By Ragan M. Conteh
The Secretary General of the All People’s Congress (APC), Lansana Dumbya, has disclosed to journalists at their party’s headquarters that ‘the APC will not accept any ‘wishi-washi’ elections results for the June 2023 general elections’.
According to Dumbuya, the APC is not asking the Political Parties Regulations Commission (PPRC) to side with the party; they are only asking for free, fair and credible elections. He said the party will not accept or tolerate anything other than a free and fair election process.
He said the party suffered a stolen victory at the hands of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in 2018. Dumbuya said the APC will only countenance and accept credible elections come 2023 general elections.
The Secretary General said as Sierra Leone gets closer to the 24 June 2023 Local Council, General and Presidential Elections, the need for closer collaboration on elections management matters and confidence building becomes imperative.
He said inclusive and robust elections management is key to delivering free, fair and credible elections acceptable to all sides in any democracy. He said due to recent policy pronouncements by ECSL and experience gained in taking part in by-elections in the past five years, the APC has deemed it necessary to tackle electoral malpractice.
‘We are very much concerned about this seeming infringement of the law and have requested to the Commission that it clarifies in no uncertain terms the policy it intends to adopt in respect of tallying and transmission of results of votes cast from polling stations to the district and up the chain to national level,’ Dumbuya said
The APC Secretary General said the APC will reject and resist any attempt to short-cut legally laid down procedures and protocols in the management of the 2023 elections.
Further, he said, the ECSL after registration of voters only published final voter registration figures at national, regional and district levels and failed to publish disaggregated voter registration figures at polling centre level. ‘We are therefore requesting that the voter registration figures at polling centre level be published immediately not only because transparency and credible elections management demands that, but because it is necessary in aiding the APC’s election preparedness,’ he said.
Also, he pointed out that the ECSL acted alone and somewhat in secrecy awarding the contract for the printing of voter identity cards in this electoral cycle.
Dumbuya revealed that in 2012 and 2017, the process was inclusive where political parties and civil society organisations were not only involved in the procurement of a vendor but also monitored the printing exercise and the courier and distribution process of the cards.
He said it is regrettable that these transparency and confidence building measures were ostensibly omitted by ECSL in the current electoral cycle.
He highlighted that, given that as per the ECSL’s last update, the voter identification cards have not been couriered into Sierra Leone, adding that they now demand that the ECSL discloses to them who the contractor is and when the voter identity cards are arriving in Sierra Leone as they intend on monitoring the card distribution process starting from when they arrive in Sierra Leone, their storage and distribution.
He therefore said ‘These clarifications and demands have been made in line with our party’s commitment to ensure they have a non–violent, democratic and fair elections process and outcome.
On another note, he said they have formally complained and brought to the attention of the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) certain incendiary statements and falsities uttered by Madam Fatima Bio, the First Lady of Sierra Leone, while she was campaigning for the SLPP in Kailahun District on 19 March 2023.
Dumbuya revealed that in a video and audio clip being shared widely on social media, the First Lady uttered, among many other things, that the APC did not conduct elections during their National Delegates’ Conference (NDC) but rather did a selection of national officers, that all their national officers with the exception of two are from villages along Kamakwie Road, that former President Koroma had stated that Kono does not ‘matter’ (is irrelevant), that former President Koroma had said that he had made sure that the east is not part of the APC, that their entire national executive consists of only Lokos and Limbas, and most dangerously that APC should not be allowed to have party offices in the east.
Lansana Dumbya said these statements are not only false but irresponsible and incendiary.
He went on that it is open knowledge, with evidence abounding that elections were conducted during the APC NDC, that their National Executive does not consist only of people along Kamakwie Road, that former President Koroma never made a statement about the irrelevance of Kono or the East, especially considering how much development he took to the East during his presidency, and that not only Lokos and Limbas constitute the APC Executive.
Section 39 (1) of the Political Parties Act 2022 provides that “A political party, including its members, supporters, candidates and operatives shall not be involved in the use of incendiary and inciting statements, including hate speech against political opponents”.
The Secretary General said a statement that the APC should not be allowed to have offices in the East ‘is most dangerous’ and inciting and exposes their party, its property, membership and supporters in the east to hate, possible attacks and destruction.
Lawyer Dumbuya said they drew the PPRC’s to a recent fine the Commission imposed on their party citing the same provision of the law for statements or chants made by certain persons in the presence of our national leader, ‘for whom there is no evidence that they are known operatives or members of our party, but yet still the Commission proceeded, of its own volition, to fall heavily on them, even though the party through its leadership issued prior statements for people to desist from making incendiary comments’.
‘We waited several days to see what action the Commission would take regarding the utterances of the first lady, especially so considering how the Commission was proactive in calling us to book when unknown people purported to be our supporters made less incendiary statements, but up till now we have not heard or seen anything from the Commission,’ he said.
Dumbuya said the APC admires the Commission Chairman’s leadership and have enjoyed his professional collaboration and expect his dispassionate consideration of this complaint.
‘We believe that what is good for the goose must be good for the gander,’ he concluded.