*Use of Funds Donated By Development Partners
*Procurement of Voter ID Cards
*Registration, Voting, Counting, Tabulation and Announcement of The Results
*Alleged Manipulation of Electoral Framework by ECSL
*Alleged Police and Military Brutality Before, During and After Election
*Alleged Unlawful Arrest and Detention of Opposition Politicians, Supporters and Sympathisers Before, During and After Election
*Alleged Harassment, Intimidation and Terror Campaign Before, During and After Election
In 12 days, an election investigation committee will be in full swing according to a communique signed by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC). Although the committee will set their investigation parameters, Sierra Leoneans hope that the committee will look at the use of funds donated by development partners, procurement processes of voter identity cards, voting, counting, tabulation and announcement of election results, alleged police and military brutality, unlawful arrest and detention of opposition politicians, supporters and sympathisers, harassment and intimidation of voters in opposition strongholds among others.
The ad hoc tribunal will last for six months and its recommendations will be “actionable” and “implementable” although some SLPP politicians argue that they are not legally binding.
If understood correctly, SLPP is insinuating that it is within the discretion of President Julius Maada Bio to either accept or reject the recommendations and continue his governance project to a time only God knows.
The communique is a product of a three-day dialogue brokered by the Commonwealth, African Union and ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) in the presence of key development partners. It is a peace document and one of the clauses compels the two sides to set up an election investigation committee to look into what happened before, during and after the election.
“His Excellency the President, in consultation with the APC party, will constitute a cross-party committee on Electoral Systems and Management Bodies Review with a three-way leadership nominated by the Government of Sierra Leone, the APC party and Development Partners… to investigate the electoral systems, structures and processes of the 2023 multi-tier electoral cycle,” a portion of the communique reads.
The communique also noted that the committee will be informed by previous elections with a view to highlighting and addressing contentious issues of elections and result management including the collation, verification, authentication and publishing of electoral data consistent with international best practice.
Such practice enhances the credibility of all future elections in Sierra Leone that guarantees election to be free, fair and credible. The terms of reference, according to the peace document, will be developed under the joint leadership of the committee within 30 days.
*Use Of Funds Donated TO ECSL By Development Partners
It was reported that ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) received US$10m to print quality voter identity cards to be used in voting. The cards printed could not be relied upon driving away several voters from polling stations.
The cards were opaque and photoless making it difficult for even ECSL staff to discern the voter. The cards attracted criticisms from the public including key stakeholders. APC’s Secretary-General, Lansana Dumbuya minced no word in referring to the cards as sub-standard and not fit for purpose.
His condemnation of the cards also triggered public backlash that resulted into voter apathy which would have been the first and biggest resistance to the election.
Sierra Leoneans call on the proposed committee to look into the use of such funds by ECSL as well other funds given to Sierra Leone by other international partners.
Support to Sierra Leone’s electoral system by development partners to strengthen democracy did not happen only for June, 2023. It has been going on for years since the reintroduction of multi-party democracy in 1996.
European Union, United Kingdom and United States have been quite supportive of all electoral processes to place Sierra Leone on the path of a strong democracy, peace and stability.
The international community even supported the 2018 general elections through which Bio became President. It is no difference for June 24, 2023 election which EU and other development partners fully supported.
Just two years to the election, EU Ambassador, Manuel Muller announced an electoral support of millions of dollars to the election commission as part of their support to Sierra Leone’s democratic process, but with a condition that the election made to be free, fair and transparent.
It was during the press briefing that Ambassador Muller assured Sierra Leoneans that “there will be no rigging as the last vote will be counted; government will be making a sad mistake if they hope to rig the election.”
The statement should have been a watchword for President Bio and his government and ensure that honest and credible election is held in the interest of peace, security and prosperity.
*Registration, Voting, Counting, Tabulation and Announcement of the Election Results
Unlike previous elections in Sierra Leone, June polls is bizzare and ridiculous in terms of voting, counting, tabulation and announcement of election results. Reports from election observers indicate that voting in most polling stations did not start at the right time, and voters waited too long in queues to cast their votes.
Although voting commenced too late, polling centres shut down at the right time thus depriving a large number of voters, and the early closure of polls was widespread in opposition strongholds.
Such anomaly occurred only in North-West regions where APC expected to get high votes while it is a safe and easy ride for those in the South-East, heartlands of the ruling party.
The disparity in the treatment of voters is a mere ploy to reduce voters for APC while ensuring an increase for SLPP. Every rigging has a foundation and such was laid in the registration period.
Reports from the field stated that most voter registrars deployed in North-West regions left out several communities amid allegations of sympathisers or card-carrying members of the ruling party. At the peak of the registration ahead of the June elections, this press spoke to a resident at Devil Hole community at the outskirts of Freetown, Adama Jalloh who said “I saw no registration centre in my community, and am not sure I will vote since I don’t know where to register.”
Like Adama, several others also were not aware of a registration centre in their community and also did not vote. A large number of Sierra Leoneans especially in Freetown and other parts upcountry did not vote since voter identity cards were not issued to them after registration.
ECSL’s refusal to issue voter ID cards is a disenfranchisement of potential voters by other means. The counting, tabulation and announcement of election results were also shrouded in secrecy raising big cloud of suspicion on rigging.
In most parts of the country especially in the South-East, votes were counted after violence was applied to officials representing APC, the only opposition party that took part in the election.
They were also forced out of tabulation offices by ECSL officials so that that fraudulent conversion of APC’s votes to SLPP would be made easy. One of APC’s lawyers, Ahmed Sesay who represented his party at the tabulation office made it clear that it reached a point when ECSL officials did not allow him to do provide oversight of the tabulation process and had cause to walk out.
Left alone in the tabulation office, ECSL officials had a free hand to allegedly steal APC’s votes evidenced by the announcement of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh. APC, a party that got most of the votes received 43.83 per cent of the total votes cast while the ruling party which lost popularity ahead of voting secured 56.17 per cent thus avoiding a run off contrary to the local election watch body, National Election Watch (NEW) headed by Marcella Samba Sesay.
NEW is an Umbrella body of civil society organisations specialised in election monitoring and reporting using the Process and Result Verification for Transparency (PRVT). Its head Marcella Samba Sesay was blunt to say no candidate got the 55 per cent needed to avoid a run off.
Her stance was also supported by all international election observation missions that took part in Sierra Leone’s June polls as they too claimed that the electoral process “lacked transparency.”
*Alleged Police and Military Brutality Before, During and After Election
The police and the army, by law, are meant to protect the people of Sierra Leone. Alas, these institutions which were once held in high esteem were fast relegated to terror and oppression tools after SLPP took over state governance in April, 2018.
Countless number of Sierra Leoneans perished under the barrel of the gun during protest to assert their rights.
The Youth in Makeni, Bombali district. protested against the relocation of an electricity generator and six were killed according to government figures. Unofficial sources put the number at 20 which was supported by a member of parliament representing one of the constituencies in the district.
An APC supporter was also fatally injured in Tonko Limba Chiefdom in Kambia district during campaigns by the opposition and ruling party. Eventually, SLPP won the seat owing to the terror it unleashed to APC supporters. In Tonkolili, a commercial motorist was shot dead during a joint police and military raid carried out for cannabis, a drug prohibited by the laws of Sierra Leone.
The ill-fated youth met his death after he refused to surrender his motor cycle as demanded by the security forces. A protest by fishermen in Tombo fishing community in the Western Rural district was also brutally suppressed by heavy-handed police officers causing several deaths.
In Freetown, residents also lost their lives during protests against high cost of living. 31 inmates including a prison officer were also massacred in April, 2020 almost a year after Bio became Sierra Leone’s President.
The shoot out, according to government sources, was to foil an attempted jail break, but the force was disproportionate by all standards. Armed guards deployed at State House were accused of carrying out masterminding the shoot out at the prison yard, but no one was held to account thus deepening the impunity culture for which Sierra Leone was known in the past five years.
In September, this year, six protesters were also gunned down including a disabled top-up seller, Alfred Kallon in the post- election period. The brutal encounter between the police and the civilians came after the latter took to the streets calling on the election authorities to publish the genuine election results.
*Manipulation of the Electoral Legal Framework by ECSL
Striving to put the ruling party on the edge over other political parties in the June, 2023 election, ECSL, backed by parliament, tampered with several electoral laws. Less than a year, several electoral laws were reviewed and passed in parliament with provisions making it difficult for opposition political parties to contest on an equal platform.
The Political Parties Regulation Commission, Local Government, the Public Election, and the Proportional Representation laws were passed in the same year, 2022.
These laws, most times, would be challenged by the opposition especially the proportional representation whose battle was taken to court by Dr Abdulai Conteh, one of Africa’s most respected lawyers.
The rapidity at which the laws were passed made the opposition leader, Dr Samura Kamara to raise the red flag on ECSL urging them for reversal of decision.
“From the outset, amid a progressively shrinking democratic space, it has become evident that the Sierra Leone People’s Party-led Government has embarked on a deliberate path to manipulate the electoral process. This disconcerting objective has been pursued through blatant tinkering with the electoral framework and disregarding the plethora of recommendations put forth by the national and international election observation missions following the 2018 election,” a portion of kamara’s statement reads. The press statement was issued just week to the June elections.
However, Kamara’s calls for sanity in the electoral process were ignored creating big doubt about where the election body was heading for.
*Widespread Arrest and Detention of Opposition Politicians, Supporters and Sympathisers Before, During and After the Polls
Widespread and unlawful arrest and detention of opposition politicians, supporters and sympathisers before, during and after the June 24, 2023 elections was an effective tool employed by the ruling party to force opponents back out of the election race.
The incarcerations did not occur on election day, but months before the elections especially in the early days of the Bio regime. Key ministers of the past regime notably Ministers of Defence, Alfred Paolo Conteh, Public and Political Affairs, Karmoh Kabba, Public Works, Kemoh Sesay, Social Welfare, Sylvia Blyden, and several others were incarcerated. They were released after months behind bars without conviction in any court.
Even former President Ernest Bai Koroma and his deputy, Victor Bockarie Foh were arraigned for corruption and money laundering offences. Former Mayor of Freetown, Herbert George Williams and officials of APC executive for Western Area and other parts of the country were also targetted for arrest and detention.
The waves of incarcerations continued on to the registration and voting day in which several Sierra Leoneans perceived as APC supporters and sympathisers were arrested and detained. Dozens were picked up by police and military officers during registration linking them with crimes relating to August 10, 2022 demonstrations in which 31 people were killed including six police officers.
The arrest sprees share a common feature-discriminatory. Hardly one hears about the arrest of an SLPP or government official even if the worst crime is committed. SLPP Chairman, Dr Alex Prince Harding was accused of inciting murder at the SLPP office in Freetown, but was never held in a police cell talk less of a prison centre.
By virtue of the discriminatory practices surrounding the arrest, it is safe to argue that they were carried out to weaken or shut down the opposition party to reduce its potency to contest the election if not going out of the contest.
Had he succeeded, Bio would have gone unopposed as he used to assure his supporters during conferences within and outside Sierra Leone that there would no challenger for SLPP in the June elections.
*Intimidation, Harassment and Terror Campaign Before, During and After Election
Bio’s leadership style is one that falls outside the recognised parametres of peace and civility as political violence, thuggery and fear rented the atmosphere in SLPP’s early days of governance.
Overnight, SLPP, a party of academic elites was reduced to a battlefield with combat-ready soldiers ever willing to do harm to opponents. It is not unusual to see to see fully dressed and well-armed soldiers dancing and brandishing their Ak 47 and 58 assault rifles issuing threats against the people of Sierra Leone especially those who oppose the Bio regime.
The soldiers’ action became one of great concern by a frightened public. In response, the army high command put out a press release distancing themselves from the soldiers’ threats saying such conduct did not represent the institution.
Senior officers promised to investigate the soldiers, but they did not come back to tell what was the outcome if, at all, one was conducted.
Similarly, intimidation of peaceful civilians and former government officials following the announcement of Julius Maada Bio winner of the June, 2023 election was also part of the terror campaign.
The victory sent thugs linked to SLPP into a frenzy of violence constituting themselves into vigilante groups embarking on a rudderless search of government vehicles with sporadic attacks not uncommon.
Mistaken for a former minister, a judge of the high court was attacked and forced out of his vehicle, and the daughter of ex-President Koroma also succumbed to the same fate.
Her premises was raided owing to allegation that he was using a government vehicle. No one was safe in the immediate post-election period of 2018 as the weakest could kill the strongest suffice it to say that the atmosphere of panic and fear continued to this day.
Until the truth about June-24 election comes out, it will never be over until it is over.