Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Former Vice President Alhaji Chief Sam Sumana’s chances of running for APC leadership in 2026 have been crushed, not by party politics, but by the strict rulings of the High Court.
The controversy over his eligibility traces back to his expulsion from the APC and the subsequent attempts at reinstatement. Although the party leadership under Ambassador Osman Foday Yansaneh and later Alfred Peter Conteh sought to bring him back, both reinstatements were invalidated by the courts.
Justice Adrian Fisher, in two landmark rulings in 2022, held that both the National Advisory Committee (NAC) and the Interim Transitional Governance Committee (ITGC) lacked the lawful authority to act on membership matters.
Justice Fisher was categorical: decisions taken by illegitimate party bodies “cannot be recognized in law.” His rulings dismantled all pre-2023 efforts to readmit Sam Sumana, leaving the 2023 National Delegates Conference’s general amnesty as the sole lawful basis for his reinstatement.
However, under the APC Constitution, Articles 35(4) and 56(b) impose a five-year continuous membership requirement for any leadership aspirant. Since Sumana’s lawful reinstatement only took effect in 2023, he cannot meet this threshold until 2028.
While some of his supporters frame the issue as political sabotage or a constitutional crisis, legal analysts argue otherwise. They note that the Sierra Leone Constitution grants parties the autonomy to establish internal eligibility rules, and the courts have consistently upheld this principle.
In effect, Sam Sumana’s path to the 2026 leadership race has been foreclosed. His reinstatement was lawful and final, but his eligibility is blocked by the clear language of the APC Constitution. Any further legal challenge, observers warn, would not be about inclusion but a political maneuver that risks derailing party preparations for 2028.
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