Let me start by saying that I pity the enthusiasm of the people for a regime change because the road taken by the opposition All People’s Congress party to proceed with the conduct of its national delegates congress (NDC) this weekend is the road not to have been taken as it is not in the best interest of the party.

Our excited supporters and some esteemed comrades may be oblivious that conducting an NDC to elect national officers alongside the flagbearer does not simply legitimize the new executive nor qualifies the flagbearer to be a candidate in a presidential election. By provisions of the law, the process is subject to public scrutiny, and why the party should ensure the NDC is problem-free at this crucial moment in elections.

I have often heard the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) insisting the chairman and the secretary of a political party must approve the nomination of candidates for the 2023 elections.

It applies to a functioning political party. Without intent to be the devil’s advocate, legitimizing the function of the new executive goes beyond the conduct of the NDC and can be time-consuming.

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The said NDC is not the usual NDC political parties organize. It is the first following the adoption of a new constitution by the 3rd defendant (APC) in the matter of Alfred Peter Conteh Versus Ernest Bai Koroma et al. In the Orders of his ruling(s), Justice Adrain Fisher created the Interim Transitional Governance Committee (IGTC) and further charged the IGTC with the responsibility to conduct the first national delegates conference following the adoption of the 2022 constitution of the 3rd defendant and under the supervision of the PPRC.

What would have been best for the party following the Justice Hannah Bonnie injunction was to both approach Justice Adrain Fisher whose previous Orders are affected by the said injunction, and to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of the NDC.

Based on their arguments for a variation of the injunction slammed by Justice Bonnie, it seems the lawyers of the 3rd defendant (APC) in the matter before Justice Fisher misled Justice Hannah Bonnie to misconstrue the IGTC as a subset of the APC, knowing very well that the IGTC is a creation of the Orders of Justice Fisher compromising of representatives of organs of the APC (including elected MPs) and the plaintiff, and also charged with the responsibility to oversee the affairs of the APC and to conduct the first national delegates conference of the APC, following the adoption of a new constitution, and under the supervision of the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), among other things.

Perhaps it was deliberate mischief on the part of lawyers acting on behalf of the APC to have misled Justice Hannah Bonnie to order the Transitional Interim Internal Elections Management Committee (TIIEMC) to conduct the NDC, knowing very well that the TIIEMC is a creation of the orders of Justice Adrain Fisher and that its mandate as per the orders of Justice Adrain Fisher is restricted to conduct of lower level elections for the 3rd defendant (APC) under the supervision of the IGTC and not the said NDC.

I do not intend to delve into the legal entanglement when court orders seem to conflict, bearing in mind that the matters before Justices Fisher and Bonnie are different. However, from the look of things, it is my honest opinion that the road taken only leads to more legal complications for the party. The process of scrutiny to legitimize the new executive is turbulent and with very unpleasant possibilities.

Those members of the party and public who are of the opinion that after Tuesday the APC now has a new and functional national executive in place are mistaking.

First of all, by the provisions of the law, the outcome of the NDC has to be reported to the PPRC. The PPRC will then publish the names of officers of the new executive in a Government Notice for fourteen days and invite objections from members of the public. If there are objections, the PPRC shall arbitrate the objections, and its ruling is enforceable but with an opportunity for a party to seek redress in a Court.

The first legal consideration here is who reports to the PPRC. Is it the ITGC or TIIEMC that will communicate the outcome of the NDC to the PPRC? Again, it is obvious there will be petitions against the processes leading to the NDC, against the TIIEMC conducting the NDC, and against some elected officers of the new executive. How long the PPRC will take to look into these petitions is something I cannot say.

After concluding this process, because the NDC is not the usual NDC political parties organize and is a court order, the party will then report to Justice Fisher. Who will then be answerable to Justice Fisher is another question that begs an answer. Is it the ITGC or TIIEMC? The ITGC will not since it did not conduct the NDC. The TIIEMC will also not report to Justice Fisher since its mandate, per the orders of Justice Fisher, does not include the conduct of the NDC. By implications, the TIIEMC may be in contempt of the orders of Justice Adrain Fisher.

Irrespective of this seeming dilemma and notwithstanding the order of Justice Bonnie for the TIIEMC to conduct the NDC, for the APC to allow the TIIEMC to superintend the first NDC, following the adoption of its new Constitution, when the said NDC is an order of Justice Fisher, and by such orders, the TIIEMC does not have such powers, the APC as the 3rd defendant in the matter faces the risk of being held in contempt of the
Orders of Justice Fisher. Justice Fisher may annul the NDC and order for a re-conduct of the NDC as per the terms of his previous orders. Again, other indications of contempt may warrant Justice Fisher to annul the NDC.

In the matter of Francis Gbondo Versus the IGTC and others before Justice Hannah Bonnie, an injunction not to proceed with the said NDC is one of many prayers. If the TIIEMC has no such powers as lawyers of the APC wrongly caused Justice Bonnie to believe, the APC can be in contempt for misleading the court.

On the other hand, if Justice Hannah Bonnie is to grant some or all the prayers of Francis Gbondo in a subsequent hearing, it may also affect the legitimacy of the conduct and outcome of the NDC.

In conclusion, as I said earlier, what should have followed the Justice Hannah Bonnie injunction was to approach Justice Adrain Fisher, whose orders are affected by the said injunction, and to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of the NDC.

The desperation to go ahead with the NDC because time is against the party is not politically expedient and is a possible exercise in futility. We placed the cart before the horse and walked into a complication of legal entanglements.

I beg pardon of my esteemed comrades as my views may be wrong because the lawyers are more seize of the matter than I am.

Nonetheless, I honestly believe the road taken is not the right path.

I may not be a lawyer but as a politician of long standing my critical thinking lenses eyes possible legal pitfalls.

The APC is in for a long haul. Not because the ruling SLPP is using the courts to do its bidding but because the party may have been ill-advised by its lawyers.