He said his supplemental affidavits were part of his originating summons made pursuant to Order (7) of High Court Rules of 2007, and that he was seeking additional supplementary affidavits, cataloguing alleged violations, at the Sierra Leone Peoples Party Zonal, Sections, Chiefdoms, and Constituencies Executive elections held in 2016.
According to him he relied entirely on the affidavits his Plaintiffs sworn to on 9 day of December 2016, by Alusine Bangura , Ibrahim Fofanah, Mohamed Kamara, Marie Boie Kamara, Marion Ngakui, Edward Nat Jones, Melvin Rogers and Alhaji Mustapha Gogra,
Barrister Sulaiman Banja Tejan Sie furthered that he was also seeking declaratory orders on the party’s internal elections held in Bombali, Tonkolili, PortLoko, Kambia, Bo, Moyamba, Pujehun, and Kailahun Districts respectively. He added that the purpose for government notice is to inform and invite objections from objectors.
He submitted that the internal elections of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party were governed by the party’s 1995 Constitution, as amended and the amended rules and regulations, as adopted on 11 May 2016, for the conduct of Zonal, Sections, Chiefdoms, Constituencies and Executive elections.
The Plaintiffs Lawyer pointed out that following the conduct of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party lower level, constituencies, districts, and executive elections, objections were raised by some objectors that. After assessing the objections raised, the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) then advised and recommended that, thirty one constituencies should be re-run.
He said the rules and regulations as amended and adapted on 11 May 2016, for the conduct of the party’s internal elections, were deliberately violated, his Plaintiffs democratic and constitutional rights trampled upon, and at the same time by disenfranchised them from participating in the said elections.
“My lord I further submitted that instead of using the amended rules and regulations as adopted, the Plaintiffs prepared various parallel lists for the conduct of the aforementioned elections, thus contravening the Sierra Leone Peoples Party 1995 constitution as amended,” lawyer Tejan Sie asserted.
He went on to canvass the presiding judge, Justice Babatunde Edwards to nullify constituency elections conducted by the Defendants in thirty Constituencies in various part of the country, stating that in Bombali District six out of nine constituencies were only captured, which he said was illegal and characterized by various forms of violations by defendants.
In conclusion, Lawyer Sulaiman Banja Tejan- Sie cross-examined first defendants, Chief Shebora Somanoh Kapen on various affidavits exhibited he relied upon. The situation hinged specifically on the composition of a ten man committee of national officers of the party, the objectors, various parallel lists, and the whole alleged violations at the party recent internal elections.
At this juncture, Justice Edwards said that the day was far gone and he would adjourn hearing to 1 February 2017, where counsel for defendants Umaru Napoleon Koroma is expected to reply to the submissions of Counsel for Plaintiffs Sulaiman Banja Tejan Sie.
