The government White Paper response on the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) recommendations on the vacancy in the office of the vice president, that a new section should be added to 55 (e) to read ‘Upon removal by the President’.
The CRC recommendation was that a new section be added in the Constitution that the office of vice president shall become vacant if he or she voluntarily ceases to be a member of a political party of which he was a member at the time of the election to office.
The government has accepted this, but rejected the recommendation for a new section to be added to provide that loss of party membership shall not nullify from office a sitting President or Vice president but that following such event, the impeachment procedure in Section 51 shall ensue: Section 54(8).
Their rejection response was that they hold the view that the loss of party membership by either of them automatically creates a vacancy in the respective office.
The government wants Section 54 (8) retained in the Constitution, and reads “…The provisions of sections 50 and 51 of this Constitution, relating to the removal from office of the President, shall apply to the removal from office of the Vice-President.”
In the CRC observation report during the process, the All People’s Congress (APC) party recommended, “in order to ensure accountability of a Vice President to the President, the APC proposes that the President may indicate whom he wants to serve as Vice President and could remove him/her whenever he comes to the conclusion that the Vice President lacks the requisite loyalty, capacity etc. to continue to serve as his/her principal assistant.”
Additionally, Civil Society Forum of Sierra Leone (CSFSL) position paper also recommended, “The reviewed Constitution clearly states the qualifications for staying in office, once elected as Vice President, without having anything to do with qualifications for elections. In particular, we do not want the loss of party membership to be any reason for losing office as any elected member of either the executive or the legislature.”
The Native Consortium Think Tank, in their position paper, commented that “where there is a vacancy in the office of President by operation of this Constitution, the Prime Minister will act in that office until elections are held and a new President elected within 90 days.”
Political parties, civil society organizations, youth groups, and women organizations, in their various position papers, raised the issue of loss of party membership by a sitting President and Vice-President.
According to the CRC, the majority of the responses from the nationwide consultations raised the issue of loss of party membership, and urged that it should be treated with utmost urgency.
The CRC took into consideration the views expressed in public consultations and position papers, and also the practice in other countries. As a result, the CRC decided that loss of party membership should form a basis for removal of the President, with the approval of Parliament. This would avoid unscrupulous party members having total control over the Presidency.
The current context of the Constitution in Section 49 states that vacancy in the office of the vice president can happen when, on the expiration of any of the terms prescribed in subsection (1) of Section 46 of the Constitution; or where the incumbent dies or resigns or retires from that office; or where the incumbent ceases to hold that office in pursuance of Section 50 or 51; Provided that the President shall not resign or retire from his office even at the due expiration of his term of office while a general election of Members of Parliament is pending within the ensuing three months, or where a state of public emergency has been declared. ZJ/27/11/17
By Zainab Joaque
Tuesday November 28, 2017.
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