One would think that Sierra Leone’s post-election standoff between the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is over following the signing of the Agreement for National Unity in October, 2023.
But, three years on, the stalemate still lingers with questions about who is the real victim: is it SLPP, APC or the public?
APC’s Parliamentarians, Mayors, Chairmen and Councilors recently walked out of parliament and councils over suspicion that government is not willing to implement the 80 recommendations proffered by the Tripartite Committee as indicated by a press release dated.
The ruling party, SLPP is yet to respond to the allegation, but at the moment, canvassing APC’s elected officials to return to parliament and councils to ensure that governance runs smoothly.
However, APC is yet to return while SLPP remains alone in parliament. The current boycott is the second in a row.
The first walk out took place in June, 2023 following the announcement of SLPP winner of the election of that year.
The post-election stalemate led to the ANU which came in October of the same year, three months after the announcement of the winner.
The three-month boycott nearly wrecked the country as governance at the local and central levels cannot go normal without a functioning parliament and councils.
Therefore, the only way to bring sanity to the country’s body politic is to have an agreement brokered by the international community (ECOWAS, African Union and the Commonwealth) in the presence of Development Partners.
The three-day peace talks ended into eight resolutions with the third and fourth bordering on an election probe, the release of political detainees and the discontinuation of “politically motivated court cases.”
For the purpose of looking into the election, a committee consisting of seven members each from the APC, SLPP and Development Partners was formed hence the name, Tripartite Committee.
The Committee proffered 80 recommendations which must be implemented for electoral reforms to ensure transparency, fairness and probity in the conduct of future elections in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Government seems to have accepted the recommendations in good faith and is on the verge of implementation when APC staged the walk out.
Meanwhile, Development Partners have withheld funds from government as a way of compelling them to implement the recommendations as demanded by the opposition.
Even the long awaited and much needed US$484m (Four Hundred and Eighty-Four Million US Dollars) under the Millenium Challenge Corporation too is not forthcoming.
The IMF, World Bank and other inter-governmental financial institutions have reduced their financial assistance to Sierra Leone according to official sources. The worst and immediate effect is the stoppage of budget support usually provided by the EU to the Sierra Leone government.
When government, before this time, read budget, they would highlight areas for intervention by Development Partners and such financial help be it grants and loans may run into millions of dollars. Suffice it to say it has been the routine for several years in post-war Sierra Leone, but such situation has dramatically changed after the June, 2023 elections.
The financial blockage is well into its third year, and there is fear that Sierra Leone’s economy which has been weakened by inflation may further melt down if the current situation continues.
Government, without any alternative, heavily relies on its own revenue to run the state and deliver services to the people out of meagre resources.
With a GDP of approximately as US$7.55 billion, there is no contention that government lacks enough to satisfactorily meet the people’s expectations.
As the boycott continues, there is a general feeling that only the ruling party is affected since it has to provide for the people’s welfare and maintain order and stability, a role that is key to state governance.
But, social and political commentators and analysts say it is not the only ruling party that is caught in the storm as there are other parties to the drama.
The opposition party, APC, analysts say, is also at the centre of the storm as their people look up to them about the role they have played in getting government to implement the recommendations. APC grassroot members and supporters have always subjected their leadership to pressure about the implementation of the recommendations, complaining that it is over a year now after the election probe. They always ask what is the next step? This question has always left more questions than answers as head scratching goes on among APC’s top cream.
APC’s executive gets the heat from the ‘Electoral Justice’ group, a movement created and led by the erstwhile presidential candidate, Samura Kamara.
This group of APC seems to have been brainwashed into believing that the June, 2023 election is not yet over.
Their leader, Samura Kamara often re-echoes such phrase in his public speeches and addresses to his supporters by stating that “it is not yet over, until it is over.”
This means the controversy surrounding the June, 2023 election still goes on until one day it is announced that the struggle has come to an end.
But, the leader, Kamara has been out of sight for close to three months following an invitation by the Criminal Investigation Department to answer to questions surrounding the carriage of a title of ‘His Excellency’.
Such title is often carried by a duly elected and sworn President in line with the laws of Sierra Leone.
Samura Kamara is not even announced winner of the June, 2023 election let alone being sworn in as President.
However, the ideology behind the ‘Electoral Justice’ is still kept alive from behind the scenes as its adherents believe that the movement will bring back Samura Kamara to State House.
Such hope seems to have been battered and shattered by Ernest Koroma’s recent voice note which went viral on social media platforms saying “the election is over.”
In the blunt voice note was believed to be a leaked conversation between the former Head of State and the head of the Rapid Hunt Unit, one of APC’s blogging groups.
Ernest Koroma is of the firm conviction that Samura Kamara’s acceptance to sit at the negotiation table with the ruling party means the end of the post-election stalemate.
He drew experience from AU/ECOWAS election observation missions which he led in several African countries including Nigeria since he left the Presidency in April, 2018.
Koroma’s stance which was widely expected to ease tension and end the uneasy calm within the country’s politic only sparked more conflicts as shown by the backlash he got from the APC grassroot members and supporters.
The international community which is concerned over Sierra Leone’s seeming democratic backsliding is at APC’s neck enquiring how far have they gone in ensuring that government implements the recommendations, a question which APC executive always finds difficult to answer. No doubt, APC is trapped by the Tripartite.
Similarly, Sierra Leoneans particularly men in the streets or the have-nots appear to be the biggest victims of the Tripartite.
They depend on a hand-to-mouth survival in a situation of economic hardship fueled by lack of donor support to a country that is desperately in need.
In this present situation, not only government that is trapped by the Tripartite, but APC and the people appear to be visible victims.