Alphonso Gbanie has called for greater public understanding of the constitutional amendment case before Sierra Leone’s Supreme Court, urging political parties to respect the judiciary and avoid turning the proceedings into a partisan dispute.
Speaking in an interview with Truth Media on Tuesday 13th October 2026, Gbanie said people, including those in rural communities, needed clear explanations of the issues the court was being asked to determine.
The Supreme Court is hearing cases concerning the passage of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Bill, 2025, including questions about whether Parliament followed the constitutionally required procedure. The cases were listed for hearing on Oct. 13.
Gbanie said the central question was whether Parliament had followed the correct process when it passed the amendment bill. He said the Supreme Court had the authority to interpret constitutional questions and determine whether the required procedures were followed.
He also urged political parties to move beyond arguments over whether Sierra Leone should use proportional representation or a first-past-the-post electoral system and instead discuss which model would best serve the country.
Gbanie referred to the Constitutional Review Committee’s report, which recommends including proportional representation in a revised constitution. The recommendation appears in the report’s section on proportional representation, beginning on page 260.
He argued that the debate should focus on the type of proportional representation system Sierra Leone should adopt, noting that different models exist. He also raised the possibility of combining elements of different electoral systems.
Sierra Leone used first-past-the-post elections in 2007, 2012 and 2018 before using proportional representation for parliamentary and local council elections in 2023. The Tripartite Committee’s report also identified concerns about public understanding of the change and how the system worked.
Gbanie said public discussion of the court case was legitimate because it involved constitutional questions and citizens had a right to express their views. However, he cautioned against what he described as interpreting the law to suit political interests.
He said people who were not aligned with any political party should be able to consider the matter from the perspective of the country’s interests.
Gbanie warned that political parties should not draw the judiciary into their disputes, arguing that doing so could affect public confidence in the courts. He called for respect for judicial independence as the Supreme Court considered the constitutional questions.
He also compared public debate over the case with the way people discuss other complex issues, saying the responsibility now rested with those explaining the proceedings to help citizens understand what was at stake.
The Supreme Court was scheduled to continue hearing three related cases on Oct. 13, concerning the passage of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The substantive constitutional questions remained before the court at the time of the published reports.