Despite a number of requests made by the public and other political parties about the raw data, ECSL (Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone) appears to be in no mood to release the real data. The voter register released is incomplete prompting more demands from the public and political parties. The document showed only the number of policing centres and the number of polling stations.
It is the exact amount of voters in stations that offer the exact number for a centre. Political parties will therefore be better equipped to observe and question any malpractice when they get all the list from ECSL. ECSL is a body mandated by law to conduct and supervise all public elections throughout Sierra Leone. The conduct of the election begins with the registration of voters. After every registration, the election should furnish all political parties and other election stakeholders a complete voter register. It is a basic requirement which ECSL should not be allowed to be questioned. In all previous electrons, the electoral authorities issued voter register to all political parties without condition.
This time is a different ball game. ECSL has to be placed under pressure before it does what is required of them. The refusal is a clear sign that ECSL is trying to protect an interest that is only known to them. In an open show off defiance, the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh. When he was subjected to pressure, Konneh made it clear that, in the exercise of his functions, he was not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority. The CEC also reportedly stated that his office should not be audited by any person. All these statements were interpreted to mean that Mr Konneh does not want to open up to the public in respect of the raw data.
Although ECSL is an independent body as provided by law, it is however not free from questing and criticism. It is also under obligation to do the right thing, and any deviation leads to suspicion and sometimes protest. The ECSL also resorted to similar action after the registration. It took the election authorities months to release the total number of people registered. The number was made public only after ECSL came under fire.
ECSL figures showed that 1, 946, 515 voters registered in the North-West regions while 1, 312, 947 registered in the South-East regions. North-West regions are the strongholds of the main opposition, All People’s Congress while the South-East are heartlands of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party.
The margin between the strongholds is just to great prompting ECSL to with old the figures, a move that raised suspicion of rigging in favour of the ruling party. Suspicion was heightened when the people of Sierra Leone looked back at the manner in which former Electoral Commissioner, Western Area, Miatta French was removed from her post and replaced with Zainab Moseray.
Miatta French’s removal came after it became clear that she did not allow herself to be carried away by material gain. She showcased her integrity during 2018 general elections. In a related development, the salaries of ECSL staff were recently increased tenfold while other government workers still receive pittances. What is the aim for such a huge increase in the salaries of ECSL staff? This question remains unanswered. This is not the first time ECSL is evoking legal provisions to shield itself from questions of fairness and transparency.
When questioned about the state of implementation of the 113 elections recommendations, the CEC was bold enough to respond that “Sierra Leone is a sovereign state.” State sovereignty means ECSL should not be questioned at all about its function. Many Sierra Leoneans also took exception to this comments since the sovereignty of Sierra Leone has nothing to do with issues of transparency in the conduct of the elections.