Like June 24, 2023 polls, Sierra Leone Bar Association (SLBA) election still remains unfinished projects here in Sierra Leone owing to the threats and controversies that still hang on the atmosphere.
Although a probe into the June 24, 2023 elections has been conducted, the two main political parties is yet to agree on the findings and recommendations of the Tripartite Committee especially those touching on results examination and electoral justice.
Main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) has insistently claimed victory while the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) says otherwise, and signs that the two sides will come to terms on the election results remain faint.
According to documentary evidence presented at the Tripartite Committee, the opposition leader, Samura Kamara got over 57 percent of nearly all votes exceeding the 55% constitutional threshold needed to avoid a run off compared to the incumbent, Julius Maada Bio who got 39 percent.
Owing to the wide margin, there is no way the opposition leader could back out of the race, and the incumbent again is not ready to relinquish power to any opposition politician. Many say the fear of prosecution of corruption and human rights crimes committed in the past six years could have fuelled the resistance.
The wrangling between SLPP and APC also mirrors one that currently goes in the umbrella body of lawyers.
The losing candidates, Wara Serry Kamal and Augustine Sengbeh Marrah do not recognise and accept the announced winner, Tuma Gento Kamara for which the Bar Association is yet to settle for peace.
The losing candidates, with the cooperation of other members, are on the verge of forming a parallel organisation as a form of resistance to the election rigging. They want to see another election held so that a real winner could rule.
However, the members, few days ago, were barred by armed police from holding a meeting at the New Brookfields hotel in Freetown to carry out their business.
But, they chose to go virtual to hold their meeting whose outcome is yet unknown.
Owing to the manner in which the election was conducted, Sierra Leone’s June polls attracted wider criticisms from within and outside Sierra Leone following the declaration of the incumbent, President Bio winner of the polls.
According to facts tendered at the election investigation body, the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh announced Bio based on concocted evidence for which he had been under fire all this while.
International and local election observation missions discredited the electoral process referring to it as one that “lacked transparency.”
Reports by the European Union, Commonwealth, Carter Center Foundation, African Union, Economic Community Of West African States and G7+ also noted that the election was marred by irregularities. Most of the reports point out violence and terror campaign as one of the factors that undermined the credibility of the electoral process.
Locally, the June 24 polls also met with bitter criticisms as NEW (National Elections Watch) also raised questions on Bio’s victory relying on PRVT (Process and Result Verification fir Transparency), a method that has been successfully tried and tested in several elections in Sierra Leone and other parts of Africa.
The people of Sierra Leone were also not comfortable with the results owing to strong allegations that President Bio did not win the election, causing a strained relationship between Sierra Leone and development partners. The uncontrollable inflation and the unbearable economic hardship is strong evidence that Sierra Leone is not doing well at the international arena owing to the rigged election.
Almost invariably, SLBA election was also strongly criticised by international and local organisations as well as key legal stakeholders paying particular attention to the manner in which the polls were held.
Almost all former Presidents of the Bar association condemned the pols and called for a fresh election to be conducted. A firebrand, former President of the Bar Association, Basita Michael even cautioned State House not to legitimise wrong doing by recognising and accepting the new Bar Association executive. She made the call during a visit the new executive made to State House.
According to a video that went viral on media platforms, head of Anti-Corruption Commission, Francis Kaifala who was also Chief Electoral Commissioner for the SLBA elections was seen distributing voter slips with no proper records to crosscheck whether the voters were qualified to vote.
According to press releases from credible organisations, most of those who voted in the elections were not registered members of the organisation with many saying the act to allow them vote is to ensure that the winner, Tuma Kamara wins the elections.
Convinced that they won the elections, APC politicians persistently call for a rerun of the elections if President Bio does not step aside. With a rerun, the opposition leader, Kamara is convinced that victory could be restored to the APC.
He reiterated the call when he addressed the people of Sierra Leone last week although it was not clear whether government would accept as they appear to have gotten support from the international community.
Quite recently, the US Ambassador, David Bryan Hunt made it clear that there would be no rerun of the elections since APC failed to challenge the results in the courts.
However, the Australian judge, Kate Sullivan who heads the secretariat of the Tripartite Committee is looking into the submissions of the two political parties and will rule accordingly.
In a similar move, the Bar Association also called for a rerun of the election as they vowed not to work with the new executive which they considered as one that lacked the will of their subjects.
Unlike APC, the lawyers went to court to challenge the results which they discredited from the outset.
Although the court was not clear about whether the Tuma executive actually won the election, it however granted permission for the aggrieved parties to comply with the relevant provisions of the company law.
The meeting they called for the formation of another parallel organisation is seen as a form of compliance with the court order.
However, those who dig deep into how the election commissioners, Mohamed Konneh and Francis Kaifala were appointed said a strong correlation existed between their contracts and their actions while conducting the elections.
At the time of his appointment, Konneh was a public officer heading the Financial Intelligence Unit in the Ministry of Finance.
According to the Constitution of Sierra Leone, a public officer is not qualified from heading the elections commission if fair play to the contesting sides is to be ensured.
President Bio also violated a major provision in the constitution which states that leaders of all political parties should be consulted on the appointment of the election chief.
However, allegations from political parties particularly APC held that the Chief Electoral Commissioner was appointed without proper consultations as lawfully provided.
When the debate became intense on media platforms and within the public domain, it came out clearly that President Bio only informed, via mobile phone, erstwhile APC Chairman and leader, Ernest Bai Koroma about Konneh’s appointment.
The method through which he contacted the other commissioners in respect of the appointment of Mohamed Konneh also remained unknown.
The ensuing conflicts and controversies over the appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner did not bring about a change of plan.
Even when the opposition leader, Samura Kamara called for the resignation of the election boss and team of commissioners two weeks to the elections, Konneh fought back as he insisted that he would conduct the election at all cost.
He argued that he was not appointed by the opposition leader.
Konneh’s stance was also strongly supported by SLPP Chairman, Prince Harding who said the election boss was the right person to conduct the election accusing APC of trying to stall the elections owing to their ill-preparedness.
It came to pass as a man who many saw as a handpicked election commissioner conducted the polls, but the consequence was tragic as Sierra Leone has been plunged into a political quagmire.
Similarly, the election boss for the Bar Association was also appointed in the same model. As a head of the anti-graft agency, a popular argument holds, he was not supposed to have conducted the election since he is no longer an active member of the association
Many say he only brings his official status to bear on the electoral process so that he could have a candidate of his choice.
The SLBA election boss also faces allegations of not properly seated at the Anti-Corruption Commission since his predecessor, Ady Macauley was not allowed to complete his tenure.
The adage that he who pays the piper calls the tune is very much relevant here as President Bio who pays the ACC boss had wanted to see Bar Association President that will throw her weight behind policies and laws passed in the legislative house no matter their obnoxious nature.
Since the actions of the two election bosses is geared only towards satisfying the interest of government and not that of justice, a way out of the cave is hardly seen as the opposition leader says “it is not yet over until it is over.” Similarly, aggrieved members of the Bar Association is vigorously pursue their own way as a parallel organisation already has been formed, and the cleavages still continue with no one knowing what the future holds for Sierra Leone.