Constitutional Transformations in Sierra Leone

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai

University of Sierra Leone

Constitutional amendment is often understood to be geared towards improving a nation's political, social and economic state, yet, as we know, this is not always the case. As in many other countries, in Sierra Leone, some constitutional amendments have promoted deeper participation and democracy while others have facilitated entrenched repression.

This post will chronicle the constitutional evolution in Sierra Leone from the colonial era to the immediate post-colonial regime, the one-party system in the 1970s and finally multi-party democracy in the early 1990s. It discusses how some constitutional amendments positively transformed the country into a burgeoning democracy, but others have caused regression into an era of dictatorship that consequently entrenched repression and abject poverty. As will be seen, various constitutional transformations were instrumental in Sierra Leone’s move from a British colony to an independent republic. These include: adoption of the first constitution (the Blackhall Constitution) in 1863, the 1924 constitution, the 1947 constitutional proposal and the subsequent 1951 constitution.     

The Blackhall half-baked Representative Constitution  

Throughout colonial subjugation, Sierra Leone was governed by White colonial masters. However, the Adoption of the 1863 Blackhall Constitution (named after the then governor, Samuel Black Hall) sparked political reforms recognizing the need for African representatives in the political administration of the colonial regime. In particular, it established an Executive Council with no African representatives on it and a Legislative Council with only two, making African representation negligible.  The Legislative Council formulated the laws for the colony and comprised of twenty-two members. The Executive Council implemented the laws and comprised of five members: the Governor, the Chief Justice, the Queen’s Advocate, the Colonial Secretary, and the Officer Commanding the Troops. The Blackhall Constitution nevertheless restricted its jurisdiction to the colony (Freetown and the Peninsula towns), excluding the Sierra Leone hinterland. It was welcome that the colonial government included Africans for the first time after hundreds of years of white rule. The introduction of African representation started the journey to self-government that government that was built on in subsequent constitutions.

The Slater Constitution

The first incremental reform came with the replacement of the Blackhall Constitution with the Slater Constitution in 1924 by Governor Ransford Slater, which increased African    representation in the Legislative Council from two to eight representatives. Although the drive for the new constitution did not increase African representation dramatically as was expected, it nonetheless presented an opportunity for its achievement and began a piecemeal increase. The push for the new constitution was after the British administration declared a protectorate over the Sierra Leone hinterland in 1896 with the Blackhall Constitution still in force. This was out of fear of a possible assault on the sphere by France, their major rivals who occupied large territories bordering the hinterland, including Guinea. Since the Blackhall Constitution’s jurisdiction was limited to the colony, part of the transformative role of the Slater Constitution was uniting the colony and the protectorate under a unitary administration. 

Stevenson and Stoke’s Quantum Leap into Political Representation 

Subsequent major constitutional amendments that intensified the push for the independence of Sierra Leone were initiated in 1947 by Governor Hubert Stevenson who proposed a new constitution (the ‘Stevenson Constitution’). The proposed reforms in the Stevenson Constitution set Sierra Leone on its path to independence, triggering serious disagreements amongst the elites. The reforms were eventually adopted in a new constitution of 1951 by Governor Beresford Stoke reflecting the Stevenson Constitution’s proposals. Its major reforms included increasing the number of African representatives in the Legislative Council from eight to twelve. It also allowed Africans to be appointed to the Executive Council, making them eligible to hold cabinet positions. 

Moreover, the 1951 Constitution introduced active party politics in Sierra Leone; that is, Africans were allowed to actively run for election to the Legislative Council through political parties. Consequently, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was formed the same year (1951) and won the election. Some of its members were also appointed into the Executive Council. Two years after adoption of the 1951 Constitutional reforms, the colonial administration for the first time appointed a cabinet full of African ministers in 1953. Sir Milton Margai, the leader of SLPP, was made Chief Minister in 1954. With the constitutional changes brought by the 1951 constitution, Margai and his SLPP associates were able to push the colonial government to establish a House of Representatives replacing the Legislative Council in 1956. 

The 1951 constitutional reforms thus continued to facilitate the path to a constitutional democracy through independence in 1961. The reforms helped to further enhance democracy even after independence until 1967 when the All-People’s Congress (APC) party, the main opposition party at that time, won the elections. APC defeated the ruling SLPP and won a majority of the seats in the House under its leader Siaka Probyn Stevens. Stevens and his regime undertook      constitutional reforms to the significant detriment of the democratic gains achieved through the 1951 constitution. Notably, the introduction of the One-Party Republican Constitution in 1978 frustrated democratic progress by officially banning opposition parties in Sierra Leone. It made the APC the only de jure political party and established authoritarian politics. The government perpetrated violence as a repressive tactic against dissenters.

The Democratic 1991 Constitution 

Stevens’ era was characterized by suppressed political pluralism, with the APC dominating the political environment until 1992. Collaborators and friends of the APC occupied and controlled the state apparatus for many years. This led to severe corruption, poor economic growth, cronyism, and poor governance. Eventually, the One-Party Constitution was reviewed and replaced with the 1991 Constitution by Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh after Stevens handpicked him to be his successor. The 1991 Constitution which remains in force to date practically rejuvenated a culture of political pluralism and lifted the ban on opposition political parties. It minimized ethno-regional and identity politics by for example, requiring that political parties’ flag bearers select running mates from regions different from their place of birth. 

The 1991 Constitution has undergone further amendment. It has promoted a democratic constitutional order to realise social, political and economic justice. Besides granting citizens fundamental human rights and freedom under Chapter 3, Chapter 2 on the fundamental principles of state policy reflects the intent to foster socio-economic and political transformation in the country. It has set out mechanisms and processes for democratic elections, including term-limits for the President. However, in a major step backwards, it still gives the President power to appoint and remove members of the Electoral Commission. It also establishes the separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It ensures oversight and institutional accountability, vesting the power of judicial review in the Supreme Court. 

Through the reforms instituted by the 1991 Constitution, the state was able to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the President, acting under the powers conferred by section 29 of the Constitution, declared a State of Emergency before the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in March 2020. This was a significant step in preventing the spread of the disease.

Constitutional Reform in 2017 and 2021

Recently there have been efforts to institute further constitutional reforms to enhance the gains achieved through the 1991 Constitution, notably in 2017 by President Bai Koroma, and in 2021 by President Maada Bio, in an attempt to usher in new provisions to meet the changing times as a democratic nation. While the 2017 attempt failed due to lack of political will from the Bai Koroma-led administration, the Julius Maada Bio regime kick-started reform of the 1991 Constitution having accepted several recommendations proposed by the 2017 Constitution Review Commission in 2021. A committee was established to review the detailed work of the 2017 recommendations and publish a White Paper. A progressive White Paper accepted numerous constitutional amendments, which include reforms to fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the abolishment of the death penalty. Additionally, the government has accepted the recommendation to amend the constitution to reduce the detention period prior to being brought to court to seven days from ten days for heinous offences and forty-eight hours from seventy-two for other offences, respectively. The government has also accepted the recommendation to draft a new section 27 of the 1991 Constitution to provide for gender inclusivity, protection from discrimination and promotion of the rights and empowerment of women in line with Government’s policy.

In a nutshell, the adoption of various constitutional amendments in Sierra Leone and recent efforts for more constitutional reforms have been instrumental in ensuring more democratic institutions and processes in the country. Future amendments should focus on identifying and addressing the weaknesses and deficits in the 1991 Constitution as far as maintaining a democratic constitutional order is concerned. This will enable the state to fulfill better and streamline its obligation to deliver and uphold social, political and economic justice to and for the people of Sierra Leone.

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai Esq is the executive director of Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone (SDI) and a constitutional lawyer in Sierra Leone. He is the Acting Head of Department, Department of Legal Studies, Faculty of Law Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Suggested Citation: Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, ‘Constitutional Amendment in Sierra Leone: Past, Present and Future’ IACL-AIDC Blog (28 February 2023) https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/2023-posts/2023/2/28/constitutional-transformations-in-sierra-leone.