The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) has released its field data captured at the end of the first phase (19 September 2022) of its two-phase voter registration (VR) exercise slated to be concluded on 4 October this year.
While the ECSL has tried its level best to present what it refers to as 80 per cent of centres reported for phase one, it has left the whole nation in limbo and great doubt as to what has happened to the remaining 20 per cent of the 1,815 centres across the country opened for registration from 3 to 17 September this year.
Sierra Leoneans home and abroad have received the report on data of registered voters so far announced by ECSL with mixed feelings for the fact that at the end of the first phase of the voter registration exercise, the commission could still not give the people of Sierra Leone a complete data or 100% result of the process. Instead it went ahead and announced just 80 per cent of the data of registered voters for phase I of the exercise!
The questions now on the lips of the people are: Where is the remaining 20 per cent of the data collected from the 1,815 centres across the country? What happened that the ECSL could not produce or release all the data collected or registered by the 1,815 centres it stations across the country for the VR process?
ECSL Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, in announcing the voter registration data collected by the end of the first phase of the voter registration process, stated: “…I will now give you a summary of the provisional data collected based on 80% of centres reported for Phase one.”
Hence he outlined the regions and totals for each of the five regions across the country, saying: “Eastern Region (269,110), Northern Region (241,827), North West Region (188,048), Southern Region (295,759) and Western Area (350,432). And the National Total for all the regions over the 14-day period (3 – 17 September 2022) of the registration process provisionally stands at 1,345,176.
As rightly stated by CEC Konneh, the provisional data collected on 80% of centres reported for Phase one is 1,345,176. This means that this total figure does not represent the 100% data needed from the total of 1,815 centres across the country.
The big question is: Where is the 20% data out of the 1,815 centres involved in the VR process in spite of the fact that “the first phase” of the voter registration exercise “ended as scheduled successfully”?
Is the ECSL still processing the data for 20% remaining centres, while CEC Konneh has gone ahead and released the 80% data so far processed? When will the data for the remaining 20% of the centres declared for Sierra Leoneans and our international partners to know the total figure of registered voters for phase one of the exercise?
Statistics have it that 80% of 1,815 is 1,452. So where is the data for the remaining number of centres, which is 363?
For now, according to statistics, we can safely say the 1,345,176 registered people so far is less the number of Sierra Leoneans who actually registered across the 1,815 VR centres in the country.
Is it that the ECSL intend to subsume the remaining data that “is being processed” into the data for the second phase of the VR exercise without Sierra Leoneans getting to know the actual figure for the yet unaccounted for 20% of the centres in the first phase?
We think ECSL and CEC Mohamed Kenewui Konneh has more explanations to make to clear the air and so many doubts of Sierra Leoneans as things stand presently.
It is also of concern that such a figure could be announced at the end of the first phase of the VR exercise without a clear explanation as to what happened with the data for the remaining 20% of the centres.
Hence it is advisable that the ECSL set the records straight to clear any doubt or mistrust in its operations.
While the nation eagerly awaits on ECSL and Commissioner Konneh to clear our doubt as to the circumstances surrounding the remaining data for the 20% of centres yet unaccounted for, Forum would like to add its voice to the call of the ECSL on people to go and register as the second phase of the VR exercise commenced on Tuesday 20 September 2022.
“The public should note that 1,815 centres will open [have opened] for all eligible Sierra Leoneans of voting age and those who will be 18 years old on 24 June 2023 (polling day) to present themselves and update their details,” the ECSL press statement urges.
“Furthermore, citizens should be reminded that centres will open right across the country in all 446 wards in every constituency and district. This is an opportunity for eligible citizens who could not make it in the first phase to find the nearest centre in your community.”
According to the statement, documents required for registration are a valid Sierra Leonean passport, previous Voter ID, card a National ID card, certificate of registration from NCRA, or valid Sierra Leonean birth certificate.
As we round up this editorial piece, let it, for the record, be stated that all that Forum is doing is to perform its civic role of enlightening the people about their rights to vote and to be voted for as enshrined or stipulated in the Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution, as well as to complement the efforts of the Sierra Leone Electoral Commission et al.
