Several West African leaders including the current ECOWAS Chairman, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye have been visiting Sierra Leone after the controversial June 24, 2023 general elections.
Although the purpose of their visits is always top secret, the vast majority of the people of Sierra Leone are of the view that such visits could not be unconnected to the rigged election which, in other quarters, is called “stolen election.”
President Julius Maada Bio was declared winner of the 2023 election, but local and international election observation missions discredited the electoral process referring to it as one that was riddled with “Matematical inaccuracies” and “statistical consistencies.”
The local election observation group, National Election Watch (NEW) also condemned the election as its head, Marcella Samba Sesay said in a media interview that no candidate got the 55% threshold needed to avoid a run-off election. NEW is the umbrella body of local organisations specialised in election monitoring and reporting, a function that they have been dispensing since Sierra Leone returns to democracy in 1996. NEW chief usually states her observation during the election relying on the accepted method of Process and Results verification for Transparency. She made such observations in past elections and they came to pass, and there was no difference for the 2023 election.
Marcella’s observation meant in plain terms that Bio did not win the presidential election, and there were reports that she called a spade a spade by initially stating that “Bio did not win the election.”
Marcella ate her words only when she came under threat by armed police and thugs linked to SLPP. Consequently, the international community particularly world powers, the United States and the United Kingdom refused to recognise the Bio regime evidenced by their refusal to congratulate him.
Tough measures were initially adopted against the Bio regime by the international community with the United States playing a lead role. The United States was the first country to slam a travel ban on government officials and cut off funding especially the MCC (Millenium Challenge Corporation) compact of $480m which Sierra Leone had qualified for except its failure to pass one of the set benchmarks for free and fair elections.
The United Kingdom, Sierra Leone’s former colonial authority, also joined in the move to adopt and implement strong measures against the Bio regime. The Commonwealth parliament refused to recognise and work with Sierra Leone’s parliament especially after APC parliamentarians walked out. ECOWAS parliament also took similar measure against Sierra Leone’s parliament by cutting off ties with it.
Inter-governmental agencies such as World Bank and IMF too withheld their funds from the Bio regime so that it could find ways to have the issue rectified. Panicked and frightened by the tough measures, President Bio reportedly invited Samura Kamara, the 2023 presidential candidate to a private meeting where the issue of having a body to investigate the allegedly rigged election was discussed.
It was after the Bio-and-Kamara meeting that the move for an Agreement for National Unity (ANU) leading to the formation of a Tripartite Committee came up.
President Bio initially was going to put Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in charge of the election probe. But, the suggestion was discountenanced at by former United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone, David Reimer who observed that one could not be a player and at the same time a referee.
Ambassador Reimer said he had tremendous respect for the Vice President, but his official position in the Bio regime disqualified him from leading the election investigation.
However, the Tripartite Committee was set up after several ups and downs as well as back-and-forth arguments between government and the international community. The long-running arguments showed that President Bio never wanted the involvement of the international community in the process so that he could flout and have a free day.
But, the promise of providing aid especially the MCC compact, President Bio agreed to participate in the ANU ably represented by his Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh.
The Chief Minister signed the agreement which was launched by President Bio at State House implying a commitment on the part of Bio to the full investigation of the election and acceptance of the recommendations that would be proffered thereafter.
The agreement contains eight resolutions and three most prominent was to have a committee to investigate the elections, release political detainees and discontinue “politically motivated court cases.”
The work of the Tripartite Committee must have been completed by this time so that the country can move on.
But, over three years since the end of the 2023 election, Sierra Leone’s future still hangs in the balance with no sense of direction.
A true winner is yet to be ascertained by virtue of the incomplete work of the Tripartite Committee. Although some Sierra Leoneans hold the view that the Tripartite Committee has completed its work, the vast majority believe that the role of the Tripartite Committee is never completed until 85 recommendations are fully implemented.
A true winner must be announced and those who play significant role in rigging the election and undermining democracy and good governance must be brought to justice.
The Tripartite Committee which consists of 7 members each of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) and the Development Partners came into being after the October, 2023 Agreement.
Over a year since the Tripartite Committee submitted the recommendations, little progress has been made towards their implementation.
In fact, the people of Sierra Leone are not too certain about the exact number of recommendations although the convergent 80 are seen on record while the divergent five are kept away from public view and scrutiny.
The 80 recommendations are said to be convergent because the two political parties-SLPP and APC-agree on them but disagree on the five which, analysts say, form the crux of the election probe. Although the international moral guarantors often commend the government for its effort in the implementation of the recommendations in their assessment missions, work on the ground remains infinitesimal.
Analysts, both social and political, have insistently argued that government, by their manifestation, is not ready to implement the tripartite recommendations despite its initial commitment to it.
To date, questions abound about why President Bio signed but failed to honour the agreement.
Several arguments have been advanced by observers in the media and the public about government lukewarm attitude towards the implementation of the tripartite recommendations but two views are prominent.
Many SLPP politicians initially believe that game is over once Samura Kamara goes to the negotiation table with members of the ruling party.
Right from the negotiation table after the three-day peace deal, senior SLPP members engaged the media informing their supporters that the post-election fiasco had been resolved.
The voices of SLPP politicians became the sound bites which occupied news in the electronic media and also formed the newspaper headlines. On the other hand, APC publicity secretariat had little to say and allowed the SLPP dominance.
Such information by SLPP operatives generated a general feeling that the 2023 election was over and that the people of Sierra Leone should look forward to 2028.
The Sierra Leone media too were hoodwinked into believing that the post-election stalemate was over, not until the international community intensified their call on government to ensure that the election was speedily and fairly investigated, and that any recommendation which emanated from the probe should be implemented for the country’s peace and stability.
It was from that point the Bio regime understood the real plan as analysts argued that he explored ways to stall the process and cripple the truth behind the 2023 election.
Monday, 27th November, 2026 was the date slated for the commencement of the tripartite investigation, but the attempted coup that occurred the day before derailed the process.
The coup of Sunday 26th November, 2026 reversed gains made towards the election investigation, and the situation was worsened when government announced that it had no money to fund the investigation.
The election investigation started only when the United States government provided $1.5m to the Tripartite Committee, a commitment on the part of the United States that it would not sacrifice democracy pander to the desire of the minority few.
Even when recommendations were published, the implementation is still a herculean task thus lending credence to the stance taken by government that the election was over.
Former President Ernest Koroma himself share this view when he circulated an audio indicating that the 2023 election was over since Samura Kamara had agreed to negotiate with President Julius Maada Bio. He also exposed the main tactics of the international community in the change of regimes in Africa during election by ‘simply getting the opposition leader to the negotiation table.’ The former President’s statement is taken for granted as he has observed several elections in different African countries supported by the international community.
Ex-President Koroma released the audio recently while in exile in Nigeria.
As they get the clue, some senior SLPP members choose to distance themselves from tripartite agreement arguing that government did not represent SLPP’s interest.
The party’s secretary-general, Umar Paran Tarawally always argues that government is different from SLPP, and that whatever stance taken by the former is not supported by his party. Placing such argument within the proper scope of socio-political analysis, it was clear that such arguments only come up because the tripartite agreement to favour the ruling party.
They were all carried away by the propaganda that a financial deal had been secretly struck between President Bio and Samura Kamara, but time had told the truth.
The 2023 presidential candidate often says “it is not yet over until it is over” implying that the 2023 general election is still going on and the problem is solved only when power changed hands.
The situation turns sour for SLPP members when Samura Kamara formed and championed the Electoral Justice Movement (EJM) which seeks to ensure that power is given to the winner of the 2023 election and that those who play significant role in rigging the election are brought to justice.
Kamara’s EJM philosophy is in line with the recommendation of the Carter Center Foundation which played a leading role in the election observation of the 2023 election.
The Carter Center is America’s tink-tank election observation body, and any recommendation it makes will not be taken light by the United States government.
Within the ruling SLPP, there are cynical claims that the tripartite agreement is a gentleman’s agreement and that it is not binding on parties.
The SLPP politicians quite well know that they stand on the wrong end if the agreement is made legally enforceable.
But, the ANU is an agreement under the law since it is entered into by two parties, SLPP and APC mediated by the international community (ECOWAS, AU, Commonwealth, EU, UN and Development Partners). The agreement is carried out on specified terms and therefore legally binding on the contracting parties.
By virtue of Section 40(4) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone Act No. 6 of 1991, the agreement ought to have been laid before parliament for ratification and possibly domestication since Sierra Leone is a dualist state.
It went for over a year before for the two parties (SLPP/APC) took the agreement to parliament even when they have lawyers representing them from the beginning of the ANU process. It still remains unclear whether debates for ratification of the recommendations have commenced in parliament. Parliamentarians of the two parties, SLPP and APC are focused mainly on the amendment of the National Constitution to favour the ruling party at the expense of the implementation of the tripartite recommendations.
Those lawyers, APC especially lawyers who are of good years standing should have fast-tracked the laying of the agreement in parliament for work to be done.
Such inaction has raised suspicion among the public that APC parliamentarians are in league with the ruling party, SLPP to derail the implementation of the tripartite recommendations.
Such suspicion of connivance, though yet to be proved, led to an erosion of trust and confidence in APC’s executive and members of parliament.
In an attempt to clear their name APC members of parliament staged a one-month boycott over what they believed to be an illegal and controversial appointment of Edmond Alpha Chairman for the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.
They also expressed their dissatisfaction with the what they called a snail-pace implementation of the tripartite recommendations. The APC lawmakers however returned to parliament after a meeting with the international moral guarantors led by Gambia’s former Vice President, Fatoumatou Tambajang Jallow.
But, the parliamentarians are under intense criticism for their walk out of parliament since the two objectives remain unaccomplished.
The implementation of the tripartite recommendations still remains slow and Edmond Alpha is still ECSL Chief.
Currently, the Constitutional amendment is has occupied much of government’s time while it pays less attention to the recommendations. Recently, the regime’s unwillingness to implement the recommendations caught global attention, and the United States had taken a firm stance over the sensitive political issue.
Daniel Travis, the United States Ambassador-designate has assured his government, during an interview at Senate that the implementation of the tripartite recommendations remains his “important priority.” As if President Bio saw it coming, he recently declared in parliament that he would ensure a “peaceful transfer of power” to the opposition, APC.
However, the means through which he would transfer power to APC remains doubtful as people asked whether it could be by way of the ballot or the tripartite. Going by the ballot, a new flag-bearer will surely emerge from the APC with Dr. Ibrahim Bangura being the ultimate choice.
If the purported power transfer is based on the tripartite, Samura Kamara who is widely seen winner of the 2023 election is sure to inherit the presidency. The greater number of the grassroot members have always wanted to see their winner sworn in President of Sierra Leone. They want to avoid the trouble of campaigning all over again for the next five years of Kamara’s rule.
It is clear that once the United States have voiced out their concern over Sierra Leone’s political deterioration the and have vowed to intervene, the situation will soon be a different one. America’s great role in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and lately Venezuela to fight for the people’s freedom is still remembered today. It will be prudent for Sierra Leone not to tread on the same path.