Freetown — Ady Macauley Esq., a flag bearer aspirant for the All Peoples Congress and former Anti-Corruption Commissioner, has issued a rejoinder to Dr. Michael Imran Kanu’s article defending the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Bill, 2025, arguing that the Bill’s passage on 10 August 2026 violated the constitutional requirements for altering the supreme law and is therefore “void ab initio.”
While Dr. Kanu had framed the dispute over Section 108(2)(b) as a matter of two equally balanced interpretations that should be commended to the Supreme Court, Macauley insists the balance “is not equal” and that one construction “cannot weather rigorous scrutiny.”
“The argument that ‘Members of Parliament’ means only those present and voting ignores the statutory definition of the term itself,” Macauley states. “Section 74 of the 1991 Constitution defines what constitutes the Members of Parliament: it is the totality of 149 persons.”
Macauley references a previous ruling by Speaker of Parliament Hon. Segepoh-Thomas in the Lara Taylor-Pearce matter, where the Speaker distinguished between “of” Parliament (total membership) and “in” Parliament (those present). “The Speaker did not distinguish between ‘all the Members of Parliament’ in s.51(1) and ‘of the Members of Parliament’ in s.108(2)(b),” Macauley writes. “He distinguished between ‘of’ (total membership) and ‘in Parliament’ (those present).”
He also challenges the validity of the voice vote used to pass the Bill. “A voice vote, ‘the ayes have it’ is inherently incapable of demonstrating that 100 Members voted in the affirmative,” Macauley argues. “Where the Constitution prescribes a numerical threshold, that threshold must be numerically demonstrated.”
Macauley acknowledges that the Bill contains “worthy objectives” including reforms to the Electoral Commission, women’s representation and dual citizenship, but insists that “worthy ends do not justify unconstitutional means.”
“The Supreme Court is not being asked to choose between two equally plausible readings; it is being asked to uphold the Constitution as it was written,” he concludes. “The gains of a generation deserve to rest on a foundation that is not merely convenient, but constitutionally valid.”
Macauley is a former prosecutor and Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission and an alumnus of the International Law Enforcement Academy.
