By Hassan Osman Kargbo

It could be recalled that on Tuesday 6^th February 2024, the Ministry of Information and Civic Education hosted a special press Conference to update the public on how far the Committee has gone in their activities in the country. The Cross-Party Committee on Electoral System and Management Bodies Review Committee was set up to examine the electoral systems, structures, and processes of the June 24 2023 multi-tier electoral cycle in the country.

This committee is Co-chair by Dr Kaifala Marah who represented the Main Opposition Part APC and Dr Emmanuel Gaima represented the Government of Sierra Leone and MS Seraphine Wakara (U.N Res. Coordinator) is representing the development partners as Co-chair in the committee.

Many Sierra Leoneans were in anticipation to hear from the Co-Chairs as to what the Committee had found out so far which might relief the minds of many people in the country. Before this time, there rumours making rounds about a re-run election in the country and it was the talk of the town in which many were with the view that the re-run will surely hold while others holds contrary view about the re-run election. It has been a serious issue among citizens where you will hear a lot on the issue of re-run in the country it depends to the one you talk to.

Speaking to the press and all present at the Brookfield hotel on the activities of the Tripartite Committee, Dr Kaifala Marah who represent the main opposition APC Party noted that the APC and many other Sierra Leoneans believed that the past 2023 election was highly compromised and the committee will surely try to unearth all the issues surrounding the election and after which the committee will surely try to come up with recommendations that may suit all Sierra Leoneans. He empathized that the committee don’t have power to announce any re-run in the country but after their findings they could come up with recommendations that people may appreciate the work of the committee in the country. He assured all present that they would surely work on the best interest of the public. These statements from the main opposition representative in the Tripartite Committee has ignited majority of the public to hold the view that the possibility of a re-run election is high in the country after the committee might have come up with their findings.

On the side of the Government, Dr Emmanuel Gaima, reiterated that the committee is there to look at the irregularities in the past June 24 election. He said that government is ready to know the issues in the past election and try to implement strategies that could make such irregularities may not occur in subsequence elections in the country.

Dr Gaima noted that the issues of re-run has no place in their mandate and as a committee they could do things according to their mandate and let people stop spreading false information to the people. He craved on the indulgence of everyone to stop misleading the public about the issues of re-run or no re-run and added that 2023 election is over and the only time people should started thinking about election is 2028. Also, the Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, had reiterated in one of the Ministry’s press conference that ECSL had announced the result and President Bio is the substantive winner of the June 24 Presidential polls, so as a result, people should stop spreading fake news about re-run in Sierra Leone. He noted that the past election has come and gone and the next election will be in 2028 so people should stop spreading misleading information to the public.

Moreover, from the statements of the two Co-Chairs from the tripartite committee, it is vividly clear that the government and the main opposition are not seeing eye-to-eye in relation of the re-run. It not a secret that the opposition is indirectly pushing for a recommendation that could speak to the re-run and on the side of the government they are just trying to observe the work of the committee and not ready to work with any recommendation that could speak on re-run in the country.

And the big question is who is fooling who? Is it the government and the opposition? Because they are not on the same page which has sent negative signal to the public in which people have started questioning the credibility of the committee as to whether they will do things that will favour the masses. Or they will just try to do things that will favour their political parties and forget about the majority in the country while of the citizens’ grappling in hot water.

In all of this, the role of the international body is key, and the people are highly expecting the international partners especially the Co-Chair of the committee that is representing the international body, MS. Saraphine Wakana, to do her work professionally and for the best interest of the people.

Citizens are patiently waiting to see what could be the final recommendation from the tripartite committee and see if the government and its partners are ready to implement the recommendation of the committee especially the issue of re-run that is all over the place.