Ministry of Local government is in total breach of the Chieftaincy Act of 2009 owing to its failure to conduct elections in chiefdoms where regent chiefs have acted for over a year.
The law in question regulates affairs of Chieftaincy throughout Sierra Leone.
It is in tandem with section 72(5) of the country’s supreme law, the constitution of Sierra Leone which provides that parliament shall make laws for the elections, powers, removal and other matters connected with chieftaincy.
In fulfilment of a noble objective, the Chieftaincy Act contains a clause that provides for one-year political existence for a regent chief.
“The term of office of a regent chief…shall not exceed twelve months,” section 3(3) of the Act reads.
Regent Chiefs, the law says, are appointed by the Local Government Minister after consultation with the chiefdom committee.
By law, a regent chief oversees a chiefdom administration in a caretaker capacity until the election of a new paramount chief.
To further strengthen the case for the transient nature of regent chieftaincy, the law makes it mandatory that not later than twelve months after a vacancy occurs in the office of paramount chief, the chiefdom councillors shall elect a new paramount chief in accordance with the Chieftaincy Act and the customary law of the chiefdom.
In exercise of its mandate under the chieftaincy law, the ‘New Direction’ Government, in 2018, withdrew staff [symbol of authority] from all regent chiefs hitherto appointed by the erstwhile government of President Koroma.
Overstay of persons in the offices of regent chiefs was the reason advanced by government for the instant dismissal.
They were replaced with regent chiefs appointed by the current government with a strong promise of conducting paramount chieftaincy elections within the legally stipulated period.
It is now close to three years since the regent chiefs were appointed. No sign of conducting paramount chieftaincy elections exists.
To present a strong case for the naked failure of Local Government Ministry, Maforkie and Yonni Mamela Chiefdoms in Portloko and Tonkolili districts respectively are adopted as case studies.
Maforki Chiefdom which covers several sections including Portloko town was recently controlled by PC Omela Bangura as one political entity prior to a deamalgamation policy pursued by former President Koroma.
Baka Loko Chiefdom currently ruled by a substantive Paramount chief, Omela Bangura emerged in Maforki after the Koroma deamalgamation policy in 2017.
Suffice it to say that Maforki which comprised more sections became vacant, and by law, a regent chief had to be appointed to man the affairs of the new chiefdom.
Consequently, Abass Koroma was appointed as regent chief, a post he has held for close to two years being a manifestation of blatant disregard for the chieftaincy law to which the Ministry of Local Government is subject.
In a recent interview with the Maforki regent Chief, Koroma cited inconsistencies in the list of tribal authorities as the main cause for the delay in the conduct of paramount Chieftaincy elections in Maforki.
Eight ruling families, PC Koroma says, have shown interest in contesting the said elections but seem to be in disagreement among them regarding the exact number of tribal authorities to be gazetted.
“The elections would have held if the ruling families had agreed with the number of tribal authorities shown in the list,” he said.
Alusine Koroma is one of the aspirants that has shown interest in running for an election that is long overdue.
He told this medium that the tribal authorities list is not properly prepared by government, an act he referred to as the cause of controversy among the aspirants.
“It looks like government want to favour a particular candidate in the up-coming chieftaincy election,” he alleged.
In a related development, Yonni Mamela in Tonkolili district share the same situation with that of Maforki in PortLoko district.
Yonni Chiefdom was one, but after the deamalgamation process, the chiefdom saw the emergence of two chiefdoms: Yonni Mamela and Yonni Mabanta.
Yonni Mabanta has a substantive paramount chief in the Person of PC Gbagbereh the 3rd while Yonni Mamela is controlled by a regent chief called Pa Kapr Sanka.
The former regent Chief, Konto Koroma who was appointed by the Koroma government was immediately removed when the ‘New Direction’ assumed reins of state command.
The aforementioned instances portray neglect of duty on the part of the Ministry of Local Government.
The maxim latent in the neglect is when those seen as drafters or makers of law for good governance of the state nakedly violate them with impunity, it leaves the doors of lawlessness widely opened.
A community activist and teacher in one of the secondary schools at Calaba Town, Ibrahim Bangura explains that the Chieftaincy Act is a simple regulatory instrument for the affairs of chieftaincy in the country.
The English contained in the clauses that deals with election of paramount chief is simple and straight forward noting that one does not need not to be lawyer to understand it.
Bangura accused government of embarking in political gimmicks for reason only known to them.
“Presidential and parliamentary elections are now close. It is proper for government to conduct paramount chieftaincy elections before we go into general elections,” he suggested.
The institution of chieftaincy is one of the most revered institutions in contemporary governance system.
It is pivotal to the successful implementation of vital policies, programmes and projects of government in any chiefdom in Sierra Leone.
A paramount chief, by virtue the status, is the highest political authority in the chiefdom.
Paramount chiefs perform oversight functions, on behalf of their people, in the delivery of essential services by public or civil servants in the chiefdom and make recommendations to government.
The strategic importance of the office of paramount Chief is echoed by the same section of the constitution.
Section 72 guarantees the non-abolition of the institution of chieftaincy as established by customary law and usage.
The provision tacitly indicates that regardless abnormality or turbulence of circumstances, the institution of chieftaincy is always there and must be treated with the reverence it deserves.
The Local Government Ministry’s blatant neglect of conducting paramount chieftaincy elections in chiefdom with vacancies portray disregard for an institution that is most crucial to the governance of a modern state like Sierra Leone.