Speaker Segepoh Solomon ThomasHon. Abdul Kargbo, Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Sierra Leone, has accused Speaker Segepoh Solomon Thomas and those involved in the August 10, 2026 parliamentary amendment to the Constitution of treason.
Hon. Kargbo, speaking on Liberty Online TV’s Wan on Wan’ program, described the implementation of the amendment as an illegal and unconstitutional attack on the supreme law of the land “What they have done is an abuse of the Constitution; what they have done is treason,” Kargbo said, adding that any unauthorised amendment to the Constitution is effectively “a coup against the Constitution.”
The measure was passed without the two-thirds vote of all the MPs as required by the Constitution, making the procedure on August 10 dangerous, he said. Parliament currently has 149 members, Kargbo said. His calculations show that two-thirds of that number is 99.33, meaning that any constitutional amendment must be approved by at least 100 MPs.
He said only 100 members of Parliament could amend the Constitution and stressed that the minimum was calculated on the basis of the total membership of the House and not the number of MPs present on any particular day. Only ninety-six members attended the meeting on August 10, which did not meet the numerical threshold to amend the Constitution, said Kargbo.
The current Parliament has 149 members, and two-thirds of 149 is 99.33, he said. “There were only ninety-six members present at the meeting in question, and that was not a quorum to amend the Constitution.” The minority leader also questioned the procedure adopted by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) to justify proceeding with the amendment.
He dismissed reliance on Standing Order 44(4), which relates to specific voting thresholds for declaring a State of Public Emergency, saying “Standing Order 44(4) can only be invoked in the event of a State of Emergency.” Kargbo argued that no emergency warranted the use of the standing order to reduce or change the threshold for amending the Constitution.
You can’t change the Constitution with a simple majority. “The simple majority amendment of the Constitution has never happened in Sierra Leone,” he said and added that the Constitution cannot be amended by two-thirds of members present on a given day but must be approved by two-thirds of all members of Parliament. “Amending the Constitution is one of the most sacred jobs of Parliament, it is not something Parliament plays with because failing to do what is required is treason,” he warned.
Hon. Kargbo referred to Section 108(8) of the 1991 Constitution that any suspension, alteration or repeal of the Constitution except with the proper authority of Parliament is legally an act of treason. He contended that the forbidding had included the August 10 events and that Speaker Thomas’s decision to allow the bill to go through without the two-thirds vote was tantamount to criminality.
“The Speaker committed a crime when he passed the bill without the two-thirds majority,” Kargbo said. “The Constitution cannot be changed by a ruling. The Constitution can never be changed by simple majority at any time. Parliament violated the Constitution. What they did was an invasion of the Constitution.” Anyone who does so without a two-thirds majority has committed an act of treason.”
Hon. Kargbo’s claims lay the foundation for a constitutional and political debate with potentially dramatic legal and institutional consequences. His remarks reflect a deep disagreement about parliamentary procedure, the proper interpretation of standing orders, and the threshold for amending the nation’s legal document.
