By Nasratu Kargbo
The Commissioner of the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL), Mohamed K Konneh has called on political parties not to use the platform of motivating citizens to register as a means of campaign. He made the statement during a press conference held on the 7th September 2022 at the ECSL head office in Freetown.
The commissioner whilst responding to a question on whether political parties can wear party colors to campaign during registration, he explained that they have called on political parties to help them sensitize and encourage voters to register, but that they “have not authorized them to use that leeway or opportunity to campaign for their political parties”.
He said rationally it is not allowed to use party colours to campaign at registration centres.
Konneh however stated that the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) is charged with responsibility to monitor that aspect.
In response to the question whether the commission has given any order for arrest of persons whom ECSL officers in centres have accused to have committed a fraudulent act, Konneh said: “No we have not”
He emphasized that they did not give such an order, nor have they received any complaint at the situation room. However, he stated that they have noted the concerns and will ensure that the operation team does a follow-up on the issue.
He mentioned a free toll line through which they can be reached to make complaints on issues bordering on registration. Complaints can be made on the number 838 on all mobile networks operating in the country.
Speaking on other issues, the commissioner said the “commission has been notified of the attempts to facilitate the registration of underage people”.
He said that underage registration is considered to be fraud under electoral law and emphasized that people caught committing such offence will be prosecuted.
He stated that stakeholders should not use the electoral provision to register underage, especially with chiefs or other local leaders given the clearance to confirm the age eligibility of first time voters.
“You cannot tell me if you’re a chief, you know the ages of over ten to twenty people that every day you will be certifying people that they were born on a certain day”, he countered.
He explained that they want to protect the integrity of the system, noting that they have put controls in place to ensure that they do not misuse the provisions of electoral laws in order to accommodate underage people.
Konneh added that when the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) did the national registration, they already recorded majority of the people that will turn eighteen before the election, stating that if one is to give a different date of birth, it will be detected by the NCRA. “The commission has the means to identify culprits and such persons will be prosecuted,” he said.
He therefore called on the community stakeholders and parents to take note and be mindful that their wards provide the same record as they did in the national record.
Speaking on statistics, the commissioner stated that the commission has in three days registered about 415,465 people. Konneh highlighted some difficulties encountered but noted that they have been able to solve them.
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