To the Chief Electoral Commissioner/
National Returning Officer NEC
Dear Madam,
Re-Vehicular Movement on Election Day
At a well attended General Meeting of the Sierra Leone Bar Association held on Thursday 8th November 2012 at the Beccles-Davies Memorial Hall, Cathedral House, Gloucester Street, Freetown,it was resolved that we write this letter to you as a matter of urgency on theabove subject, setting out our position on the said matter.
We have perused the two Press Statements issued by you in your capacity as Chief Electoral Commissioner and National Returning Officer with particular reference to the paragraph headed “Vehicular Movement on Election Day”,and as Lawyers we believe it is our duty to state our views on the above, especially as it touches and concerns the fundermental and constitutional rights of all the citizens of Sierra Leone.
In your Press Statement of 30th October2012, you stated, inter alia
“…………..key Stakeholder’s including Political Parties have signed up to an agreement to restrict vehicular movement on Election Day. Only accredited vehicles displaying stickers provided by NEC will be allowed to move about on Election Day. No vehicle shall be allowed to ply the streets of District Headquarter towns and cities on Polling Day except for National Electoral Commission (NEC), Political Parties RegistrationCommission (PPRC), Election Observers; Emergency services, security and other accredited persons. Two (2) vehicles will be accredited for every Political Party in every Constituency with more than four (4) persons on board each vehicle. Such persons must carry Party ID Cards, Motor Cycles (Okasas are banned from plying in all District Headquarters towns and cities of Freetown, Bo, Makeni, Kenema, Koidu and Bonthe on Polling Day. They will however be permitted to ply in the rural areas….”
We, the Members of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, wish to point out to you the following:-
1. You did not state in your Press Statement under which law you were acting to purport to restrict the movement of citizens, vehicles and okadas on Polling Day
2. We are not aware of any Act of Parliament or Constitutional Instrument recently published which gives the National Electoral Commission such sweeping powers.
3. On the contrary, the Constitution of Sierra Leone Act of No. 6 of 1991 at Section 18 thereof, provides that,
18 (1)……”No person shall be deprived of his freedom of movement, and for the purpose of this section the said freedom means the Right to move freely throughout Sierra Leone, the right to reside in any part of Sierra Leone, the right to enter or leave Sierra Leone, and immunity from explusion from Sierra Leone…..”
4. We have also looked at Section 32 and 33 of the said Constitution which deal with the Establishment of the Electoral Commission and its functions.
Section 33 provides as follows:
“……..Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Electoral Commission shall be responsible for the conduct and supervision of the registration of voters for, and of, all public elections and referenda; and for that purpose shall have power to make regulations by Statutory Instrument for the registration of voters, the conduct of Presidential; Parliamentary or Local Government Elections and referenda, and other matters connected therewith, including regulations for voting by proxy….”
5. Consequent upon all the foregoing, we submit that any attempt by your Commission to go outside the ambit of Section 33 quoted above, is illegal and unconstitutional and must be abandoned forthwith.
We submit further that the fact that you say in your Press Statement that “……. Key stakeholders including Political Parties have signed up to an agreement to restrict vehicular movement on Election Day….”Does not in any way clothe your statement with any semblance or iota of legality. An agreement to do an illegal act does not make it legal in the eyes of the law.
6. In any event,we are also of the view that even if your attempt to restrict the freedom of movement of citizens on Polling Day was lawful (which it is not,) such a restriction would only create undue problems for several citizens who could not possibly be transported by SLRTA Buses from their homes to their voting centres and back; for those who happen to have registred (for example) in the East End of Freetown but live in the West; and so on. We also believe that such a restriction will also have the effect of disenfranchising several citizens who may regard such a restriction as being a signal that there is trouble brewing, and thus refrain from going out at all, thereby affecting the turnout of voters on Polling Day.
It is unfortunate that even the Police seem to have endorsed such an illegal restriction on the constitutional freedom of movement of citizens, without regard to its legality or constitutionality.
In conclusion, we sincerely hope that you will reconsider your intention to “restrict vehicular movement on Election Day,”quite simply because it is unlawful and unconsitutitonal. We believe the Police should be allowed to fulfill their constitutional role of enforcing Law and Order at all times, and where necessary, to seek assistance from the Ministry.
We would therefore ask that another Press Statement be issued immediately withdrawing the So-called restriction on vehicular movement on Election Day, and thus allow citizens to enjoy their constitutional right to freedom of movement on such an important day in our Nation’s calendar.
Yours Faithfully
J.B. Jenkins-Johnston Esq
President