By Kabs Kanu
I have been listening to some nonsensical statements by some people that during the ongoing media dialogue, the APC failed to produce copies of the disaggregated polling stations voting results and so they have no case against the ECSL in the ongoing interparty dialogue to resolve the political impasse in Sierra Leone.
Really?
Such arguments are not only moronic. They are insane. Is the APC the one appointed and being paid from the Consolidated Fund to conduct elections in Sierra Leone? Is the APC the one thrust with the responsibility to ensure the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in Sierra Leone? Who has the duty– The APC or the ESCL?
If the argument also is that the ECSL is the only body mandated by law to conduct elections and to announce the winners, they have the responsibility to release results that prove that the elections were credible. It is not the APC, who have no legal mandate to conduct general elections and announce the rightful winners.
Even if the APC has no RRF forms to show, it does not absolve the ECSL of their legal responsibility to prove how they arrived at the figures to prove that Maada Bio won the elections at the first ballot.
The ECSL is an integrity institution. The ECSL is mandated both by law and moral convention to deliver its duties with a very strong code of ethical conduct and positive values .Institutions of integrity like the ECSL are guided by legal, social and moral norms to be credible in any action or decision they make because what they do affects the lives of everybody in the nation and generations yet to come. They have the very important structures in place to gauge the wishes of the nation and announce whom the people have decided to rule them and make decisions on their behalf.
Given such a mountainous responsibility, the margin of error in the actions and decisions of the ECSL should be zero because one mistake from them can plunge not only the whole nation but the West African sub region into total conflagration. They have to ensure that trust, integrity and credibility surround their every action or decision to avoid chaos in the volatile sub region.
You can see from these responsibilities hanging ominously around the necks of the ECSL that it is a very serious matter if the integrity or credibility of the ECSL is impugned as has been done by local and international elections monitoring teams, goodwill partners and nations and stakeholders, after the June 24 elections charade. If the ECSL is a sober organization that wants to be taken seriously, it is incumbent on it to do whatever it takes to demonstrate and prove that whatever accusations are levied against it are false and the people of Sierra Leone and the world should continue to pin their faith and trust in it.
The ECSL cannot play mind games with the people by childishly asserting that the complainants, the APC, must first produce data to prove their accusations correct that the elections were rigged before they can produce their’s . It is Treason, writ large, to treat their responsibilities and the people in such an irresponsible and reckless manner.
The success and failure of the Commonwealth- led mediated dialogue spins around the axis of credible proof by the ECSL that they did not rig the elections. If there is any iota of doubt that the elections were not free, fair and credible, the international mediators have no legal or moral authority to compel the APC MPs, Mayors and councillors to break their boycott and take their seats. They will be seen to be collaborating with the Maada Bio government in damaging democracy and constitutional governance in Sierra Leone.
If ECSL Commissioner, Mohamed Konneh, does not provide the requested data at the talks as promised, it is a monumental embarrassment even to President Bio and the SLPP Government and Bio has a right to order his arrest right in the hall.
The APC too are obligated to their grassroots supporters and the nation to ensure that the party is not cheated and placed in the doldrums. Accepting any resolution of this matter without ascertaining first the credibility of the results of the June 24 elections would be tantamount to a betrayal of the dreams and aspirations of the party and the Sierra Leonean people (who are determined to see genuine democracy and not dictatorship in their country).
It will also be a big blow to the international community, elections observers and stakeholders who have also demanded the disaggregated results from the polling stations.
The APC executive do not also have the right to append signatures to any negotiated settlement of this standoff without the expressed assent and permission of the vanguard and rank-and – file of the party and the people of Sierra Leone.
Let us know first who actually won the 2023 elections through a demonstration of credible polling stations voting data and we will proceed from there.
