The nation has been witnessing how some members and politicians of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have continued to blatantly violate the no-campaign rule established by the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) in connection with the ongoing voter registration process.

While our radars have been firmly positioned to highlight and condemn also such acts had they been blatantly carried out by members and politicians of the opposition parties, particularly the All Peoples Congress (APC), we have continued to see videos, hear messages and read publications in the social and traditional media of how ruling party members and politicians have been using the voter registration process to campaign, calling on people to register to vote for their party or candidates in the June 24, 2023 public elections.

The latest of such acts or violation was the clear campaign message delivered few days ago by the SLPP Member of Parliament representing Constituency 010 in Kailahun district, Hon. Zainab Kama Brima, as published in the press, one of which headlined: ‘MP Urges Citizens to Register’ (New Vision, Mon 12 Sept. 2022, pg5).

The report reads: “The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Member of Parliament representing Constituency 010, Kailahun district, Hon. Zainab Kama Brima has urged citizens to register for development, and re-elect President Julius Maada Bio in the June 24^th 2023 Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Government elections. She said President Bio has implemented a lot of development activities and they want those developments including education, infrastructure, electricity, health amongst others to continue.

“She made the statement in her constituency when she was sensitizing her constituents to register.

“She said as MPs, they have a role to sensitize their people to register, noting that the registration is very important to her constituents and the country at large, which is why she said she was on the ground to encourage them to register for the future of their children.

“The SLPP woman frowned at those that are using the registration to campaign which she said is against the PPRC rule, stating it’s not yet time to campaign but to encourage people to register.

“She disclosed that the Political Parties Registration Commission has warned politicians not to use the registration to campaign, adding that they should wait for the most appropriate time but now their focus should be to encourage the people to register.

“She said she is moving from town[s] to the other to encourage voters to register which she noted is the most important for now. Hon. Brima described the Kailahun district SLPP Chairman as the best, noting that he has brought dramatic changes in the district compared to other districts.

“She said the district is looking for women that have proven themselves to develop their constituencies.”

Another case in point of violation or campaign is the recent video by state journalist Mahawa Alieu openly calling on people to register in order to vote for the SLPP-led government.

Ms Alieu, who is the current Press Attaché at the Sierra Leone High Commission in The Gambia, is seen in videos openly campaigning at voter registration centres in the guise of sensitizing people to register.

Similar acts have been seen to be perpetuated by people no less the former foreign affairs minister Alie Kabba. Also, few days ago, a TikTok video showed how Dr Kabba, of the SLPP, was campaigning in the guise of sensitizing people to register, telling the people to register to re-elect President Bio, and that the SLPP would win the upcoming June 24, 2023 elections “hands down” with “no runoff”.

There is also the widely circulated and much talked-about video of blatant campaign tactics showing an SLPP strong woman Fatmata Sawaneh sharing money to people in queues at registration centres.

Last week, the President of the nation also displayed some campaign tactics in a church he was invited to grace an occasion. He told the church congregation to reciprocate his honouring of their invitation to the church programme by voting for him in the June 2023 elections.

He said: “I thank the church for inviting me to this encounter in 2022, though I may not be here to the end. So, I am here on the first day and my next encounter is going to be in June 2023. So, I have honoured your invitation and I am inviting you to my encounter with your votes.”

The above instances are not anything but campaign messages and activities openly flouting the PPRC’s rule of no-campaign-during-voter registration.

However, the shocking and scandalous picture of it all is how all these violations have gone unchecked till lately when the PPRC decided to raise its voice, rather tarring all the political parties with the same brush of flouting its rule.

Hence, many people in Sierra Leone and abroad have been wondering whether the PPRC was not a “toothless bulldog”, as flagrant disregard for the rules they set prior to the voter registration process continues unabated.

Forum thought it was a done deal and a fait accompli and that the PPRC would live by its words, when about three weeks ago the commission’s chairman, lawyer Abdulai Masiyambay Bangurah Esq made an apt statement cautioning political parties and politicians to guard against using the period of the voter registration process to campaign, when the ECSL is yet to declare a campaign period for the 2023 elections.

But going by the campaign messages we are hearing, seeing and reading in the public and the media, without the PPRC speaking truth to power, we are left with no option but to think that the rules set by the PPRC are aimed at certain animals in the animal farm on the political space of Sierra Leone. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that political parties, party stalwarts and politicians are currently campaigning for their parties and election aspirants “in the guise of sensitizing” their “membership on voter registration”.

Across certain registration centres, we have been seeing sympathisers, party members, politicians and MPs deliberately flouting the rules or violating the cautionary statements of the PPRC.

Prior to the commencement of the ongoing voter registration process, PPRC’s chairman Abdulai Masiyambay Bangurah had issued the following warning to political parties and politicians, saying: “Voter card is the most effective weapon the ordinary man would have over their politicians. Your voter card will help you regulate your politicians. At the same time I would like to remind the political parties that ECSL has not declared campaign open and they have not given us their campaign calendar for now. So we would not want to see political parties going out there to campaign in the guise of sensitizing your membership on voter registration. We would keep watch and we would not hesitate to call you to order.”

We applaud the PPRC Chairman because he is correct to have issued such a warning to guard against anything that will bring about misunderstanding and probable violence during the voter registration process. It is also vital that he has issued such a caution since the PPRC is the body legally responsible for the registration of all political parties in Sierra Leone.

However till we see a positive change of the situation, we can only take the PPRC’s statement with a pinch of salt or to be a whip aimed at only the opposition.

“Hence, many people in Sierra Leone and abroad have been wondering whether the PPRC was not a ‘toothless bulldog’, as blatant violation of the rules they set prior to the voter registration process continues unabated.”