A bright light shines at the end of the tunnel as the Tripartite Committee rounds up the election probe into the June 24, 2023 multi-tier elections despite some bumps along the way.
Amid fear and suspicion surrounding the election investigation, APC (All People’s Congress), Deputy Chairman, Osman Foday Yansaneh says there is hope for his party as the Chief Electoral Commissioner fails to produce complete voter register and results by polling stations and districts as demanded by the people of Sierra Leone and the international community.
“The results of the 11,000 polling centres should be released,” Dr Yansaneh urged ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) as the people’s patience wears thin.
ECSL is a body mandated by law to conduct free and fair elections and in the performance of such functions, the agency is not subject to the control or direction of any person or authority.
But, the commission however strayed away from its main legal mandate when it allegedly tilted the scale in favour of the incumbent, Julius Maada Bio at the expense of the opposition candidate, Dr Samura Kamara of the APC.
President Julius Maada Bio in whose favour the elections was announced failed to take the necessary action to either reverse or investigate the elections to either avoid embarrassment or ascertain if he was the true winner of the elections.
Instead of ensuring that the elections are freely and fairly conducted, President Bio rather lay back hiding behind the cloak of ECSL’s autonomy, an omission that Dr Yansaneh also hinted on.
He went on to state that President Bio never hesitated to remove the Auditor-General whose office is also not subject to the control of any person or authority but fails to remove the Chief Electoral Commissioner after such a great blunder.
By failing to checkmate excesses of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, it is safe to say that President Bio is not in the mould of former Liberian President, George Opong Weah who warned his Chief Electoral Commissioner not to rig the elections in his favour.
Several unofficial agencies, say APC’s candidate wins the elections but ECSL’s failure to produce the election results creates a big problem.
Such failure, according to political commentators, is a sign that the elections are not free and fair as claimed by local and international election observation missions as well as the people of Sierra Leone.
APC’s second gentleman is confident that APC will soon clinch the presidency either the results are laid on the table or not.
“If it is proved that Samura Kamara is the Winner of the elections, power will be transferred to him,” Dr Yansaneh assured an anxious crowd of APC members amid thunderous clapping and cheers.
He cited similar political situation that occurred in Ghana in which the incumbent who was falsely declared winner of the elections handed over power to the opposition after it was proved that he did not win the elections.
Strengthening the hope of APC grassroot supporters, Dr Yansaneh further reminds them of tough actions taken by the United States and other development partners by way of funding cut.
The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, United Nations and other donor agencies have ceased sponsoring Sierra Leone owing to the rigged elections except health and other sensitive areas of governance.
The United States, in particular, is yet to dish out the long-awaited $500m under the MCC (Millenium Challenge Corporation) compact as she awaits the outcome of the Tripartite Committee and government’s willingness to implement the recommendations.
In a related development, the United States also currently withholds $292m from government which should have been used as a support to the energy sector.
Access of such fund by the government is also contingent on the extent of government’s implementation of whatever comes out of the Tripartite Committee.
Such strong assurance by Deputy Chairman comes at a moment of anger and disgruntlement among APC’s grassroot members and supporters owing to recent utterances by senior APC politicians especially those representing the party at the Tripartite Committee.
In a press briefing held at the party’s headquarters, APC’s Chairman, Dr Minkailu Mansaray informed his party’s comrades that the election would take place in 2026 without specifying which one. As a result of the statements, social media platforms have been saturated with heated debates about Mr Mansaray’s real and genuine intention about the party.
Such statement goes a long way in confirming allegations of a sell-out to the Bio regime so that it could successfully run its second term.
Most of the spin doctors within the party seemed to have thrown their weight behind the chairman as they construe the statement to mean APC’s convention although such discussion has never come up.
But, many were convinced that he is referring to a rerun election in the said date, a move which APC members seem ready to stoutly resist arguing that any rerun or fresh election recommended by the Tripartite Committee should not go beyond 2024. They fear that any appeal by the PAOPA regime to hold elections in 2026 is a mere hoax drawing from their past experiences. At the signing of the communiqué, President Bio promised to release political detainees, discontinue political trials and resettle victims of political violence.
Most APC members and supporters are also not pleased with the persistent warning of a preemption made by party’s key representative at the Tripartite Committee. The warning says no one should prejudge the committee’s outcome although SLPP members and supporters could not be stopped.
Dr Kaifala Marrah issued the warning during last Wednesday’s press briefing at the displeasure of the supporters particularly when members of the ruling party were bold and blunt about no rerun election until 2028 if not 2030.
Dr Marrah was also hesitant to hit hard on the SLPP during the launch of the terms of reference that should guide the Tripartite Committee.
While the Presidential adviser, Dr Emmanuel Gaima rebuffed any suggestion for a rerun election, Dr Marrah was not bold enough to challenge him but made a conditional statement that “the committee will recommend a rerun only if significant irregularities are detected.”
Such Statement could also mean that there would be no rerun if there are no significant irregularities, and who determines the significance of the election rigging is also unclear.
Despite the utterances, APC still maintains hope that the deal will favour them at the end of the day despite challenges, negative forecast and projections.
They have highlighted three solid demands that either power is handed over to Dr Samura Kamara or a rerun or fresh election is conducted.
They promised to take to the streets if recommendations by the Tripartite Committee fall short of any of the afore-mentioned demands.
The Tripartite Committee which represented Sierra Leone’s hope came into being after a three-day dialogue that was facilitated by the international community (Commonwealth, African Union and ECOWAS).
The dialogue ended in a communiqué that was signed between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) to end a post-election stalemate that nearly wrecked the country.
The committee’s main function, according to the communiqué, was to look into alleged election irregularities of the June 24, 2023 multi-tier elections and make appropriate recommendations to government.
It all boiled down to claims made by local and international election observation missions that President Bio did not win the elections although he had been holding the forte all this while.
Election observers of the United Nations, European Union, Carter Centre, ECOWAS, Commonwealth, G7+ said there was no winner in the election.
National Elections Watch (NEW), an umbrella body of local election observer groups also claimed that the elections were not free and fair.
NEW boss, Marcella Samba Sesay said no candidate got the constitutional threshold of 55% needed to avoid a run off. The statement landed Mrs Sesay into trouble as she was forced to seek refuge in the United Kingdom. The claims of no winner strengthen APC’s hope every now and then until the battle is won.