Following the release and announcement of a controversial presidential elections result by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, which declared Julius Maada Bio and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party winner and Bio re-elected president, pro-government and ruling party Civil Society Organizations CSOs have somehow wagged a war against the chairperson National Election Watch, Marcell Samba Sesay.
They claimed that her findings are not accurate and are calling on government’s anti-graft commission to probe her for funds she received in 2018 and in the just June 24 concluded polls.
Prominent among her embattles are the Executive Director, Accountability Now Sierra Leone, a CSO on accountability and service delivery, William Sao Lamin seems determined to expose what he described as a ‘plot’ by EU Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Manuel Müller, the chairperson NEW, Marcella Samba Sesay to reverse gains made so far by the country in democracy and in nation building.
Lamin in desperation to please and counter the most credible domestic election observer NEW, Thursday 29th June 2023 made the statement during an Africa Young Voices TV programme “Review of the Front Pages”.
He called on the government to put a hold on Marcella Samba Sesay’s operations and activities as head of a Civil Society Organisation in Sierra Leone, expressing his disappointment in Marcella Samba Sesay as an individual and NEW as a consortium of CSOs and a Non – Governmental Organization.
According to him, Sections 33 and 38 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone which he said mandates the National Returning Officer to announce elections results. He therefore referred to the press release issued Tuesday 27th June by NEW as ‘baseless’ and ‘unfair.’
Lamin alleged that Marcella Samba Sesay, Head EU Delegation to Sierra Leone, Ambassador and Adebayor are ‘working hand in glove plotting negatively against the state.’
He called on the above-mentioned personalities to reframe from doing what they intend because of it far reaching consequences.
“Keep your data and allow the peace of the country to continue to reign,” Lamin directly told Marcella via AYV television.
Though government and security forces are frowning at processions, Lamin vowed to stage a million-man march if the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission fail to invite Marcella Samba Sesay for questioning with regards funding she allegedly received from government and development partners since 2018 and 2023 respectively.
Lamin declared persona-non-grata against the EU Head of Delegation in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Muller to vacate the country with immediate effect.
Justifying his request, Lamin accused EU Ambassador of only funding project proposals of Marcella Samba Sesay, and also accused other development partners of deliberately refusing to fund CSOs to roll out sensitization in the form of workshop trainings on the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, especially for first time voters.
“Marcella and the EU Country Representative to Sierra Leone had long been playing fishy games for which I am ready to expose,” he threatened.
According to NEW, a Process and Result Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology which allows NEW to assess the quality of Election Day processes and verify the accuracy of the official election result announced by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.
NEW holds the view that the process was strictly done in an independent and nonpartisan manner on behalf of all Sierra Leoneans to ensure that the results announced are accurate and verifiable.
NEW further disclosed that the system is an advanced and proven election monitoring methodology used by citizens’ election observation groups around the world that NEW noted allows for the independent and impartial assessment of quality of election day.
The consortium of CSOs and Non-Governmental Organizations insisted that the PRVT analysis is based on data from polling stations before it proceeds to other tabulation processes, where NEW noted transparency was limited.
According to NEW, their PRVT exercise in the 2023 elections was drawn on its experience in successfully executing PRVT to observe the 2018, 2012 and 2007 elections.
In all three elections, NEW projections matched the official results of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.
According to NEW, in 2023 they discovered that the published results of ECSL are inconsistent with NEW’s PRVT data.
“The integrity of an election is measured by the transparency, fairness, accountability and inclusivity of the processes and actors” NEW press release emphasized.
NEW called on the ECSL to release all polling station–level results to increase transparency and allow for independent analysis.
Advancing its analytical justification, NEW disclosed that the total valid ballots cast as announced by the ECSL for the first batch of result (representing 60% of polling stations) show an average of 269 valid voters per polling station, while the second batch (representing 40% of polling stations) has an average of only 188 valid votes per polling stations.
NEW continued that where the average number of voters for each polling station appeared to be set at 300, some polling stations had an excessive number of voters, citing example that for eight of the districts in the first batch and for one district in the second batch, the average number of valid votes per polling stations is more than 300.
According to election observation bodies, the practice is that the last of polling station in a polling center should not have more than 400 voters.
Vast majority of polling stations have 300 voters or less, including more than 84% of the polling stations in each of the districts, the release stated.
Proffering additional justification, the election observation bodies noted that the ECSL result, polling stations (PS) in the first batch of (60%) of results in Bombali (433PS) have an average of 340 valid votes, while the second batch (40%) of polling stations (288PS) have an average of 39 valid votes, which the release noted would make this average statistically impossibility.
In Kailahun, the release continued that polling stations (407PS) have an average of 378 valid votes, while the remaining 40% of polling stations (272PS) have an average of 113 valid votes per polling stations.
In total, the release added that Kailahun had only 22 polling stations that have 378 or more registered voters, which appears statistically impossibility, pointing out that 9 out of the 16 districts, ECSL results show that more than 300 valid votes were cast per polling station, despite most polling stations having a maximum of 300 votes.
Read the full Statement by the Spokesperson on the general elections in Sierra Leone
29.06.2023 EEAS Press Team
The Sierra Leone people demonstrated their strong commitment to democracy in the general elections that took place on Saturday 24 June in a largely peaceful and calm atmosphere in a highly polarised political environment.
Following an invitation from the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), the EU deployed an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) throughout the country, led by Chief Observer Evin Incir. The mission has now published its preliminary statement, in which it observes that critical stages of the elections were generally lacking transparency.
Following the declaration of the results by the ECSL, the EU EOM calls on the ECSL to promptly publish disaggregated results data per polling station, which would defuse tensions and provide for a possibility of public scrutiny of the results and ensure transparency and certainty.
The EOM will remain in Sierra Leone until the end of the electoral period. It will then publish a final report and formulate recommendations with a view to contributing to the continuous deepening of Sierra Leone’s democracy.
The EU encourages the leaders and people of Sierra Leone to resolve any dispute regarding the electoral process peacefully and according to the established legal procedures.
