The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone has today delivered a judgement on the 2018 elections vehicle movement ban case between Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah Esq and the Inspector General of Police.

The Supreme Court unanimous ruled in favour of Lawyer Marrah, declaring that the vehicular movement ban during the general elections in 2018 by the Inspector General was unconstitutional, unlawful and violated the his rights.

It could be recalled that the then Inspector General of Police, Richard Moigbe by a press release dated 26th February 2018 and revised/reviewed on 5th March 2018 banned all unauthorised vehicular movement on elections day. The Plaintiff (Augustine Marrah) contends that on 7th March 2018 while en route to the east-end of Freetown where he was duly registered to vote, he was halted and arrested by the Police for an apparent failure to obtain a vehicular authorization to ply the streets of Freetown. This the Plaintiff contends resulted in the violation of his right to vote since he did not end up exercise his franchise by reason of his arrest and detention.

The lawyers for the Plaintiff, Messrs. Yada Williams and Associates argued that the Inspector General lacked any constitutional or statutory backing for the said vehicular restrictions which were imposed across the country on 7th March 2018.

Delivering judgements on the matter, one of the presiding Judges of the Supreme Court, Honorable Justice N C Browne-Marke stated that, “To summarise, the irresistible conclusion I have reached is that there was no law or punctilio in existence in March, 2018 which sanctioned the banning of vehicular traffic on election day, 2018. The Respondent, by making the two public pronouncements set out in detail above, directly or, indirectly authorised and/or sanctioned the actions taken by his subordinate police officers, to wit: detaining the Plaintiff’s vehicle and his person. In this respect also, the Respondent prevented the Plaintiff from exercising his right to vote in the polling station where he was registered to vote. The Respondent therefore violated the Constitutional rights of the Plaintiff.

The following Declarations are therefore granted:

(i) A Declaration that the ban contained in the press release of the Defendant dated 26th February, 2018 and revised on 6th March, 2018 was/is in part and whole, inconsistent with, and, in violation of section 18 of the Constitution, and was therefore unconstitutional and/or null and void.

(ii) A Declaration that the enforcement, application and/or execution of the ban contained in the said press release dated 26th February, 2018 and revised on 6th March, 2018 by the stop, arrest and/or detention of the person of the Plaintiff and his motor vehicle , with registration number ANC 636, by officers acting under the command and instructions of the Defendant, was inconsistent with and violated the Plaintiff’s right to freedom of movement within this jurisdiction as enshrined in section 18 of the Constitution.

(iii) A Declaration that the enforcement, application and/or execution of the ban contained in the said press release dated 26th February, 2018 and revised on 6th March, 2018 by the stop, arrest and/or detention of the person of the Plaintiff and his motor vehicle , with registration number ANC 636, by officers acting under the command and instructions of the Defendant, was inconsistent with and violated the Plaintiff’s right to protection from arbitrary arrest and detention as enshrined in section 17 of the Constitution.

(iv) A Declaration that the enforcement, application and/or execution of the ban contained in the said press release dated 26th February, 2018 by the stop, arrest and/or detention of the person of the Plaintiff and his motor vehicle , with registration number ANC 636, by officers acting under the command and instructions of the Defendant, was inconsistent with and violated the Plaintiff’s right to protection from deprivation of property as enshrined in section 21 of the Constitution.

(v) A Declaration that the enforcement, application and/or execution of the ban contained in the said press release dated 26th February, 2018 by the stop, arrest and/or detention of the person of the Plaintiff and his motor vehicle , with registration number ANC 636, by officers acting under the command and instructions of the Defendant, undermined and/or deprived the Plaintiff of the exercise of his constitutional right to vote, as stipulated in section 31 of the 1991 Constitution during the public elections of 7th March, 2018.

(vi) Compensatory Damages for every and all declarations/holdings of violation in regard to the 1st to 5threliefs prayed for shall be determined after hearing from Counsel on both sides after the judgment herein has been delivered.

Resonding to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Augustine Sengbe Marrah stated that, “Four years ago, I brought an action against the Inspector General of Police for for banning vehicular movement during the last general elections in 2018. Today, in an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Sierra has ruled that the ban which did not bear any parliamentary sanction was unconstitutional (tantamount to an act of treason) and that my rights were violated when my movement (vehicular) was restricted.”

“This is a small yet grand win for our governance – that citizens could hold state authorities into account by actions, protests, and agitations and do so by the way of redress in court. Our eminent benchers of the Supreme Court have shown a promising valiant rise to defining occasions in our governance journey and a re-situating of the court as the arbiter of our democracy. I only hope with deep sincerity that other benchers would fearlessly continue to night this trail,” he added.

“Profound thanks to my father-in-law, Yada Williams Esq who fearlessly litigated this matter as an ardent believer of the supremacy of the rule of law. My deepest appreciation to everyone who has supported me in this journey and to all those who believe in my cause lawyering and my little contribution to our governance architecture,” Lawyer Marrah concluded.