Open Letter Urges Presidential Assent to Sierra Leone Constitutional Amendment

An unidentified writer has appealed to the President of Sierra Leone to assent to the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Act, 2025, saying the legislation was passed by Parliament on 10 August 2026.

The appeal was made in an open letter that described the amendment as having completed the parliamentary process before the vote. The writer said the legislation went through all stages in Parliament before members voted on it.

Claims about parliamentary proceedings

According to the letter, MPs from the main opposition APC took part in debates on the legislation but left Parliament while voting was in progress. The account is presented as the writer’s description of events and has not been independently verified in the supplied material.

The writer also alleged that APC leadership was using some civil society groups and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress to pressure the President against assenting to the Act. The letter did not identify the civil society organisations involved, and the allegation has not been independently verified.

The letter attributes a statement on the parliamentary proceedings to the Speaker, Rtd. Hon. Solomon Segepoh Thomas. Quoting the Speaker, the writer said: “Honourable Members, if you have any issues with my ruling…If there is any need for interpretation of my ruling, I will urge you to seek redress from the Supreme Court.”

Appeal for approval

The writer’s central request is for the President to approve the constitutional amendment legislation. The letter says the amendment changed some clauses in the 1991 Constitution and places the request within the framework of the separate roles of the three branches of government.

It describes the Legislature as responsible for making, changing and cancelling laws, while urging the President to complete the process through assent. The letter does not state whether the President has since assented to the Act.

In discussing the President’s public service history, the writer says he was elected in 2018 for an initial five-year term and received a further five-year mandate in 2023. The letter also refers to the President’s military service, his peaceful handover of power to a democratically elected government in 1996 and his subsequent departure from the country to pursue higher education.

The writer further cites former President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah as having said that governing a country is more difficult than winning an election.

The supplied account does not identify the author of the open letter, provide the specific clauses affected by the amendment or independently confirm the parliamentary claims made in the document.