Today is a pivotal day in the nation. The ruling SLPP wants to perform some dangerous surgeries on the constitution . Though the people have said ‘no ‘ to the Proportional Representation and 50% + 1 systems, the SLPP is determined to pass them into law. Today, we shall know whether MPs serve themselves and their pockets or the people. A pivotal day indeed for democracy and the constitution in Sierra Leone.
AYV REPORTS
Breaking!
Opposition Leader warns on constitutional amendment vote
Leader of the Opposition in Sierra Leone’s Parliament, Hon. Abdul Kargbo, has cautioned that any constitutional amendment must meet the required two-thirds majority to be valid.
Addressing Parliament, Hon. Kargbo stated: “Anything less than 99.33 is less than two-thirds and cannot pass any amendment.”
He expressed confidence in the Speaker’s commitment to upholding the law, adding: “The opposition does not doubt the ability of Mr Speaker to follow the law, and today’s sitting is no different.”
Hon. Kargbo emphasised that the Opposition is not opposed to constitutional reform, but may object to amendments affecting specific provisions.
“We are not against amending the Constitution; we may be against the amendment of certain sections of the Constitution.”
The debate on the Constitutional Amendment Bill continues in Parliament.
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A CONCERNED CITIZEN APPEALS TO ALL PARLIAMENTARIANS
OPEN LETTER TO ALL PARLIAMENTARIANS
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Parliament of Sierra Leone
Freetown
Dear Honourable Members,
Today you will walk into that Chamber and make a decision that will reach far beyond Freetown. It will reach the cocoa farms of Kailahun, the rice fields of Tonkolili, the cattle paths of Koinadugu and Falaba, the fishing villages of Bonthe, the diamond pits of Kono, the cassava gardens of Pujehun, the dusty roads of Karene, and the quiet homes in Kambia, Port Loko, Bombali, Moyamba, and rural Kenema.
I write to remind you of the oath you took an oath to represent your people, not your party.
I write as one Sierra Leonean who still believes this Parliament belongs to the ordinary people who sweat under the sun, who walk long distances to clinics that have no medicine, and who wait, year after year, for someone to truly listen.
I understand you are there through your party. That is how our system works. But the main focus should always be your people.
I support the motion that the Constitution needs amendment. Since 1991, a great deal has changed in our country, and some of those changes have become a real burden to the rule of law. Our Constitution must be updated to meet the realities of today. However, not every proposed change is good for the people. I am asking you to reject the proposal to introduce proportional representation for Members of Parliament.
Right now, imperfect as our system is, a man in Kailahun can still point to one person and say, “That is my MP.” A mother in Pujehun can still hope that the person she voted for will feel the shame of an empty clinic. A young teacher in Tonkolili can still believe that if the school roof keeps leaking, there is someone whose name she can call. That personal link the feeling that someone is answerable is one of the few things that still makes democracy feel real in our villages.
This reminds me of a powerful point from a constitution class lecture, drawing on the words of the distinguished constitutional scholar Professor A.V. Dicey, who taught that a constitution must never become a mere instrument of those in power; it must always rest on the living authority of the people and keep those who govern answerable to them.
Proportional representation threatens to weaken exactly that living link. Under a list system, seats are given according to a party’s share of the vote. The people who enter Parliament are those the party places high enough on its list. The farmer, the mother, and the teacher will no longer have “their” MP. They will have a party percentage. When the road washes away again, when the clinic has no medicine, when the school has no roof, there may be no single person whose political life depends on answering their cry.
These are the real disadvantages for ordinary Sierra Leoneans:
· MPs will have less reason to stay close to the people. Why spend time on a bad road in Karene or a broken clinic in Kono if your future depends more on the party office in Freetown than on the villagers who live with the problem every day?
· Power will move further away from the people. Respected local voices the teacher in Pujehun, the women’s leader in Kambia, the farmers’ organiser in Falaba, the youth in Bombali — will find it harder to enter Parliament unless they already please the party bosses.
· Representation will feel colder and more distant. In places where trust is already fragile, people will begin to feel that no one is truly theirs.
· The bill leaves the most important details how many seats, what kind of list, who decides the ranking to a later law. That means the real decisions may be made later, with even less public scrutiny.
· Once the direct link is broken, it will be very hard to rebuild the sense that Parliament still belongs to the villages.
Before you debate and vote today, I ask you to ask yourselves these questions not as politicians, but as human beings who come from somewhere:
· When the road in Kailahun or Tonkolili disappears under the rain again, or the clinic in Kono, Kabala, Mattru Jong, or Blama has no medicine, will the people still know whose door to knock on? And will that person still have a strong reason to open it?
· Are we ready to accept that many future MPs may look more to party executives than to the faces of the people who voted for them?
· How will a respected but ordinary person from Pujehun, Falaba, Karene, or Port Loko ever rise if the list is controlled from Freetown?
· Does leaving the real design of this system to a later Act show respect for the people, or does it leave the door open for the powerful to shape it later?
· Will this change make rural Sierra Leoneans feel more heard, or more forgotten?
· When our children look back on this day, will they say we protected the human connection between citizens and their representatives, or that we allowed it to fade?
Honourable Members, I understand you are there through your party. But the main focus should be your people. The people in our villages do not follow every legal detail. But they feel it when someone stops coming. They feel it when no one answers. They feel it when representation becomes a party calculation instead of a human responsibility.
Please do not break the one link that still makes many ordinary Sierra Leoneans believe someone is fighting for them. Reject an unclear and risky shift to proportional representation. Protect the direct accountability that first-past-the-post, for all its faults, still provides.
Our democracy is stronger when a farmer in Kailahun, a mother in Bonthe, a digger in Kono, a herder in Koinadugu, and a teacher in Tonkolili can still say, with some hope, “That is my MP.”
With respect, and with hope that you will choose the people over the system,
Samuel T. Kargbo
A concerned Sierra Leonean
WHAT IS AT STAKE ?
Details of the constitutional amendments are as follows 👇👇👇
1. Presidential Election Threshold: The first-round victory requirement shifts from 55% to a simple majority (50%+1), with at least 20% of votes in two-thirds of the country’s voting districts.
2. Electoral System: Move from First-Past-The-Post (constituency-based) to Proportional Representation, eliminating by-elections.
3. Removal of President and Vice President: Parliament, by a two-thirds majority, would be the sole body empowered to remove a sitting President or Vice-President who has been expelled from the party under which they were elected.
4. Appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner: The President will not directly appoint the Chief Electoral Commissioner; instead, a Search and Nomination Committee will nominate the commissioner, who must meet specified requirements.
5. Fixed date for general elections: General elections will be held on the second Saturday of November in every election year.
6. Women Representation: At least 30% of a political party’s nominees for national and local government elections must be women.
7. Independent Presidential Candidates: Independent candidates may contest the presidency; candidates are no longer required to run under a political party if they meet the presidential eligibility criteria.
8. Time to resign to contest Parliament: The period to resign from any public office in order to contest a seat in Parliament is reduced from 12 months to 6 months.
9. Petitioning election results: The window to file a petition in the Supreme Court against election results is reduced from seven days to three days after results are announced.
10. Dual Citizenship: Certain categories of dual citizens are disqualified from holding the offices of President, Vice President, or Speaker of Parliament.
11. Presidential Transition Limits: After an election, outgoing presidents would be restricted from making major public appointments, signing major contracts, or pursuing significant institutional changes.
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