FREETOWN – Former Internal Affairs Minister Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally has threatened to take legal action against the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) after the party publicly disowned him and warned its members and the business community against dealing with him.
Tarawally said the party’s National Chairman, Jimmy Batilo Songa, defamed him and damaged his reputation by declaring him a non-member and ordering him to stop his campaign for the SLPP flagbearer ticket.
In a letter to Chairman Songa dated 18th September 2026, Tarawally said he has instructed his lawyers to consider actions under the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act 2021 and for defamation.
The dispute started after Songa wrote to Tarawally on 17th September, directing him to immediately stop using the SLPP logo, presenting himself as a party member, or holding himself out as a flagbearer aspirant.
Songa said the decision followed verification from the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP), which in a letter dated 3rd September confirmed that Tarawally remains a member of the CDP – the party under whose ticket he contested the 2018 presidential election.
Tarawally has described the CDP letter as “untruthful and misleading.” He told the SLPP leadership that he resigned from the CDP on 15th June 2018 and rejoined the SLPP as a fully paid-up member, Grand Chief Patron and National Delegate.
He argued that under the SLPP Constitution, only the National Executive Council and the party’s disciplinary bodies can expel a member, not the National Chairman acting alone.
A day after the Chairman’s letter, the party escalated the matter.
In a public notice dated 19th September 2026, signed by National Publicity Secretary Moses Sellu Mambu, the SLPP warned all its elected executives, officials, members, supporters and the general public within and outside Sierra Leone not to “engage, transact, negotiate or conduct any official business with Hon Alhaji Musa Tarawally in the name, on behalf or under the authority of the SLPP.”
The notice added that no member is authorised to use the party’s name, logo or structures to facilitate any engagement with him.
The general public, businesses, development partners and other stakeholders were likewise advised not to enter into any financial, contractual or political transaction with Tarawally on the purported authority of the party.
Despite the disclaimer, Tarawally insists he remains a legitimate SLPP member and has vowed to continue his bid to become the party’s flagbearer for the 2028 elections.
The matter has now been copied to the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and the All Political Parties Association (APPA).
