The National Reformation Movement (NRM), a factional group of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) have asked the Chairman and Leader of the Party, Ernest Bai Koroma to act with the dignity of his office as a former president to support the full implementation of the court orders.

The NRM said this in a statement following the decision of the party to hold its national convention in liason with the Political Party Registration Commission (PPRC) in compliance with a court order issued earlier this year.

In a statement, Osman Bikal Kamara, the Secretary General of the NRM urged the Koroma-led executive appoint independent and inclusive committee members to spearhead the task of conducting delegate elections.

The statement further reads in part;

“The decision to obey the restraining of the party’s national officers from presenting themselves as delegates in the adoption of a new constitution, the settlement of the problem of membership, the election of delegates and the adoption of a democratic constitution is an honourable act, of which we are tremendously appreciative.

“Across the globe, reformers are optimistic that the orders of the High Court, the APC executive has agreed to obey, would lead to the adoption of a democratic constitution – the adoption which underpins our resolute commitment to the ongoing struggle for democracy in our party’s internal politics.

“With the adoption of a democratic constitution underpinning our struggle for reforms, we are collectively resolved to support the process of implementing the court orders.

“As a first step, given that the court orders have described what must be done for the adoption of the constitution to happen, we urge the setting up of an inclusive body to steer the conduct of delegate elections for the twenty delegates from the Women’s Congress, twenty delegates from the National Youth League and five delegates from each constituency.

“It is perhaps stating the obvious to say that these delegate elections are the foundation upon which the adoption of a democratic constitution is rested. And bearing in mind the deepening mistrust and contention in the party, it is important that we make more emphatic the independence and inclusiveness we expect of the committee that will execute the important task of conducting delegate elections.

“It is also important for us to accentuate the urgency with which the full implementation of the court orders should be set in motion.

“We are hopeful that H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma, as former president of Sierra Leone, would act with the dignity of the office he once occupied to support the implementation of the court orders. More than anything, the delaying tactics that stalled the adoption of a democratic constitution have impacted the party in a negative way. That being the case, it is our hope that the decision to comply with the court orders will now result in swift measures towards the implementation project.”