Barely ten days to the June 24 elections the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) has Wednesday 14 June 2023 outrightly discredited the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, calling on the commission’s chairman and all commissioners to resign their respective positions.
The leading opposition in the elections appears completely dissatisfied with the way the leadership of the ECSL and other democratic institutions are handling pre-elections irregularity issues, has given 72-hours ultimatum to heads of the Chief Electoral Commissioner and the National Returning Officer Mohamed K. Konneh to resign and allow the conduct of a free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
The call emerged following suspicions of ECSL’s flagrant disregard for rules and procedures governing public elections, for which the opposition leader wants Mohamed K. Kenewui and team step aside.
Speaking to journalist during a news conference hosted at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, the APC leader and presidential candidate, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara among several issues highlighted, called for the immediate resignations of Mohamed Kenewui Konneh and all commissioners of the ECSL to allow the conduct of free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
“The ECSL guarantees that the counting of ballots, tallying and certification of results will take place, initially, at the polling centre/station level as required by law,” he demands and adds, “The tallying of votes must be conducted transparently through MANUAL and not ELECTRONIC processes in the presence of party agents and the local and international observers.”
Dr Samura Kamara accused Konneh and his team of ECSL commissioners of trying to rig the elections in favour of their pay master, the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party presidential candidate, Julius Maada Bio.
Other reasons stated by the opposition leader, demanding the resignation of ECSL commissioners are based on what he says form part of deliberate anomalies in the whole electoral processes aimed at rigging.
These, he charged are enough justifications for Konneh and his commissioners to be shown the exit doors to save Sierra Leone’s democracy, adding that “…In the strongest terms possible, I wish to reiterate that the APC and its supporters will not accept any election results tainted by rigging or manipulation.”
He said, “We are steadfast in our commitment to upholding the principles of national unity, democracy, transparency, and the will of the people. Should there be any evidence of electoral malpractices or attempts to subvert the integrity of the electoral process, we will utilize all available legal and peaceful means to challenge such actions and ensure that the true voice of the Sierra Leonean people is heard.”
Whiles the opposition is baffling with doubts, incumbent president Bio has boasted publicly of winning the polls at first ballot even if the elections will be conducted by the United Nations.
