By Foday Moriba Conteh
The action Prince Jacob Macauley, a renowned Economist, has decided to embark on, which entails placing an application to the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone for expunging Section 41(b) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, is being done for a reason of putting right what for too long, he quite believes, has been wrong.
Most Sierra Leoneans were never happy when the decision was taken to oust former VP Alhaji Sam Sumana after he was expelled by the All People’s Congress party, to which he was a member then, but at the end of the day the law is the law and the powers of the Constitution supersede all other laws.
If the constitution says that one of the qualifications, among others, to become either a President or Vice President is for one to be a member of a political party, then by the expulsion of Sam Sumana from the APC party means that he was no longer qualified to remain in that office as VP.
The case which was more or less a futile one for the former VP did go to the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone which was to rule against the plaintiff, Sam Sumana, on the grounds of him mainly no longer being a member of a political party.
Mr Macauley, who nurses the desire of becoming the 1st Independent President of Sierra Leone, is going to ask the Supreme Court to consider first, the reason why it is suitable for one to contest a Parliamentary Seat as an Independent but not the Presidency.
He also looks forward to or wishes that the Supreme Court will consider the effect of Section 41 (b) on future generations whereby radical elements of a political party may rise up and rebel against a sitting President and ask for his expulsion from the party to which he belongs.
Under the present status, there has to be at least an amendment of the Constitution to protect future Presidents from facing such embarrassments which will create a Constitutional crisis in the country.
In the next issue, Mr. Macauley will explain his plans in fulfilling his ambition.
41(b) of the 1991 constitution should be amended.
It’s not an obligation for someone to belong to a political, before contesting for the presidency.
Some of the past Presidents who were in political parties before contesting for the presidency. what did they do?
They embezzled the funds of the state and engaged in corruption all in the name of them belonging to political parties. And it is still happening in our present days.