- 3 July 2023
APC Still Controls Western Urban, Rural Areas
Following the announcement of mayors and chairpersons election results last Saturday 1st July, 2023, across the country, the Chief Electoral Commissioner and National Returning Officer of the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL), Mohamed K. Konneh, by the power on him, announced Yvonne Akie Sawyer having polled fifty-one percent (51%) of five hundred thirty-four thousand three hundred votes (534, 03, 00) duly elected as the Mayor of the Freetown City Council (FCC) for the second term.
In a similar vein, the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) demonstrated no nonsense approached during the June 24th multi-tier elections by voting to also maintain Joseph Kasoh Holand-Cole, as the Chairman re-elect for the Western Rural District Council for a second term.
According to a release issued by the Sierra Leone People Party (SLPP), mayoral candidate, Mohamed Gento Kamara just after the announcement of the results said, “Base on consultations with the SLPP and families at home and abroad, I have accepted the result announced by the ECSL”.
The declaration of the APC as winner of both the Western Rural and city council left many in the both the Western Rural and Urban, being the traditional strongholds of APC since time memorial, confused with regards the manner the tallying and tabulation processes done in respect to the parliamentarian result for the capital city of Freetown.
Many city residents remain tough tied in astonishment as to why the APC party should share the same number of parliamentary seats in the Western Rural District.
Random interviews just after the announcement of both the parliamentarian, city and district councils result, surprises seem grips city residents after the Chief Electoral Commissioner and National Returning Officer of ECSL, Mohamed K. Konneh announced nine (9) parliamentary seats in favour of the APC party and seven (7) parliamentary seats for the incumbent SLPP in the capital, Freetown.
Many who spoke to the FORUM Newspaper SL, are of the strongest of conviction that something is wrong somewhere in respect to the parliamentary results for Freetown announced by the ECSL.
Like stubborn fly, that follows the corps to it grave, this medium will continue to follow up the ECSL and its 2023 multi-tier elections results that had been wildly referred to as controversial by both local and international observers in Sierra Leone.