Supreme Court to Hear Motion on Joining Constitutional Suits
Sierra Leone’s Supreme Court has cleared the way to consider merging three related constitutional lawsuits, dismissing a procedural objection raised by plaintiffs that aimed to block the consolidation request.
The decision by the five-member panel, led by Chief Justice Komba Kamanda, resolves a key preliminary dispute but leaves open the final decision on whether the cases will ultimately be combined.
In its Wednesday ruling, the bench rejected arguments that defense counsel were required to file individual statements of case for all three matters before applying for consolidation. Forcing separate filings beforehand, the court noted, would undermine the main purpose of consolidating the suits into a single proceeding.
The targeted matters include cases SC No. 8/2026—brought by lawmakers Hon. Osman Timbo, Hon. Abdul Kargbo, and Hon. Daniel Koroma—and SC No. 9/2026, involving the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), Thomas Moor Conteh, and Hon. Tamba Kellie.
Lead counsel for the plaintiff, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, had contended that the court should halt the application because defense attorneys failed to submit mandatory pleadings in a timely manner without seeking formal extensions.
Kamara further argued under Rule 92 that the Attorney-General lacked standing to raise objections without first filing a formal defense.
Supporting legal teams echoed these arguments, asserting that combining the matters was unnecessary and calling on the court to strike out the defense's request.
However, the Supreme Court distinguished the current motion from previous precedents cited by the plaintiff's team. Justices clarified that the dispute centers on preliminary court procedure rather than jurisdictional limits, allowing it to be addressed prior to evaluating the substantive merits of the lawsuits.
Determining that the three cases share sufficient common ground, the panel concluded that insisting on preliminary separate filings would unnecessarily stall the process.
“In view of the above, the objection is overruled, and the application for consolidation is to be heard,” the panel held in its ruling.
Proceedings will resume at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 8, when the court will formally hear arguments on whether the cases should be consolidated into one trial.
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