By: Hassan Osman Kargbo & Joseph A. KAMANDA
The June 24 2023 elections was surrounded by a lot of irregularities that led to the mediated dialogue between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) to break the political stalemate in the country between the two actors, with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) overseeing the process as negotiators moral and guarantors.
But, at the eleventh hours when Sierra Leoneans are expecting to receive news of a positive outcome from the almighty Tripartite Committee, the main opposition APC last Friday 14 June 2024 issued a press statement, announcing the suspension of their participations in the Tripartite Committee over what they considered as a lack of transparency from the Government in ensuring that the data for the 2023 election results are provided by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL). The big question citizens are asking is that is the APC really serious to stand for the people of the nation? Why it’s now the APC are suspending their participation in the Tripartite Committee having spent the rest of the period representing their party therein?
It’s not a secret that the Tripartite Committee started with confusion and it seems it is also ending with the same disagreement. The APC saw this coming from different quarters, but they decided to ignore and continue with the work of the Tripartite Committee. Why is it that Sierra Leone’s politicians cannot dialogue or agree on anything that will get the public to focus on what is important for the people even when development partners are babysitting them. It is just their parochial political interests, nothing about the progress of the country. It seems like the APC leadership has lost its bearing, because the Agreement of National Unity has 8 bullets, and they are participating in all. In fact, few days ago, the APC National Deputy Secretary General, Hon Osman Timbo and the SLPP National Secretary General, Umaru Napoleon Koroma participated in an inter-party dialogue after both parties had issue a joint press release condemning hate speech and other stuffs on the media. According to that release the incumbent SLPP and the APC called on citizens to fight against hate speech and promote peaceful political discourse in the country. Both parties expressed concerns over the rising tensions in the political discourse, within Sierra Leone and among the country’s diaspora communities. And it continued that, the SLPP and the APC have jointly committed themselves to the Agreement for National Unity to address these challenges.
Those landmark agreement aims to:
– Peacefully and respectfully resolve political differences
– Strengthen our democratic institutions
– Resume regular cross-party dialogue
– Unite Sierra Leoneans across all divides
It furthered that, those pledges reflects their shared dedication to advancing Sierra Leone’s broader national interest.
In addition, why now APC is disassociating itself from participating in the Tripartite Committee in general? Most importantly, the Tripartite Committee has been working for 6 months, and APC has participated fully. All the research is done, all interviews are done, and the report is even drafted. For APC to issue that press statement in less than a week to the conclusion of the work of the committee and the launch of the report shows their lack of plan, orientation, preparedness and leadership. It is so disappointing that the likes of Dr Kaifala Marrah, Dr Richard Konteh and even Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara are unable to provide leadership to stand by the people who believe in their political ideologies.
In all of these, let us wait and see how things will unfold in the coming days, because, since it is a tripartite agreement. So if one party leaves table, there are still two parties. But, if there are irregularities, it is the ordinary people who will face the consequences. And let the APC up their game if only they want to constructively stand tall against the SLPP.
Nevertheless, as the old adage says: A toad does not run in a day, if it is not running after something, then something is running after it’, which implicitly points out that APC didn’t staged an unnecessary back out from the Tripartite Committee.
So herewith some of the critical pointers to reasons why the APC suspended their participation from the Tripartite Committee…
…Reasons Suspension of Participation in the Tripartite Committee?
Among coupled of reasons projected by the opposition for the suspension of their participation in the Tripartite Committee have to do with dozens of concerns such as statistical inconstancies and discrepancies in the results announced on June 26 2023.
In a leaked letter addressed to the ECSL dated 10 June 2024, the APC specifically outlined instances wherein the average valid votes per polling stations exceeded the three hundred (300) voter threshold in the eight districts.
The APC thus referenced Section 84(1) of the Public Elections Act 2022, which mandates that results from polling stations with votes exceeding the number of registered voters be declared null and void.
In view of that, the APC demanded the nullification of results from the affected districts and the conduct of fresh elections, pointing out that the ECSL had recorded an unusually low percentage of invalid votes at 0.39%, which deviates significantly from historical trends.
The APC further highlighted discrepancies between the partial results announced on June 26, 2023, and the final results, raising concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.
The ECSL in response, acknowledged receipt of the APC letter in a communication dated June 12, 2024. The ECSL letter, signed by the Executive Secretary, referred the APC to previous correspondences and a five-hour face-to-face meeting held with the Cross-Party Committee on May 28, 2024. The ECSL reiterated that the APC letter was non-compliant with the administrative procedures outlined in the Terms of Reference of the Cross-Party Committee on Electoral Systems and Management Bodies Review. The ECSL said that the issues raised had been addressed in earlier discussions, documented and communicated. Copies of the ECSL letter were sent to various stakeholders, including the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Chairpersons of the Cross-Party Committee, all diplomatic missions, the APC National Secretary General, the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, and the Inter Religious Council.
