Sierra Leone vice president dismissed after asylum bid
Samuel Sam-Sumana accused by President Koroma of abandoning duties after seeking refuge in US embassy in Freetown.
Sierra Leone’s president has dismissed his deputy for seeking asylum in a foreign embassy, according to a statement from the president’s office.
Ernest Bai Koroma said Samuel Sam-Sumana had abandoned his duties and office as vice president by seeking refuge in a foreign embassy, adding that he would appoint a new deputy shortly.
“Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana is no longer a member of a political party in Sierra Leone and therefore does not have the continuous requirement to hold office as Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone,” the statement said.
Blyden Jenkins-Johnson, Sam-Sumana’s lawyer, told Reuters news agency they were meeting on Wednesday to decide on “challenging the sacking.”
Sam-Sumana had requested asylum at the US embassy in Freetown after soldiers surrounded his residence on Saturday following his expulsion from the ruling party this month.
Following an investigation by Koroma’s All People’s Congress (APC) party, Sam-Sumana was accused of creating his own rival political movement and fomenting violence in his home region of Kono, in diamond-rich eastern Sierra Leone.
Sam-Sumana who was not immediately available for comment, has rejected calls to resign and denied the accusations against him, which also included charges of lying about his academic credentials and his Muslim faith.
His expulsion from the party has stirred confusion as Sierra Leone’s 1991 constitution only allows the dismissal of the vice president with the vote of two-thirds of parliament, but it does require the office holder to belong to a political party.