By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
President Julius Maada Bio has taken charge of the governing Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) as its Leader following the conclusion of a constitutional amendment process.
The new amendment will also see the Vice President of the country, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, take over as the Deputy Leader of the party.
A statement from the party, signed by Secretary General Umaru Napoleon Koroma, states thus: “In keeping with the changing dynamics of the democratic landscape of the world in general and Sierra Leone in particular, the Sierra Leone People’s Party saw a compelling need to amend its 1995 constitution, without any breach of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.”
The new party constitution is a culmination of more than a year long process with extensive consultations by the party’s supreme organ, National Executive Council (NEC).
The draft of the constitution was accepted by the party in a mini- delegate conference at the CATCO International Hotel in Freetown last December; after which it was cleared for submission to the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) for procedural ratification.
Following the publication of the constitution by the PPRC and further amendments by the SLPP, the document was finally approved on Wednesday 18th of August, 2020.
The new constitution diminishes the role of the Chairman and dilutes the influence of its holder on the party. This position is currently held by Dr Prince Harding. How diminished his responsibilities will be under this new constitution is however yet to be determined.
The new leadership format in the SLPP is also similar to what the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) created for the former President, Ernest Bai Koroma, when he was named as the Chairman and Leader, a position he still occupies two years after he has left the office of the Presidency.
This means both major parties have now shown a pattern of putting the Presidents in charge of their respective parties. The only difference is that SLPP has also thrown the Vice Presidency in to the main fray of party politics.
The new leadership structure now paves the way for President Bio to exert his influence on the party and possibly shape its vision and decide its long term direction.
The constitutional process has gone on so far without much publicity or controversy. Following the completion of the process last week, the SLPP said this latest move has raised the bar of the country’s democracy.
“In keeping in line with democratic and statutory regulations, the SLPP has clearly raised the bar for democratic plurality and practice in the national body politic. As the oldest surviving ruling party in West Africa, this latest exercise has set the pace for a proper and effective democratic practice in the Republic of Sierra Leone,” the party said in its statement.
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