The leadership of the All People’s Congress (APC) Party in Sierra Leone has held talks with the country’s Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), following the party’s decision to take steps to organise its national convention in line with a High Court Order imposed on the party early this year.

Writing to the executive of the APC party – summing up the outcome of the meeting, the PPRC sets out clear guidelines which the executive must now follow in order not to fall foul of the High Court Order. This is what the PPRC says:

Dear Sir,

Re: Outcome of the Commission’s meeting of the 28th July 2021, with his Lordship Justice Adrian Fisher and counsel on both sides, on the matter between your party and its leadership and Alfred Peter Conteh.

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I refer to the meeting quoted above, convened at the instance of the Commission and forward herewith Resolutions reached thereat, for appropriate action relative to your Party.

1.A fifteen-man inclusive Interim technical Committee, consisting of known sympathisers of both sides is constituted. A list of the members of the committee to be presented to the Plaintiff, through his Lawyer and in the event he still has issues with the composition of the Committee, he is at liberty to appoint two more members to the committee, making it a Seventeen member committee. The membership of the Committee must not in any event exceeds twenty one.

2.The mandate of the Committee is inter alia:

a) To plan and organise elections for the following constituents’ members of the National Delegates Conference: Five members from each of the 132 Constituencies, twenty members representing the Women’s Congress and twenty members representing the youth league in the National Delegates Conference(hereinafter called “the NDC”), for the purposes of their participation in the emergency National Delegates Conference as ordered by the Court.

All of these elections are to be conducted in August 2021.

b) To plan and convene the emergency National Delegates Conference, for the sole purpose of adopting the Party’s draft Constitution, not later than the 12th September 2021.

c). The Committee’s work and activities to be supervised by the PPRC, from its inception, through the planning stage, to the eventual conduct of the elections aforesaid and convening the emergency national delegates Conference aforementioned.

3.Counsel for the Defendants to come before His Lordship on or before Monday, the 2nd August 2021, for an extension of the timelines in his Ruling, that have elapsed and clarifications if any, of portion(s) of his said Ruling. Fortunately, His Lordship is the vacation judge.

4.All Registered card-carrying members of the Party in each constituency, are eligible to vote in the election of the five delegates of their constituency.

The membership of the youth league are to vote for the twenty delegates representing them in the NDC.

Since the women’s Congress does not have a standing membership, all Registered card-carrying women of the Party are eligible to vote for the twenty members representing their wing in the NDC.

All Registered card-carrying members of the Party in each Constituency, shall be eligible to contest for their Constituency membership of the NDC.

All Registered card-carrying members of the Youth Leaque, shall be eligible to contest for its membership of the NDC.

All Registered card-carrying female members of the Party, are eligible to contest for the membership of the women’s Congress in the NDC.

5.The elections of the five delegates from each constituency to be conducted in six consecutive days in August 2021, a day for each of the six electoral Regions in the country, namely: Western Rural, Western Urban, North, North West, South and East.

6.Counsel on both sides to prepare and sign a joint list of delegates of the existing National Delegates Conference, that are not precluded in His Lordship’s Ruling, from participating in the emergency NDC. The list to be presented to His Lordship and the PPRC, not later than Friday 30th July 2021.

7.The Party to avail His Lordship, the PPRC and Counsel for the Plaintiff, clean copies of the draft Constitution, on or before Monday 3rd August 2021.

The Commission wishes to use this opportunity to thank His Lordship, for his magnanimity, in not only granting us his esteemed audience, but for hosting the meeting. We are equally appreciative of the goodwill demonstrated by both sides of the divide, in the greater interest of their Party.

The Commission looks forward to working with the Party, in the Constitution of its structures, under the new Constitution, in the not too distant future and counts on the continued cooperation of all concerned, in the implementation of these Resolutions.

By copy hereof, the Plaintiff through his Lawyer, is accordingly informed as well.

Yours faithfully, A.M.Bangurah (Chairman), PPRC