By Ralph Sesay
The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy (EISA) in Africa, an organisation responsible for monitoring elections on the continent has raised a number of issues in respect of the March, 2018 electoral processes.
Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan led EISA Elections Observer Mission to Sierra Leone of (EISA/EOM) Observation Mission to Sierra Leone during the said election. Such capacity placed him in a position that apprised him first-hand reality. The former President noted that the political situation in the run-up to the elections was shaped by a number of issues particularly the uncertainty around the declaration of the date for the elections.
The lead observer also found out that although Sierra Leone constitution says presidential elections shall take place where the office of President is to become vacant by effluxion of time, the former President still continued in office after the beginning of the four-month period. Section paragraph (b) further bolsters the said section as is says elections shall be conducted, in any case during the period of three months commencing from the date when the office of the President becomes vacant. The EISA/EOM did not ignore the doubt hanging on the date for the 2018 elections which was further compounded with a pending referendum for the adoption of the proposed constitutional amendments. The proposed amendments were the results of the Constitutional Review Committee set up to review the country’s supreme law. It was held that provisions in the said law are not in tune with the times.
The Supreme Court in Sierra Leone despite these challenges was also expected to rule on a matter involving the former UN diplomat, Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkellah, one of the leading candidates in the elections, and founder leader and flag-bearer of the National Grand Coalition (NGC). The Supreme Court ruling revolves around the thorny issue of dual citizenship of the NGC flag-bearer.
Similarly, the EIO also observed that the legal framework for the conduct of elections in Sierra Leone was weak. “The framework must be strengthened for subsequent elections,” The mission recommends. The observation was made against the backdrop the 55% threshold for winning the elections in a presidential system did not adequately address the issue of ethnic politics which, the observers said, was manifested at the polls. “The absence of provisions for independent candidates in presidential elections, action to promote the participation and representation of underrepresented groups including women, youths and people with disabilities was crucial to the legal framework architecture,” EIA observed.
The detection of such anomalies during and after the elections did not prevent the EISA/EOM to commend Sierra Leoneans for their unwavering commitment to a democracy building project. The Political Parties Registration Commission was also singled out to have contributed to the process particularly the signing of the Freetown Declaration in collaboration with four former presidents who were part of the EIO. The signing of the declaration broke a deadlock as to the method to be adopted for the counting of the ballots in the run-off.
The absence of provisions for independent candidates in Presidential elections; affirmative action to promote the participation and representation of vulnerable groups including women, youths and people with disabilities was crucial to the legal framework architecture,” EIA observed. On elections management, EISA had observed that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and PPRC are the independent bodies provided for in the 1991 constitution for managing election-related matters in Sierra Leone.
They have noted that in their opinion they were concerned that, NEC’s accountability to the President by way of presenting annual reports to him on their activities could potentially compromise its independence.
The two agencies, EOM said, made reasonable effort over the years with strong support from government and donor partners in conducting transparent elections in the face of huge financial challenges. The mission drew the attention of government to the numerous challenges presented by the joint voter registration exercise by NEC and the National Civil Registration.
They recounted that the data transfer process and the steps taken to review the register had presented a situation where a very good number of names were missing thereby bringing credibility problems to the process.
The legal framework recognizing the right of Sierra Leoneans living abroad to participate in electoral processes was also questioned by EOM as framework, the mission said, failed to provide registration and voting rights for the diasporans.
EOM submitted that, while they acknowledged the operational and financial requirements for dispora voting, they regretted that eligible voters abroad remained disenfranchised from the country’s electoral system.
Candidate nomination fees, party and campaign financing and the role of the media were also critical issues which the EOM also looked into for possible review.
On the candidate nomination fees, they noted that, prior to the 2012 elections; NEC had pegged quite an exorbitant nominations fee for candidates. The nomination fee was seen by EOM as a serious limitation to the rights of candidates to participate in the elections.
A move by NEC to get Parliament to reduce the nominations fee was whittled down. It was widely believed that the situation compelled the former President to foot the bill for the candidates. The failure of Parliament to pass the proposed regulations on the nomination fees was also viewed by EOM as a “stumbling block” to inclusive participation in the electoral process.
They have highlighted that, the current nomination fee, if maintained, could discourage qualified candidates from vulnerable groups such as women, youth and the physically challenged from exercising their rights to participate in the electoral process. Since the government subsidy, EOM observed was not anchored on the legal framework, it could be misconstrued as an incentive for voters or rival candidates.
The observers had also reported that, the PPRC is increasingly challenged around enforcing the constitutional provision which mandates political parties to disclose their election and campaign finances after every election.
The situation, according to EOM was further worsened by the lack of a ceiling on campaing expenditure by the legal framework. This status quo, the mission said, had opened up the electoral process to the undue influence of money.
Media partisanship was also a factor that was not ignored by EOM. The factor was described critical to the electoral process. Although the country’s Independent Media Commission (IMC) and other donor bodies like the UNDP had trained journalists on elections reporting, media neutrality still posed a challenge to the elections.
They applauded the addition of the Presidential Debate initiative into the electoral process especially the one hosted for women and local council candidates.
The observers expressed their disappointment over the low representation of women in the March, 2018 elections even when they constituted 52% of the total country population.
The March, 2018 elections, EOM had noted, women accounted for less than 20% who contested the parliamentary elections. It was acknowledged that, the 2018 elections saw a nomination of younger candidates.
Other critical findings highlighted in the report had included the participation of the civil society organisations (CSO’s) for maintaining a Women Situation. CSO situation rooms were used as hubs for information sharing and real time monitoring in the wake-up to the March, 2018 elections.
They concluded that, the layout of NEC’s national tally centers did not facilitate a direct observation of the procedures or easy interface between officials and observers. Other issues highlighted had included consideration around the review of the threshold for determining the winner of Presidential elections; a review of the legal framework to strengthen the regulation of party and campaign financing and the powers of PPRC amongst others.
But as we speak, Sierra Leone is three years to another major elections in 2023 and most if not all of the above recommendations are yet to be looked at by NEC and the Government of Sierra Leone.
A good number of the issues raised are factors that have created tensions in most elections in the country.
The recommendations of EISA/EOM are expected to be entry points in trying to sanitize the legal framework around the management and conduct of elections in the country.