Attorney General Takes Constitutional Reform Bill to Weekly Press Conference
Miattia Civic Centre, Brookfields, Freetown — Tuesday, 27 January 2026- The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alpha Sesay Esq., on Tuesday addressed the Weekly Press Conference hosted by the Minister of Information and Civic Education at the Miattia Civic Centre, Brookfields, where he provided a comprehensive briefing on Sierra Leone’s constitutional review process and the key provisions of the proposed Constitution Amendment Bill has be tabled in Parliament this morning.
The Attorney General traced the constitutional journey of Sierra Leone, noting that the 1978 Constitution established a one-party state, which was later amended into the 1991 multiparty Constitution shortly before the outbreak of the civil war. Following the war, the 1999 Lomé Peace Agreement, particularly Article 10, recommended a comprehensive review of the 1991 Constitution. This process led to the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2004, which identified governance and constitutional deficiencies and called for a broad, consultative constitutional reform.
Acting on the TRC’s recommendations, the late President Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah issued a White Paper committing to constitutional review and established a committee chaired by Dr. Peter Tucker, whose report was later submitted to former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. In 2013, President Koroma constituted the Justice Edmond Cowan Constitutional Review Committee, comprising over 80 members, including representatives of registered political parties, civil society organisations, youth groups, and market women.
The committee conducted an extensive nationwide consultation, recording:
Over 10,000 public consultations, 150 position papers, 80 expert engagements,180 direct stakeholder engagements. More than 70,000 consultation forms nationwide 40,960 website visitors. The committee submitted its report in June 2017, which the government accepted in part while rejecting others.
In 2021, President Julius Maada Bio issued another White Paper based on the Justice Cowan Committee’s recommendations, incorporating provisions of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act into the proposed new Constitution.
Following the 2023 National Peace and Unity Agreement, a Tripartite Committee was formed. Both sides agreed on 80 recommendations, with non-entrenched clauses has be tabled in Parliament as electoral reforms ahead of the 2028 general elections, while entrenched clauses will continue through the constitutional review process that will take us to referendum.
The Attorney General highlighted several significant amendments, including:
Section 49(1): Amendment to empower Parliament to remove a Vice President who is expelled from the political party under which he or she was elected, as recommended in the Justice Cowan White Paper.
Proportional Representation (PR): The Bill proposes the repeal of Section 38A (temporary PR authority) and an amendment to Section 74(1)(b) to allow a category of Members of Parliament to be elected through proportional representation, with modalities to be determined by Parliament.
Presidential Election Threshold: Clause 42(2)(e) seeks to replace the long-standing 55% first-round victory requirement with a simple majority of 50+1, coupled with a requirement of at least 20% of votes in two-thirds of districts nationwide.
The Attorney General emphasized that the proposed amendments are aimed at strengthening democratic governance, electoral credibility, and constitutional stability in Sierra Leone.
