Charles Margai loses round one to PMDC ‘rebels’

By Theo Nicol.

Charles Margai

Last Friday, the 18^th of November, was a good day for the so called rebel faction within the People’s Movement for Democratic Change party (PMDC) as the group won round one of their high court battle with the PMDC leader, Charles Margai.

The group, including William Tucker, the suspended Secretary-General, Miniru Koroma, suspended financial secretary  and several others including Olabisi Carlton-Carew and Steve Gaojia,  of the PMDC North America, had taken Charles Margai and his supporters  to court to pray the court to slam an injunction on the party to cease operations until the court can determine the matter before it.

They had asked that Aiah Jabba, should stop acting as Secretary-General, as there is a substantive Secretary-General in the person of William Tucker, and Abdul Rogers who is the current Electoral commissioner of the party should also stop parading himself as such and must cease to perform the functions of the electoral commissioner in a ten point petition.

 Mr. Charles Margai had however objected to the procedure that was used by the rebel group to petition. He had claimed rightly so that the petition lacked a stamp and the seal of the court. Margai had also argued on procedural points and had asked the learned judge, Justice Abdulai Charm to throw out the petition of the faction.

The judge however had another idea. He threw away instead, the objections of Mr. Margai on the procedural issues on the grounds that in as much as Mr. Margai was right that the petition was to have a seal, that was not necessary as every lawyer in Freetown knows that the seal is broken and therefore, the circumstance does not need to be fully complied with as there is no seal that can be used.

The judge also imposed a fine that is to be assessed later on Mr. Margai and warned that until the substantive case is heard, whatever the party is doing presently may be declared null and void if the petitioners win their substantive case.

 The case was adjourned till the 6^th of December when the hearing on the substantive matter brought before the court by the faction of the party will start.