May 4, 2018 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
The High Court of Sierra Leone, presided over by Justice Alusine Sesay, Thursday, 3 April, vacated the interim injunctions slammed against five Members of Parliament elect of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) and two from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Justice Sesay, on 23 April 2018, granted an interim injunction restraining five elected Members of Parliament representing the main opposition APC from taking their seats in Parliament after a petition was filed against them by the ruling SLPP.
Addressing the court prior to vacating of the interim injunctions, Lawyer Easmon Ngakui, representing the SLPP petitioners, said he had been instructed to make an application to vacate the interim injunctions slammed against five APC lawmakers.
He noted that they do not intend to proceed with the interlocutory injunction but that they would continue with the petition against the opposition Members of Parliament.
Ngakui told the court that they have been instructed to receive service of any petition from the main opposition party and that the said service must be effected at the law firm of Brewah and Co. at No.2 Siaka Steven Street in Freetown.
In his reply, Roland Nylander Esq., representing the opposition APC, said they would not object the application of the petitioners, adding that they have also been instructed to receive service at No. 65 Siaka Steven Street.
He also applied that the interim injunction they had sought against three SLPP lawmakers be dismissed accordingly.
After listening to both sides, Justice Sesay dismissed the interim injunction slammed against the five APC and three SLPP MPs elect.
Meanwhile, a joint high level delegation comprising President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States, H.E. Claude Kassi Brou and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas has urged the Judiciary to ensure prompt, fair, independent and timely adjudication of all grievances and pending petitions regarding the recently concluded electoral process.
The delegation noted that in view of the urgent need to address socio-economic challenges the country is currently experiencing, they strongly urged the political leadership to desist from any action that could undermine state institutions, democratic governance, social cohesion, national unity, peace and stability.
Also, in a press release issued yesterday by a team of ECOWAS Parliamentarians that visited Sierra Leone, they noted that the leadership of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the main opposition All People’s Congress had agreed to vacate the earlier interim injunctions slammed against some Members of Parliament.