By Nasratu Kargbo
The National Elections Watch (NEW) has urged the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) to improve on its services, following NEW’s observation of the authority’s registration and confirmation exercise in the Western Area and northern region.
A statement by NEW which was released on the 3 June 2021 noted that even though NCRA has made some improvements in specific areas like Koinadugu, Falaba and Tonkolili districts, there were so many challenges in the Bombali district, and that more needs to be done.
According to NEW's observation, personnel and equipment created challenges in some areas in the Bombali District. The institution explained that "up to about 2:00 pm" some centres neither had NCRA personnel nor equipment. In centres such as WCSL Primary School, Bombali Bana Ward 113, Lorry Park Makeni, and Rogbaneh Road in Ward 121, registrants waited at the centre up to 2:30 pm and left because there was no NCRA personnel,” the statement reads in part.
It added: “Some centres in the Bombali district had malfunctioned equipment or no equipment at all". NEW explained that in some centres, registrants' details failed to pop up, passwords for computers were not available, scanners and fingerprint pads were malfunctioning and there was no computer or generator. The malfunctioned equipment reportedly caused immense challenges in the various centres.
On-location and timing, NEW stated that "there were no signposts to indicate the location of centres in all centres observed across the region", and that in the Bombali district, some centres were relocated without communicating to the registrants or the NCRA personnel. The statement added that most of the centres in Tonkolili, Falaba and Koinadugu districts opened on time, but all the centres in the Bombali district did not open on time; in fact some did not open.
Few centres did not open on the first day, “in Tonkolili, Koinadugu, and Falaba districts", according to NEW. The statement explained that some wards did not open due to the unavailability of material and malfunctioning equipment, amongst others.
In a bid to get a thorough observation, NEW stated that it "recruited, trained and deployed 225 stationed observers". It said apart from the stationed observers, the institution also deployed supervisors and roving teams of 2 senior personnel each to have a fair coverage of the entire process.
The institution advised NCRA to ameliorate its services by responding to the challenges. NCRA was also advised to use the lessons and experiences learnt from one region to serve as a roadmap in improving the confirmation and registration exercise in the other regions. Meanwhile, NEW calls on all residents in Sierra Leone to "exercise their rights by going to the centres and confirm their details or to register”, and said there were no other observers apart from theirs.
NEW is a coalition of local and international organisations that support free, fair and peaceful elections. As part of its bilateral with institutions that have a stake in electoral processes in Sierra Leone, NEW met with NCRA on the 3rd of February 2021 to get an update on the possible challenges along the line.
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