By: Mohamed Jalloh
The Political Party Registration Commission(PPRC) has instructed the All Peoples` Congress(APC) party to search and update the membership data of the before lower level and national executive elections are conducted within the party.
This was made known through a press release issued by the PPRC on Tuesday 4th October 2022.
“There is therefor, an absolute need to search and update the Membership data of the Party”, the press release points out.
Below is the Commission`s position on the credibility of the membership register of the party:
CREDIBILITY OF THE MEMBERSHIP REGISTER OF APC PARTY
This proved to be the most contentious of all the issues raised in the Objections received.
Five out of the Nine Objectors raised serious concerns about this issue. Addressing it dispassionately therefore, is pivotal to the success of the transition process.
It is the membership Register that is the voter Register in the Ward elections.
The ward elections are in the opinion of the commission, the foundation for all intra Party elections.
It is from these elections that, the first Electoral College is constituted.
Therefore if they are flummoxed, all succeeding elections in the Party will be flawed.
This explains why, in our experience with intra Party elections, the ward elections are often the fiercest and keenly contested. That is so because, when you missed out on this, you will miss out on all other layers of the elections.
Also of note, is the fact that, it is from this general membership Register that, Candidates for all Party Offices are drawn.
It goes without saying therefore Page 14 of 29 that, it is of utmost importance that, the membership Register be thoroughly examined and amicably settled. The Register must be clean, transparent, credible and acceptable to all members of the Party. This is the only way we can inspire confidence in intra Party electoral process and the outcome acceptable by all.
Anything short of this, is a recipe for chaos and discontentment amongst the membership, at the detriment of the general interest of the Party.
As a Commission, we are not only charged with the responsibility of Registering and supervising the conduct of Political parties, we are also obligated to aid their continued survival and/or existence.
In contentious issues of this nature therefore, we are guided by only one interest, the Party’s.
The choice of Officials to Man the affairs of the Party, is the exclusive preserve of its members. A fraudulent Membership Register therefore, has the potential to steal that mandate, in contravention of Section 35(2) of the 1991 National Constitution. At the hearing of the objections, complaints galore, of unprocessed Membership Applications, a frantic unregulated and skewed membership registration prior to the delivery of the Judgment, membership cards without names, suspicious and conflicting Membership Registers amongst others. In view of all of the above, it behoves the Commission to thoroughly examine this issue, with the utmost dexterity and finesse and come out with a fair and just conclusion, that would tend to only one interest, the APC Party, epitomised by its membership, with recourse only to the law, as it relates to the facts.
In doing so, we will start off with the membership register that was submitted to us in 2021, by the outgone National Secretary General of the Party, on the Page 15 of 29 Orders of the Court, prior to the conduct of the elections of the five Constituency delegates, the twenty women’s Congress and the twenty National Youth League delegates, that constituted part of the emergency National Delegates Conference, that met in Makeni, for the adaption of the current Party Constitution.
That Register has a total of Eight Hundred and Forty one members of the Party. Going through the minutes of the ITGC meeting of the 22nd September 2022, held at the conference room of the Commission, it is stated therein that, the erstwhile Secretary General, again as directed by the Court, handed over to the ITGC, a membership Register of Sixty Three Thousand members. The Commission is not seised of this Register, as it was never availed us. The questions however that beg for answers are, when did the Party Register the extra members, in excess of the 841 in the Register submitted to us, prior to the emergency NDC in Makeni. Were they registered after the emergency NDC in Makeni. Did that Register exist prior to the said emergency NDC, but doctored to confer some undue electoral advantage on a particular set of people? Mindful of impugning the integrity of accomplished Statesmen, with Stella credentials in politics, the Commission can only conclude that, the additional members in excess of the 841 submitted to us, were registered after the emergency NDC.
That conclusion however, naturally draws the Commission’s attention to the injunction granted by the Court, on the 26th February 2021 and varied on the 19th April 2021.
A glance at the said injunction, gives one the impression that, the Party’s National Officers were restrained from carrying out specific activities of the Party.
However, from the lips of His Lordship that granted same, it would seem that, the injunction was much more broader and encompassing in its effects, than it appears on its face. In paragraph 4 of the Judgement, His Lordship stated thus: “On the 26th February 2021, I granted an interim injunction against the Defendants, restraining them FROM CONDUCTING ANY PARTY AFFAIRS, pending the hearing and determination of the action——-“.emphasis ours. Page 16 of 29 From the horse’s mouth as quoted above, it is clear that, the Court’s intention was to restrain the Defendants from conducting any Party affairs and that certainly includes the registration of members. This puts in issue, all registration done by the Defendants, during the pendency or subsistence of the said injunction.
It is also instructive to note that, ward elections are not captured in Article 55 of the Constitution, that sets the membership timeframe, that qualifies members to contest for Party Offices, in the various structures of the Party. It follows therefore that, there is no membership timeframe requirement, for a member to contest in a ward election.
This is clearly intended to bring those elections, within the Draftsman’s intention in Article 36(d) aforementioned. It is absurd to have a requirement that, voters in a ward elections must be registered and paid up for a period of one year, when those they are to vote for, only need to be members, as there is no timeframe relative to them, in Article 55 aforesaid.
Consequent upon the above, we hold the view that, for ward elections, there is no timeframe requirement to vote and to be voted for. New Registrants can Page 18 of 29 vote and be voted for, without contravening any provision of the Party’s Constitution.
Of relevance in this behalf also is the fact that, there is nowhere in Articles 9 and 10 of the 2022 Party Constitution, that provides for a lull in membership registration by the Party. Both Articles envisage a continuous membership registration process.
Consequently, any hold on the registration exercise of the Party, without a lawful Order of a Court of competent jurisdiction, is arbitrary and in Sharpe contravention of the provisions of the Party’s Constitution cited above.
By necessary implication, it is also an infringement on the fundamental Right of freedom of Association of the prospective Registrants and therefore does violence to Section 26(1) of the 1991 Constitution that guarantees that Right.
The Chairman’s recommendations for open primaries or the issuance of emergency ID cards for the purposes of the pending elections only, are untenable They are not only unconstitutional, but also have all the hallmarks of chaos.
Cognizant of the controversies surrounding the membership Register handed over to the ITGC, by the erstwhile executive, coupled with the fact that, the Register of 841 members earlier submitted to the Commission, is not even enough to fill the executive positions in the Party, from the executive of 10 in each of the 446 wards, to the 132 constituencies, 16 electoral districts, 5 Administrative Regions, the Young Congress, women’s Congress and National Officers. There is therefor, an absolute need to search and update the Membership data of the Party.
This objection is therefore sustained and we shall issue directives in that regard accordingly.
