WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-23 Time: 13:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Prince Mannah-Luseni
Dilating on the conclusion of the matter between the SLPP and Dr. Bu-Buakei Jabbi, Lawyer Ngakui said it was welcome news as the action raised by the complainant Dr. Jabbi was one aimed at preventing and/or asking for certain clarifications from the court as to whether the SLPP national executive had violated certain provisions of the party’s 1995 constitution as amended, and/or the 1991 constitution and various statutory regulations i.e. the Political Parties Registration Act.
He expressed happiness that the matter has now been put behind them by means of a political settlement. The legal luminary was quick to ask whether the SLPP has learnt any lessons from the just concluded matter in the light of the tongue wagging now going on within the rank and file of the party for or against the proposal by the Electoral Board of the party to conduct the forthcoming flag-bearer election by means of a multiple box system.
“The fact that there is a debate on that issue means the party has to be cautious not to expose itself to another court matter for a legal determination,” Ngakui warned. He furthered that he has been privileged to read a letter dated 14th July 2011 written by Dr. Abass Bundu, who is a grand chief patron of the party and addressed to the Minority Leader of Parliament copying other stakeholders with the theme ‘The Problem of Using the Multi Ballot Box Method of Voting’. “The contents of the letter in particular the legal argument proffered by Dr. Abass Bundu raise serious legal questions which can only be resolved by the Supreme Court,” the erudite lawyer retorted.
According to the former Bar Association scribe, the first question that readily comes to mind is: What was the method of voting prior to the 1991 constitution? Then it was the multiple ballot box system. “The problems of that system are now a matter of history but some of us have personal ugly experiences with it,” he said. He went on to say that in the 1986 general elections his late father contested for a seat in the Kenema North-west constituency, and that after voting, by the time the boxes were brought from the polling station to the center, five of his father’s boxes had disappeared into thin air. “It is my personal belief that because of the attendant difficulties of the multiple ballot box system, the Sierra Leone Parliament introduced by way of legislation, a single box,” he explained.
Expounding on the legal rubrics of the single ballot box system, he said that the Electoral Laws Act No. 2 of 2002 is very clear on the matter. Section 63 (4) of Electoral Laws Act of 2002 states that: “The Presiding Officer shall place the ballot boxes … in the polling station in the full view of the Presiding Officer, Polling Assistants, Polling Agents, Observers (if any) and such other persons authorized to be present in the polling station, throughout the voting time prescribed”. Also, he furthered, Section 65 paragraph (f) states the ‘Method of voting as thus: “The elector shall then go alone to the booth or enclosure which shall be in open view of the public, but in a manner which will conceal the identity of the candidate or the party the elector voted for, put his mark against the symbol of the candidate or as the case may be, the party of his choice secretly and then come out of the booth or enclosure with his ballot paper folded,
which he shall then cast in full view of every one present”.
“The cumulative effect of the two provisions cited which provides for the national conduct of elections in Sierra Leone can only mean a single box system. In it also, it makes provision for secret voting (the choice of the elector) but the casting of ballot has to be in full view of the public,” Ngakui dilated. Moreover, Section 36 of the 1991 constitution stipulates that voting in elections in Sierra Leone has to be secret.
Asked as to whether the SLPP flag-bearer election can be said to be a public exercise, Ngakui delved into the legalities of it and concluded that yes it is a public exercise. “One of the characteristics of a political party as stated in the 1991 constitution Section 35 (1) is to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate information on political ideas and social and economic programs of a national character and to sponsor candidates for presidential, parliamentary and local government elections,” he said, furthering that Section 35 (2) of the same 1991 constitution also says “…the internal organization of a political party shall conform to democratic principles and that their aims, objectives, purposes and programmes do not contravene or are not inconsistent with, any provisions of the national constitution”.
Ngakui argued that since every party has to be of a national character and as a nation we have moved away from the multiple box system to a single box system, it will be a flawed argument for anybody to say the internal politics of the SLPP is not a public election.
He explicitly said that the endorsement of the multiple ballot box system by all 19 candidates does not make it a fait accompli, as it does not make it legal especially when they have no legal status in the party. “The party has to be guided not to betray itself into getting into another arena that will attract a court action. Clearly, the single box system is what is acceptable in our current democratic system and it is the norm that is universally accepted as the method of voting. If the SLPP considers itself as a democratic party, then it should conform to universally accepted democratic principles,” Ngakui concluded.
Original date published: 21 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107211226.html?viewall=1