Sierra Leone’s President Dr Julius Maada Bio yesterday launched the Government White Paper on the Constitutional Review Processat State House in Freetown.
The government White Paper on Constitutional Reforms is hoped would address gaps and lacunae in the 1991 constitution of Sierra Leone.
Launching the White Paper, President Bio said,“We will take practical steps to implement the nonentrenched ones [clauses] immediately.”
“The entrenched provisions will be addressed within an exclusive and uncluttered timeline – and in all likelihood, after extensive consultations, engagements, and public education on those provisions,” he said, adding, “No entrenched provisions will be rushed through a referendum ahead of the forthcoming general and presidential elections.”
President Bio said that the full White Paper as accepted is rational and more extensive than the 2017 white paper. “For instance, it includes human dignity and equality among fundamental principles of state policy, new sections for gender inclusivity, agrees with change in nomenclature of groups of persons in line with international best practices, and places the burden on the State to prohibit discrimination while promoting national integration and unity.”
He said that the White Paper affirms the State’s commitment to providing free quality and compulsory education at primary and secondary school levels and includes civic education and entrepreneurship among the state’s educational objectives.
The President said, the recommendation to rename Chapter III of the 1991 Constitution to read “The Recognition, Protection, and Promotion of Human Rights and Freedoms of the Individual” in line with its international obligations in safeguarding and promoting human rights of its citizenry, is accepted.
Government also accepts recommendations for a reduced detention period prior to being broughtto court. Unlawfully arrested or detained persons shall be entitled to compensation and/or public apology. Government also accepts recommendations to protect fundamental rightssubject to national security interests. Those rights shall not be derogated from during a State of Emergency.
Government also accepts that a completely new chapter should be dedicated to clearly defining citizenship and addressing all questions of discrimination and exclusion once and for all.
On elections, President Bio said Government accepts the recommendation for fixed and predictable dates for elections and inaugurations. “Further, a fifty percent plus one threshold is proposed in view of the circumstances, insecurity, and expenses associated with run-offs,” he said.
The President said that loss of party membership shall no longer be sufficient and sole cause for removal of a President or Vice President from Office. “A two-thirds parliamentary majority will be needed to ratify any resignation or expulsion notice from a political party. Impeachment processes will also be clearly defined.”
Government accepts the recommendation to decouple the Office of Attorney General from that of the Minister of Justice. The Attorney General will now be the principal adviser to the Government and not a cabinet minister while a Minister of Justice will continue to sit in cabinet. Questions around age limits are also addressed for judicial and electoral commission appointees accordingly.
Government accepts a renaming of the PPRC to The Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission in view of its existing mandate.
President Bio said, “Most importantly, my government has argued for and worked towards achieving increased participation and representation of women in our democracy. In that regard, my government accepts the increased mandatory minimum representation of women in parliament.”
“Further, my Government accepts that members of parliament shall be elected in accordance with a system of proportional representation. This, in Government’s view, will spare the nation the acrimony, costs, and insecurity associated with bye-elections.
Also, the period for public officers and members of the armed forces who wish to vie for parliamentary seats to resign from public service shall now be reduced from twelve months to six months.
Government also accepts the recommendation that a speaker shall be persons who are either members of parliament or are qualified to be elected as such and qualified to be appointed as judges of the Superior Court of Judicature.
“My Government also accepts that Parliamentary Committees will now additionally have powers to investigate and enquire into the activities or administration of agencies of Government,” President Bio said.
There are changes also in the judiciary. Government accepts that the Chief Justice shall by Statutory Instrument create such Divisions of the Court of Appeal as she/he may consider necessary. Within the Judiciary, Government also accepts the recommendationspecifying age requirements and the composition of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and the High Court. Government accepts the expansion of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and also accepts the change in reference to courts as ”inferior” and “traditional” to “subordinate” and “local” respectively, among other changes.
The President said, overall, these are indeed the most extensive and thoroughgoing constitutional reforms they will undertake since we adopted the 1991 Constitution. “We will now undertake public education on all recommendations so there is clear understanding and buy-in by all citizens,” he said.
The launch of the White Paper came after several civil society and international organizations including Amnesty International, Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) and ActionAid Sierra Leone, among others had called on the Government of Sierra Leone on several occasions to resume the Constitutional Review Process.
Sierra Leone currently operates on the basis of the 1991 Constitution, which ended one-party rule and ushered in a new political dispensation of multi-party democracy.
However, the Constitution was endorsed three months after civil war broke in March of 1991.
As part of the process of negotiating the end to the civil war, Article X of the July 1999 Lome’ Peace Accord provided for amendments of the Constitution. Subsequently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in 2002, also urged the Government of Sierra Leone to give “serious consideration” to the creation of a “new constitution”, to contribute to human rights. It argued that such a new constitution “should be the product of a wide and thorough consultative and participatory programme.”
Such a constitution must lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which every citizen is equally protected by the law. It must free the potential of every Sierra Leonean. A Sierra Leone that is united around clear constitutional rights, values and principles has a promising future”.
In line with the TRC recommendations, the government established a Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) onJanuary11, 2007 “to review the Sierra Leone Constitution of 1991 with a view to recommending amendments that might bring it up to date with the economic, social and political developments that have taken place nationally and internationally since 1991”.
The All Peoples Congress (APC), which succeeded the SLPP in September 2007, did not follow up on the report with either a White Paper responding to the recommendations or a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
The 2008 CRC Report has never been officially released to the public and as such, there has been no public debate on its recommendations.
During the campaign for the 2012 elections, the APC led government promised a constitution review process. To that end, as at April 2013, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice appointed an 80-member Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) representing different stakeholders in the country, including political parties, NGOs, the media and key independent bodies. The 2013 CRC was tasked with reviewing the 1991 Constitution.
The Government envisages that there will be a major civic education and consultation process which will engage all segments of society in identifying recommendations for constitutional change. In accordance with the 1991 Constitution, at the conclusion of the process, Parliament will need to endorse a set of recommendations for change, after which a referendum will be held to amend any entrenched clauses in the Constitution.
By Alusine Sesay