Without mincing any word, the United States has condemned the Elections Investigation Committee (EIC) set up by President Julius Maada Bio barely a month after June-24 elections. The EIC is led by Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, a move that raised large eyebrows among the Sierra Leonean public and the international community.
They are opposed to any government official heading the EIC owing to compromise or bias. The US Ambassador David Reimer has insisted on getting outside investigators for a credible outcome.
“We have called for an outside investigation, and any commission headed by any of the political candidates in the election cannot be independent or non-biased,” the US Ambassador said in a media interview.
The US would not like to see Vice President heading the investigation committee out fear of prejudicing the process. The Ambassador’s stance however does not mean no love-lost between him and Juldeh Jalloh and that he has great respect for him.
“I have great respect for the Vice President. I respect him for his integrity, but because he was one of the candidates, we don’t see it as the best means to get a proper look at what happened in the past,” Ambassador Reimer made his position clear in the election investigation process. He further noted that it was not just possible for someone who was a candidate in the elections to conduct a fair and credible investigation.
The preference for an outsider to look into the alleged electoral irregularities is based on the polarisation of Sierra Leone. The United States hopes that someone who is completely divorced from family, ethnic and political ties to government will produce the desired result.
From the inception, the United States has been questioning the integrity and credibility of the election results and that someone outside is needed to look into what happened. Asked about what will be America’s position if he (David Reimer)Â is taken out of Sierra Leone.
Ambassador Reimer maintained that “the United States position is the United States position; It is not based on an individual. Certainly when the new Ambassador comes here , he will have his own style, his own way of doing things, but the independent investigation is the position of the United States Government and not one of the individuals.”
Although the US Ambassador is poised for an independent investigation, he also equally pays keen attention to the need to dialogue. He called on President Bio to dialogue with opposition political parties and civil society organisations for a common ground.
Sierra Leoneans here and in the diaspora have shared US’s stance on the doubt held for the Vice President heading the EIC. Juldeh is a key player in the Bio regime; he is SLPP’s Deputy Leader and second gentleman of the state.
Besides, the Vice President has disappointed Sierra Leoneans on two successive occasions when he headed sensitive investigation committees. He led the Special Investigation Committee (SIC) which looked into the August 10, 2022 investigations without producing better result.
He also led the Clemency Committee which deceived President Julius Maada Bio in pardoning a murder convict, Morray Lagbawai, and criticisms about such action still loom. The question is: to what extent will the Vice President be neutral in the investigation.
However, the United States has raised deep concerns about alleged irregularities in the June-24 elections. Lack of transparency in the tally processes as well as inconsistencies undermined the credibility of the electoral process.
The rigging issues were picked up by domestic and international observers thus raising doubts not only in the United States but among the entire world. In spite of the stalemate, the US Ambassador recognises Bio Sierra Leone’s President although the United States is yet to congratulate him.
Doubt over the election result does not mean the US is going to alter their humanitarian aid to Sierra Leone as programmes will continue as usual. The health assistance package for Sierra Leoneans will still continue, and would be reviewed to cover more people.
As it stands, American aid for Sierra Leone will continue, but not the huge dollars under the MCC (Millennium Challenge Compact). Sierra Leone did everything to qualify for the MCC but failed in the Free, fair and credible election component.