By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
The National Elections Watch (NEW) has called on the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) to speedily investigate and prosecute all electoral offences allegedly committed during the recently concluded bye-elections in Kono District.
NEW is a coalition of local and international civil society organizations which monitors all public elections conducted by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). It said it discovered several anomalies in the elections in Kono, including alleged presentation of fake voter identification cards, unexplained cancelation of results, as well as arrests of party agents.
The elections in Ward 099, Constituency 030 in Kono were held on Saturday 22 June, at the same time a similar by-election was conducted in Ward 204, Constituency 062 in Kambia District in the north of the country. The election in Kono was won by the Coalition for Change (C4C), while the Kambia contest was won by the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
According to a statement issued by NEW, while the polls in both districts were conducted in relatively peaceful atmosphere, in spite of low voter turnout, it noted with concern some elections malpractices. In one instance, three people were arrested for possession of fake voter identity cards and were handed over to the police in Kono. The suspects are said to be under investigation.
NEW also said it was concerned about the arrests of SLPP party agents and nullification of the results of an entire polling centre (centre code 3210) in KDEC Primary School, Koeyor. The results were nullified following a petition by the SLPP to the NEC at the end of the tallying process.
NEW is also concerned about the location of polling centers in Kambia, where it said the terrain was not easily accessible.
“This was a challenge to observing the tallying process,” the statement reads.
“NEW, therefore, draws the attention of the NEC and other elections management bodies to take necessary actions that would prevent a repeat in subsequent bye elections,” it said as part of its recommendations. It added that the NEC should ensure it situate tally centers in locations that are more accessible in all future elections.
The civil society coalition also called on the NEC to give clear guidelines for the public to know the real circumstances leading to the cancellation, quarantine and exclusion of results from investigation.
NEW’s chairperson, Marcella Samba Sesay, told Politico on Friday that prosecution of offenders is crucial to deter future occurrences of similar offences.
“We urge the police to speedily investigate the matter and prosecute the offenders in court,” she said about the alleged fake voter ID mater.
© 2019 Politico Online
