Sierra Leone’s ruling party wasted no time on Friday to swear in nine new Members of Parliament following a court verdict that stripped the main opposition of the seats.
The nine Sierra Leone Peoples Party members took their oath at a ceremony presided over by the Clerk of Parliament, Umar Paran Tarawally and in the presence of the Speaker of the House, Dr Abass Bundu.
Dr Bundu urged the Members to live up to expectation, according to a statement from the House following the ceremony.
The swearing ceremony followed two High Court rulings which nullified the elections of 10 MPs from the All Peoples Congress (APC). For nine of the seats, the judge declared that the runners up in the elections should be handed the seats.
The tenth seat was declared vacant and a bye-election ordered by the judge.
Friday’s swearing-in seals the SLPP’s majority in the House with 58 seats against APC’s 75 seats.
The opposition NGC has four seats and C4C eight seats, with three Independent seats.
Speaker Bundu in his statement proclaimed the SLPP’s majority status.
Earlier, the area where the headquarters of the APC is located was like a war zone as supporters of the opposition party engaged in a running battle with the police following the court rulings.
Several people, including top leaders of the party, were trapped in the compound while the police arrested supporters outside.
The police fired teargas to disperse others.
Video footage shared on social media show people with injuries.
At the police CID about two dozen supporters were detained.
KC/as/APA