The National Electoral Commission, Western Rural District, has certified Mr. Oseh Leslie Whenzle as the duly elected Chairman of Waterloo Village at a ceremony held at the Western Area Rural District Office after winning the polls of Saturday, 21st September, 2019 after polling 1,725 votes.
Speaking shortly to this medium after receiving the certificate from NEC, Mr. Whenzle promised to call a meeting of all stakeholders and residents of Waterloo to bridge the huge gap that was created by the elections.
On whether he has extended an olive branch to his opponent, Alusine H. Sesay who came very close to him in the polls, he noted that he has an intention to bring every individual in the village to create the much needed development.
The newly elected Headman is expected to shortly receive ‘the bell’ from the Western Area Rural District Chairman as the symbol of authority.
News making the rounds on social media also circulated a petition letter purportedly written by Mr. Alusine H. Sesay, one of the leading candidates in the just-concluded Village Head bye-election in Waterloo.
Mr. Sesay a retired school principal who was acting headman of the village prior to the elections, had cited four reasons for petitioning Saturday’s results and they include: misrepresentation of the colour of his tractor symbol on the ballot paper by NEC from brown to red; violence against his supporters; arrest of a vehicle that was providing food to his agents at various polling stations and lastly, the arrest of a voter with fake voter registration card.
The petitioner who was beaten by over three hundred votes in an appalling voter turn-out elections largely as a result of the fact that the campaign ahead of the election was marred with unprecedented violence, wants the National Electoral Commission to overturn the results of the Saturday election.
NEC is yet to make a statement around this latest twist of events but preparations are well on course to present the symbol of authority to Mr. Oseh Leslie Whenzle after subsequently been certified by the National Electoral Commission as the winner of the elections on Wednesday.
The Headman-elect, Oseh Leslie Whenzle is returning to the seat after having ruled for decades just after the country’s eleven-year war.
Many say he was instrumental in the post-war rehabilitation of Waterloo after it was burnt down and vandalized by fleeing RUF rebels.
He was reported to have largely coordinated humanitarian efforts and also instrumental in supporting government in returning state institutions such as the Police, the Magistrate Court and many others.