A member of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Philip Tetema Tondorneh, has formally petitioned the party’s Interim Elections Monitoring and Oversight Committee (IEMOC), calling for the disqualification of Hon. Paran Tarawally from contesting the position of National Secretary General.
In a strongly worded letter addressed to the IEMOC Chairman, Tondorneh cited findings by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) which confirmed that Hon. Tarawally had illegally placed his wife on the payroll of the Sierra Leone Parliament for three years. According to the ACC, the act resulted in unlawful payments of state funds, which the Commission ordered Tarawally to repay in full.
Tondorneh argues that the ACC’s findings go beyond allegations, stating that the Commission, Sierra Leone’s legally mandated anti-graft body, had already established Tarawally’s wrongdoing. “This finding is not an allegation—it is an established fact,” the petition reads.
The petition references a precedent set by the SLPP during its 2021 delegate convention when two candidates were disqualified from contesting for the same National Secretary General position—one for corruption and the other for registration irregularities. That decision, Tondorneh noted, resulted in Mr. Napoleon Koroma emerging unopposed, reinforcing the party’s commitment to integrity.
Tondorneh emphasized that the party’s 2021 resolution clearly states that any member found guilty of corruption by a state institution must wait five years before contesting for any position within the SLPP. “To ignore this rule would undermine the credibility of IEMOC and the party as a whole,” he warned.
The letter, which has been copied to all regional IEMOC representatives and former SLPP Members of Parliament, urges the committee to uphold the party’s values of fairness, accountability, and consistency.
“This is a defining moment for the SLPP,” Tondorneh stated. “We cannot afford to send a message that corruption is negotiable or selectively enforced.”
Attached to the petition is the ACC’s report detailing the findings against Hon. Tarawally.
As the party prepares for its internal elections, the petition has sparked discussions within the SLPP about the importance of ethical leadership and the need to remain consistent with its anti-corruption stance. IEMOC has not yet issued an official response.
By Lahai Brima kemokai