By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Expectations for the new Constitution of Sierra Leone are running high as the public anxiously waits to see its content. As part of this waiting several questions revolving around the true reflection of the people’s aspirations exists.
Since the formation of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) in July 2013, it has received a plethora of submissions from agencies and individuals detailing what the new Constitution should look like. Some groups and individuals wants to see certain aspects of the current laws expunged, while others appeal for the inclusion of chapters and provisions that can harmonise the country’s laws with the demands of a modern world.
Although the CRC’s work stalled when Ebola struck in May 2014, it took an accelerated pace quite recently leading to the completion of its assignment, according to officials.
While the waiting continues, the ordinary man in the streets, as well as people with responsibilities, are preoccupied with the thought of whether the new Constitution can completely rebrand the country and place it on the path to development.
Mariatu Kamara, 40, a petty trader at Sani Abacha Street market, said she wanted to see much improvement in the recognition and protection of human rights. She was concerned not only with respect for civil rights but also for socio economic rights which enhanced decent living standards.
“We want to see that government places high priority on the provision of social services especially in the construction of market centres for us,” she told Politico.
Samuel Ansumana, a primary school teacher at the United Methodist Church Primary School in the Mount Aureol community, sounded a little politically minded. He wanted to see the office of the Vice President replaced with that of a Prime Minister, with some autonomy.
Ansumana argued that such an anticipated arrangement would confer much reverence on the VP’s office.
“Since sitting vice presidents are elected officials as they are nominated and approved as running mates during elections, they should not just be removed like that,” Ansumana said, in reference to the sacking of former Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana last year, which move set in motion a constitutional crisis.
Living standards
Some people have also expressed their views on the inclusion of provisions in the constitution that ensure greater independence for the offices of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, the Chief Justice, the Inspector-General of Police, the head of the Army, and several other key offices. For these people, this will deepen the roots of good governance in an emerging democracy like Sierra Leone.
The submission of Mariatu Kamara resonates well with those of several institutions calling on the CRC to make the social and economic rights contained in chapter two of the current constitution enforceable in courts of law.
Such views further call on the attention of government to the treaties and conventions it has signed on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone. Prominent among these are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [1966], and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) [1966]; the two are commonly referred to as the ‘twin covenants’.
By all indications, it is the latter that ensures the successful realisation of the he former. Simply put, The ICCPR is in tandem with chapter three of the 1991 Constitution, while the ICESCR agrees with chapter two of same.
It is only when the people’s living standards are improved can they truly enjoy civil and political rights, analysts say. They argue that it is logical that if chapter three, which deals with civil and political rights, is made legally compulsory for the government by a constitutional provision, no sound justification would exist as to why chapter two which deals with the socio-economic rights of the people can be left to the choice of government.
One of the most vociferous institutions in the review process is the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) which had hitherto submitted to the CRC ‘the proposed chapter twelve’ which appeals to the CRC to create a separate chapter for the mass media in the new Constitution so that the media institution could be brought at par with other public institutions.
SLAJ also contends in its submission that the defamatory and seditious libel laws must be treated as civil offences, put in one word – decriminalisation. The media body also wants to see that the Independent Media Commission be treated as a court of first instance. This means that infractions of the media laws by journalists must first be heard by a panel of IMC members before going to the high court. This implies that the high court no longer exercises original jurisdiction in adjudicating media offences but appellate and supervisory jurisdiction.
The CRC in retrospect
The period marking the end of the Sierra Leone civil war in 1999 saw the convergence of West African leaders in Lome, Togo in which all warring factions-The Revolutionary Front, Civil Defence Forces and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council were represented to discuss the way to peace in the country. During the deliberations brokered by the Economic Community of West African States under the auspices of the late Togolese President, Gnassimgbe Eyadema, a peace agreement document, dated 7th July 1999, was put in place by all parties present. Article 10 of page 14 contains a provision titled: ‘Review of the constitution’ which places obligation on the then government to review the constitution so that the development and good governance aspirations of the people of Sierra Leone could be well tailored.
“In order to ensure that Sierra Leone represents the needs and aspirations of the people of Sierra Leone... the government shall take the necessary steps to establish a constitutional review committee to review the provisions of the present constitution, and where deemed appropriate, recommend revisions and amendments, in accordance with part-5, section 108 of the constitution of 1991,” the document reads in part.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission established by the TRC Act of 2002 made similar recommendation to the government. In 2013, President Earnest Koroma launched the CRC to execute the task the government incurred from the agreement with Justice Edmond Cowan as its head. The commission was carrying out its mandate when the Ebola virus crept in and temporally halted the review process. As the virus spread, the committee confined its work to the Western Area, but managed to make its presence felt in the provinces through renowned civil society organisations operating there. The CRC resumed its work when the virus subsided and it continued to receive submissions from the public. The CRC closed the submissions of documents and position papers on 3oth November lat year. Today, it is on the threshold of releasing the first draft of the reviewed constitution for validation and acceptance by the people of Sierra Leone, according to its head of communications and outreach, Mohamed Faray Kargbo.
He told Politico that the Commission had completed the work bestowed on it by the state, and that the first draft report would be published next week subject to the endorsement of the CRC members.
The publication of the report, Kargbo said, would be done in the form of a nationwide symposium that he hoped would attract personalities from diverse spheres of life.
“This symposium would provide an opportunity for the participants to validate the work of the CRC and come up with recommendations that can further improve the work of the committee,” he further explained, disclosing that the validation exercise would last for either two or three weeks. The people’s acceptance of the Constitution would build confidence in the minds of the commissioners that the national assignment had been successfully executed, he said.
“Should the people disagree with the work of the committee, the members would sit together and assess the document to see if there is a need for modification.”
(C) Politico 11/02/16
