Sierra Leone's Judicial and Constitutional Crisis
Africanist Press Podcast ServicePlay episode
Show notes
In recent years, Sierra Leonean politicians have amended key provisions of the country's constitution and public-election laws to consolidate a de facto one-party state and entrench the SLPP and APC’s power-rotation politics.
This chain of anti-democratic laws and regulations began with the 2021 cybersecurity legislation, followed by the 2022 Public Elections Act and the 2025 counter-terrorism law, and has now culminated in the current Constitutional Amendment Bill at the center of a so-called litigation in the Freetown courts.
In this episode, we examine the implications of the constitutional and judicial crisis created by these disingenuous and illegitimate amendments to the country's multiparty constitution and public election laws, highlighting that the current tripartite regime, which resulted from the rigged elections of June 2023, lacks the legal and constitutional mandate to pursue any legal reform in Sierra Leone.
