Presidential Power to Remove Vice President is Undemocratic

Posted by Jeneba Project on Saturday, December 9, 2017 Under: Articles

Among the odd constitutional changes recommended by the Sierra Leone Constitutional Review Committee is the undemocratic idea of constitutionalizing the power of a president to remove her/his vice president without due process. Including this provision in the future constitution will enshrine the recent unconstitutional decision of our president to remove his vice president because of issues arising within their party, hors the power of parliament to impeach.

The president and the vice president are voted by the people, and only the people, through their elected representatives, should hold the power to remove either one of them. Our present constitution (1991) is clear on impeachment procedures applicable to the president and his vice.

The president and the vice president are voted on the same ticket, one awaiting should the other ever become incompetent to fulfill the duties of the Office of the President. The president and his party have the power to appoint a new vice president, with parliamentary confirmation, should a sitting president be removed from office. It is therefore unconstitutional and undemocratic to grant a president equally voted by the people, unilateral power to fire her/his vice. To constitutionalize such authority will be retrogressive and catastrophic for future governance. It will transmit in-party bickerings to national politics. 
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Joseph Kaifala, ESQ. is the Director of Joseph Kaifala Consulting (SL) Ltd. and founder of the Jeneba Project. He holds a JD and Certificate in International and Comparative Law.

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KATEHUN KATEHUN (pronounced Ka-te-hun)-is a Mende word for a symposium or community center where disputes are settled. Everyone is permitted to make his/her case before a presiding chief in an open forum. On this forum, I write primarily for those who stand committed to the Rule of Law in Africa and to the value that our future is better determined by the government of the people, by the people, and in service for the people. To advance the African value of Ubuntu through International Law and the Principles of a United Nations, which propels us towards Life in Larger Freedom.
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