Koroma says ‘I tore up the constitution just like Tejan Kabba did’ – Sumana says ‘See you in court’

Disir

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Sierra Leone’s constitution crisis, engineered by president Koroma and a handful of senior ruling party grandees supported by China, has now taken on a new twist, as the ruling party continues to display its communist credentials.

There are unconfirmed reports that the country’s chief justice, is uncertain as to whether he should be conducting a swearing-in ceremony of the new vice president in parliament, as is traditional, given the current legal arguments that have now reached the Supreme Court.

And with the growing opposition to president Koroma’s unilateral dismissal of the vice president, civil liberty groups and opposition politicians are calling upon the president to pull back from the brink.

But the highly politicised Chief of police is bellicose, and now threatening to muffle dissenting voices through the use of police violence.


Opposition SLPP parliamentarians are threatening to table a motion of impeachment in parliament, which could, for the first time in the country’s history, witness a sitting president thrown out of power by the elected parliamentarians.

But such a motion is unlikely to succeed, given the ruling party’s 59% majority in parliament.

Although there is a small minority of ruling party parliamentarians that are unhappy with president Koroma’s appointment of his new vice president – if not opposed to his violation of the country’s constitution, yet an open confrontation with the president is not an option they are willing to contemplate.

Sensing the rising political tension and anger in the country, the ruling party – generally known for violence is calling for calm. But it is unrepentant about Koroma’s sacking of the country’s constitution.

In a statement published two days ago, the secretary general of the party, said that he ‘wishes to inform all and sundry that the APC party is a rejuvenated political entity that is continually committed to maintaining peace and stability.’

But there are serious doubts now as to the ruling party’s commitment to multi-party democracy and civil liberty, given its ever increasing ties with China, who is prepared to do anything necessary in order to protect its investments in Sierra Leone.

There are fears China may have shipped large consignments of deadly arms and ammunition into the country through its Ebola shipments, to help strengthen the police and the newly formed armed presidential guard – made up largely of Guinean troops.
Koroma says I tore up the constitution just like Tejan Kabba did Sumana says See you in court Sierra Leone Telegraph

Sierra Leone: President Koroma Fires Vice President
President Ernest Bai Koroma has sacked his vice president, Samuel Sam-Samana, after he sought asylum in the U.S. embassy in Freetown, according to a statement from the presidency.

The embattled vice president sought asylum after soldiers surrounded his home over the weekend, reportedly on the orders of President Koroma. The ruling All People's Congress expelled him earlier in the month, citing a host of reasons, including giving false information about his master's degree and plotting frequent unrest in his eastern home district of Kono. Vice President Samana has denied the charges.

According to Reuters, his sacking has stirred confusion as the country's constitution only allows the dismissal of the vice president with the vote of two-thirds majority of parliament.
allAfrica.com Sierra Leone President Koroma Fires Vice President

Other sources, clearly not altogether reliable, say that there is no real intention to remove Koroma.
 

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