“As far as I’m concerned, Alie Bangura is still a member of the SLPP,” the party scribe bellowed.
The immediate past Chairman of the party and expressed contender for flag-bearer of the party at the next polls also vehemently opposed the expulsion.
“We consider Allie Bangura as an asset to the party because of his immense contributions and loyalty to the SLPP,” John Oponjo Benjamin told journalists at the China Friendship House in Freetown, adding: “He is going nowhere.”
Earlier, SLPP’s National Deputy Secretary General, Alie Badara Kamara told Politico at the party’s national headquarters that they had decided to expel Bangura because he was trying “to bring ridicule and disrepute to the party.”
He said their constitution provided for expulsion of such members.
The leader of the party, Sherbora Somanoh Kapen had also said that the former Ambassador to Ghana had been expelled on grounds of indiscipline.
At a press conference held at the party’s headquarters in Freetown on Thursday, Kapen said Bangura wanted to put the party into “disrepute”.
Alie Bangura served as minister of trade and industry and high commissioner to Ghana under the Tejan Kabbah administration.
In 2013 after losing the leadership contest to Kapen which he boycotted at the last minute at a delegates conference in Bo, Bangura filed an interlocutory injunction at the Supreme Court to prevent the party’s national executive from functioning.
According to Kapen and other members, since then the party had made several attempts to restore peace but that the former high commissioner had refused to budge.
The deputy chairman of the party, Dr Prince Harding also endorsed Bangura’s expulsion.
“We followed all procedures as a democratic political party to expel Alie Bangura from the SLPP,” he said at a news conference.
© Politico 05/05/15
