As the APC’s split executive saga continues, party strongman Kemoh Sesay has said he will not register with the party as he still does not know the fate of his June 2023 presidential vote, saying he is not sure if it is reflected in the final vote count.
Despite the call from the APC executive for the party to start registering members, Sesay, whose clout in the party makes him an obvious potential future flagbearer, surprised everyone when he released an audio saying that he will not be registering with the party until he knows the fate of his vote.
Kemoh Sesay said the result that the electoral commission announced is not credible. Although APC has presented RRFs from 70 per cent of the polling stations, Sesay said the remaining 30 per cent is out there and needs to be reconciled.
Kemoh said in the build up to the June 2023 elections many opposition supporters didn’t vote because they were intimidated and afraid of violent repercussions. Meanwhile Sesay wants to know how the SLPP won the election, once again casting doubt on how the votes were tallied by the electoral commission and the chief returning officer.
To avoid the kinds of problems that could result from elections issues Kemoh said the international community requested for both parties in the interest of the people should work things out to ensure peace at the end of the process.
Since it is required that both parties work together to settle the impasse Kemoh said he still does not know the fate of his vote he cast for the APC, adding that he is not sure if it is reflected in the chief electoral commissioner’s tallying of the votes.
The APC executive said he is not asking for the removal of the SLPP government, although he called for a rerun of the June 2023 presidential vote.
To prevent the kind of social problem that can result from electoral impasses, Kemoh Sesay is calling on both parties to sit down and talk.
Kemoh Sesay’s decision not to register until he gets to know if his vote was counted is in obvious support of the advocacy of Dr Samura Kamara and respect of his position as party leader. There is a current rift in the APC executive with one section calling on the party to move on from the 2023 elections and start preparing for 2028. Many supporters of Dr Samura Kamara see this as open betrayal of his electoral justice cause and an approval of the discredited 2023 presidential vote tallying that saw the incumbent being declared winner.
The other side of the APC divide is behind Dr Samura Kamara and are hopeful that electoral justice will be delivered that will see the presidential result of the 24 June, 2023, vote set aside as not reflective of the actual voting on the day.
Meanwhile the people of Sierra Leone that voted for change say they are hopeful that the international community especially the UN will establish who won the 2023 presidential election. The result that announced the incumbent as winner has been widely rejected by political parties and commentators, international elections observers, the main opposition APC and ranking members of the international community.