In his address to the nation, almost a week ago, opposition leader, Samura Kamara demands that either President Julius Maada Bio steps down or opts for a rerun owing to the unchallenged results submitted by the All People’s Congress (APC). To achieve this aim, Kamara urged all APC members to come together and fight together as the effort of all and sundry is needed in the campaign to bring back stolen votes.
Although the call comes too late according to senior members of the party, the desire of every APC member is to see that APC’s “stolen victory” is taken back. A senior APC politician, Mohamed Kamara says top meetings are in progress among APC members to respond to the call of the opposition leader.
Kamara’s decision was brought about by the facts submitted to him by the 7-man team at the Tripartite Committee led by Dr Kaifala Marrah, a senior APC politician and former Minister. The Tripartite Committee is provided for by a communiqué signed by the APC and SLPP after a three-day peace deal brokered by the international community (the Commonwealth, African Union and the Economic Community Of West African States).
It was a deal that to end Sierra Leone’s post-election stalemate that undermined the peace and security of the state, and the only way out was to establish the truth. The demand for a rerun of the elections is also one of APC’s key recommendations submitted to the election investigators.
Reports seen by this press shows that, Kamara got 57.15 % of the votes in the June 24, 2023 elections according to result reconciliation forms on the desk of the Tripartite Committee, a body set up to investigate alleged irregularities of the June polls.
The ruling party, on the other hand, got 39 percent of the votes during the elections meaning the opposition leader got the victory and wanted it back. His party members are also in support despite the rancour and enmity that defined the party for years to come.
But, whether the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) will accept either of the two options is one of the mind boggling questions at the moment since an announcement by the Chief Returning Officer established the ruling party as the winner. Mohamed Kenewui Konneh declared the incumbent, President Bio winner of the elections with 56.17 percent leaving 43.83% of the votes, but the results are not supported by evidence during the election probe.
Konneh, on several occasions, caused delays for the Tripartite Committee so that he could be allowed to provide the evidence to assist the committee hand down a ruling that would be accepted by the two sides. Many say, Konneh does not have the evidence and one could not give out what he does not have. The election boss, according to sources, was ordered to announce, but the one from the order emanates remain unknown.
Konneh heads ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone), an institution mandated by law to conduct and supervise public elections and referenda in Sierra Leone. In the discharge of his functions, the Chief Electoral Commissioner (CEC) is not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority, but it is mandatory to post the election results at the ECSL website and the Sierra Leone Gazette for transparency’s sake.
All CECs since 1996 published the results on all official sites after the elections to show that the process was free, fair and credible. It was the case with almost all genealogy of election commissioners such as James Jonah, Walter Nicol, Christiana Thorpe, and Mohamed N’fa Alie Conteh as they brought the election results to the public domain except Konneh who failed to publish the results on official sites.
The non-publication of the results raised a big cloud of suspicion that is proving to be true today. According to a probe by the Tripartite Committee, the only way out is to see that power comes back to the APC either by way of Bio stepping down or accepting a rerun of the elections to be held by a neutral body of expatriate election commissioners.
Although the documentary evidence submitted by APC to the Tripartite Committee is quite convincing, there is no sign that SLPP will accept either a rerun or fresh election or any option that will cost them the presidency. President Bio’s recent declaration that the June 24, 2023 election was over and that another election would take place only in 2028 was a sign that he was ready to resist to the last minute.
The President also went ahead issuing stern warning to “so-called political big guns” to stop peddling rerun information to their people knowing fully well that there would be no more election until after his four years. The President’s recent appeals to the opposition leader to say the truth to his people is also another worrying sign that the President was in no mood to accept a rerun of the election and would also not give up power.
In a meeting with SLPP members and supporters in Bo city, one of the party’s strongholds, Bio declared a bullet-for-bullet strategy to ensure that that he holds the forte despite ongoing criticisms that the June elections were not free and fair.
The presidential pronouncement sent shock waves to the APC camp and the people of Sierra Leone as they expected the President to send conciliatory messages as situation demands.
The President’s persistent questioning about the relevance of the Tripartite Committee to free and fair elections has been seen as another glaring effort to water down the struggle of APC members and the international community to restore democracy in Sierra Leone.
As part of a grand plan to discourage the election investigator, President Bio rhetorically and cynically asked “does the Tripartite Committee have election results.” But, such question has been answered by Tripartite Committee members who submitted a comprehensive report containing key findings that cast doubt on the victory of SLPP in the past elections.
Apart from the 80 recommendations in the report which borders on electoral reforms, two of the remaining five recommendations hinge on results examination and electoral justice.
Findings on the results examination will show who wins the election while the electoral justice is to see that those who significantly undermined the June polls are made to answer questions in a court of law.
The implementation of any of these recommendations will see SLPP out of power, but surely President Bio will resist and protect his party come what may. Standing on the American soil, President Bio took the Americans by surprise as he accused them of inciting to interfere with the elections.
The allegation went a long way in tarnishing the image of the United States, a country that takes pride in the protection of democracy in the world. Political analysts and commentators however argue that Bio’s allegation is a ploy to discourage the international community from taking part in the investigation of the election results. SLPP’s tough stance against reversing the election was first initiated by President Bio and senior SLPP politicians who see no need in handing over power to APC.
His allegation that the “White Man has done nothing for Sierra Leone” which has gone viral on all platforms, and his castigation of rights campaigners/civil society activists about why they fail to demonstrate against the international community is also widely seen as a refusal to accept any rerun election. SLPP’s claim about the development partners doing little or nothing in Sierra Leone also has been seen as far-fetched since the British, Americans, Germans, French and Irish had played great role in ensuring peace, stability and prosperity of Sierra Leone. Their effort in ending the decade-long civil war and bringing several development projects to Sierra Leone still lingers in the history books. Apart from Bio’s stance, senior SLPP politicians also do not hesitate to go at loggerheads with members of the international community in defence of their party at the expense of Sierra Leoneans.
SLPP Chairman, Prince Harding is on record to have said “SLPP will not hand over power to a party of mad men” adding that only Bio had the power to determine who should be Sierra Leone’s next President. His provocative words against the election observers as “academic dwarves” and threats issued to them is also another signal to the extent to which the PAOPA cabal is ready to resist a power transfer. SLPP’s strong resistance to the demands of the people and the international community is a clear indication that they are in no mood to give up lest they be seen as men who disappoint their people by not standing on their ground.
But, the opposition leader sound hopeful that power would come back to him in the not-too-distant future.