The National Elections Watch, a credible coalition of civil society groups in the sub region, has rubbished the elections conducted over the weekend at Ward 196 in the Tonko Limba Chiefdom, Kambia District, among the SLPP, APC and NGC candidates.
While commending the peaceful nature in which the elections were held, the election observer group has cited a number of some serious elections irregularities, which, according to them, undermined the integrity of the entire elections.
The release from the Observer Group have stated that, among other anomalies, voters at different polling stations were caught with pre-marked ballot 2018 materials, and voting was also done in excess in most areas, which led the computer at the tally centre in Kambia to reject the RRF forms.
NEW had also observed, alongside other international observers, that certain elections officials were openly accused of being SLPP members and had to be set aside by NEC.
“This trend of election irregularities is a reverse in our democratic gains and calls on all stakeholders to denounce such irregularities and work towards ensuring that the integrity of our electoral processes are guaranteed,” the release states.
The National Electoral Commission has responded in a press release to the number of issues raised in the NEW press release, noting that four (4) of its staff members are currently helping the Sierra Leone Police with the said election malpractices, and also noted that they responded to a number of issues raised by the NGC and the APC just after polls closed, which led to the recounting of most of the ballots.
The SLPP candidate has been declared the winner of the Ward elections, with 46.92 of the total votes cast, while the APC and the NGC Candidates trail behind with 46.9 and 6.22 respectively.
The APC has refused to accept the results and up to press time the Party was meeting with District and Constituency Chairmen and is expected to issue out a press release on the elections.
