Tough Supreme Court hearings pending on Commission of Inquiry, as APC follows Bar Association to court

From COCORIOKO REPORTERS

There are tough Supreme Court hearings pending on the Commissions of inquiry instituted by the Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) Government to probe into the financial stewardship of the defeated All People’s Congress ( APC ) Government, which ruled from 2009 to 2018.

The Secretary General of the APC , Ambassador Osman Yansaneh, says that the party has  filed a lawsuit  in the Supreme Court against the Commissions of inquiry. The APC is seeking  clarifications on certain constitutional provisions, which, according to them, contravene he provisions of Section 150 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, with reference to commissions, after President Bio announced that the commissions will not be governed by the rules of evidence.

This is the second law suit in the Supreme Court against the commissions of inquiry. The first case against the commissions was filed by the Sierra Leone Bar Association.

 

Ambassador told a Freetown newspaper that “What is more worrisome is that in Section 6(1) of the Constitutional Instruments 64, 65 and 67, the Commissioner has powers to modify, adapt and except himself from abiding by the practice and procedure in force in the High Court if he so feels like it. This is in sharp contrast with the provisions of Section 150 of the Sierra Leone Constitution. ” When the Bio government says in  Section 6(2) of the said Instruments stated that the Commissioner shall not be bound by the Rules of Evidence in civil or criminal proceeding, Ambassador Yansaneh noted, “This is also against the spirit and content of Section 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone.”

The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP) and the opposition All People’s Congress ( APC ) are defying  each other over the commissions of inquiry which will start on Monday .

The SLPP  is insisting that the  commissions will not be governed by rules of evidence. The APC  has said that if there are no rules of evidence and if the permanent secretaries and vote controllers are not included in the inquiry, they will not attend the inquiry. President Bio of the SLPP  has threatened that whoever refuses to attend the inquiry when called upon will face the full force of the law.

Sierra Leoneans are anxiously awaiting the convening of the two cases by the Supreme Court.