The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has expressed concern over the controversy and uncertainty surrounding Parliament’s consideration of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Bill, 2025, urging political parties and other stakeholders to exercise restraint while the matter proceeds through the appropriate legal process.
In a Press Release dated 12 August 2026 and signed by SLAJ Secretary General, Edward Farah Marrah, the Association welcomed the Speaker of Parliament’s decision to refer the relevant constitutional question to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
The parliamentary proceedings ended with Members of Parliament from the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) withdrawing from the Chamber before the Bill was put to a vote. Parliament subsequently announced that the proposed legislation had received the required number of votes to pass.
However, the outcome has generated widespread public debate, particularly over the interpretation and application of provisions in the 1991 Constitution relating to the voting threshold required for constitutional amendments.
SLAJ said that, as an organisation committed to democracy, constitutional governance and the rule of law, it supports the decision to seek the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the disputed constitutional question.
The Association urged political actors, state institutions and citizens to respect and abide by the Court’s eventual determination.
According to SLAJ, constitutional amendments of significant national importance should, as far as possible, attract broad public understanding, confidence and participation. It maintained that while political differences and disagreements are an essential feature of democratic governance, they must be managed through dialogue, lawful constitutional processes and respect for democratic institutions.
SLAJ therefore called on political parties and other stakeholders to refrain from actions or inflammatory rhetoric that could heighten political tensions or weaken public confidence in the country’s constitutional institutions.
The Association maintained that media houses across Sierra Leone provided extensive platforms for politicians, legal experts, political commentators and other stakeholders to debate, interrogate and scrutinize the proposed amendments.
It noted that engagements surrounding the process, including the dialogue held at Tokeh, had raised expectations that the constitutional reform process would promote broad-based consultation and produce an outcome capable of commanding public confidence and serving the country’s best interests.
SLAJ also commended media institutions and journalists for their extensive and sustained coverage of the parliamentary debates, proceedings and eventual vote. It said the coverage played an important role in keeping citizens informed throughout the process.
The Association described a free, independent and professional media as indispensable to the promotion of transparency, accountability and informed public participation in democratic governance.
It urged journalists and media houses to continue providing the public with accurate, balanced, fair and contextual information while the constitutional question proceeds through the relevant legal and democratic channels.
SLAJ further appealed to all political actors to place the national interest above partisan considerations and protect the peace, tolerance and national cohesion Sierra Leoneans have worked hard to build.
“Constitutional reform must ultimately be about more than winning or losing a political contest. It must strengthen the institutions, rights and democratic principles that every Sierra Leonean, regardless of political affiliation, will depend upon today and for generations to come,” SLAJ President Alhaji Manika Kamara said.
He added that Sierra Leone’s constitutional democracy belongs to all citizens and that every reform process must ultimately serve the interests of the people and the nation.
