By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The new National Electoral Commission (NEC) chief, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh has unveiled his reform agenda in an exclusive interview with Politico on Thursday. The Chief Electoral Commissioner said his reform agenda is based on integrity and collaboration with all stakeholders.
In the half hour long inteview, he spoke about his plans to re-energize staff, build capacity and increase public trust in the commission. He has named his reform program: “Linking Integrity with Electoral Process for Credibility and Legitimacy.”
“Everything about election is about the acceptance of the result. And people will only accept the result if the process is credible and has integrity which is something we are working towards as NEC,” he said.
Konneh’s push for integrity stems from his background as an investigator at Sierra Leone’s anti-graft body and a career at the Africa Development Bank as a financial corruption investigator; a career that lasted for a decade.
He first spoke about reforms at NEC during his nomination interview in Parliament last month. Explaining the details to Politico on Thursday, he said “The perception about NEC activities is always limited to electioneering period and after election, it appears as if NEC does not exist. So one of the approaches for me is to bring about a continual process of electioneering activities wherein we don’t need to wait until we get to election before NEC becomes active.”
He added: “as a result, I am trying to motivate the staff members of this organization. I am trying to improve on the IT infrastructure, which is one of the things we need to improve here drastically…”
In his swearing in ceremony last month, Konneh said: “: “I am fully aware of the weight of the responsibilities and expectations that I am entrusted with, as Chairman of NEC.”
He said during his tenure he plans to share the “weight of that responsibility” around with relevant stakeholders like the security, judiciary and even the citizenry.
“I am aware that the weight of this (responsibility) is heavy and therefore I want to share this weight or heat of this seat with other responsible organizations that contribute in the process of conducting elections,” he said.
Konneh’s appointment was not devoid of controversy, the main opposition All Peoples Congress party has even vowed to challenge his appointment in court.
Asked whether this will change how he relates with the APC, he said: “No, that has not changed and that will not change my approach or decision to any political party, including those who supported me…”
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