By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) has in a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party fined the party an amount of NLE 120,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand New Leones) for peddling public insults and provocation against President Julius Maada Bio and his wife, Fatima Bio.
The Commission urged the party to pay the said fine into the Consolidated Fund, within two weeks from the date the fine was levied and to furnish the Commission with evidence of such payment.
The incident took place on the 20th of February 2023 whilst party supporters were parading with their flagbearer Dr. Samura Kamara in Makeni.
The Commission referred to a letter they addressed to the Secretary of the then Interim Transition Governance Committee (ITGC) of the APC, where they issued a written warning to the party to desist from peddling public insults and provocation against its opponents, in the conduct of its activities.
It however realized that the warning was not heeded, as supporters of the APC kept on insulting the President and his wife. The Commission quoted sections of their Act that referred to the President, as the Flagbearer designate of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and a political opponent in the upcoming Presidential elections.
The commission noted that the persistent infringement of provisions of the Act by the APC party is extremely concerning to them, as it is not only a recipe for confrontation and a breach of public peace, but it also corrupts public morals.
The commission also warned the ruling SLPP over the conduct of their Supporters at an outlet called "Unity Ataya base" at Calabatown, Freetown, on Wednesday 22nd February 2023.
The PPRC recalled the APC’s delegate conference from the 18th to the 20th of February 2023 in Makeni, where they applied for and obtained clearance from the Sierra Leone Police, to accompany their said Flagbearer designate to Freetown in a convoy.
It realized that a number of the SLPP supporters assembled at the said outlet, singing and dancing to songs complimentary to their own Party and thereby provoked skirmishes between them and the APC convoy, which culminated in a breach of the public peace. Their conduct amounts to a disruption of the activity of a Political opponent and thus contravenes Sections of the Political Parties Act No 25 of 2023.
The PPRC reminded the SLPP of further sanctions proscribed in the Act, in the event of a repeat of such behaviour.
In another development, the commission wrote the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in relation to claims of physical attacks they received from members of the APC, allegedly by security personnel, that abound on social media and to register the commission's concern, respecting those claims.
The PPRC said whilst they continue to forage social media platforms for footage of the alleged attacks, they, therefore, urged the police to speedily investigate these claims and appropriate actions taken against the perpetrators, if substantiated.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (24/02/23)
