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Sierra Leone’s Presidential Spokesman, Hon. Alpha Kanu, has dismissed claims that the country’s Constitution limits how long a political party can remain in power, insisting that the law places term limits only on individual presidents, not on parties.
Speaking during a media engagement, Kanu said there is “nowhere in our Constitution” that restricts a political party to two terms in office. According to him, the constitutional provision applies strictly to the presidency, allowing a president to serve only two terms before stepping down.
“There is no where in our constitution that says it’s only two terms a political party should serve, it’s only two terms a president can serve, not a party,” Kanu said. He explained that once a president completes two terms, “the President, after two terms should go and another person steps in,” adding that the new leader could still come from the same political party if that party wins the election.
Kanu stressed that electoral victory is determined by performance rather than entitlement or political rotation. “Even if it’s the same party of that president is going to win again, there is no limit as to how many terms a party can serve. It depends on how you work,” he said.
In reinforcing his argument, Kanu referenced former President Ernest Bai Koroma, noting that Koroma often emphasized that elections are not based on turns. “The former President Ernest Bai Koroma used to make that statement, he said election is not by turn but by how a president work, and he was right,” Kanu said. He added that it is a leader’s record that convinces citizens to vote. “It is your work that will make the people to vote for you.”
Kanu also cited the example of Guinea to support his position. He referred to the Guinean President, who initially took power through a military coup, a move that was widely criticized. However, Kanu said the situation later changed because of governance outcomes.
“The case of Guinean President, who took power through military coup which people frown at, but because of what he has done since he took power by uplifting the lives of Guineans, he has been elected as a democratic president with a very high votes of the people,” he stated.
According to Kanu, leadership should be judged by results rather than identity or political arrangements. “It about what you do and how you deliver, it is not about who you are or what you are,” he said.
He concluded by rejecting the idea of a fixed power-sharing arrangement between parties, commonly referred to as a “10-10 year system,” describing it as baseless. “That 10-10 year system which people often talk about is a figment of imagination,” Kanu said.
