By Umaru Fofana
After a heated debate lasting several hours, Parliament yesterday approved Mohamed Kenewui Konneh as the head of the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
78 of the parliamentarians present voted to approve his nomination, while 51 voted against.
The main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party said that his appointment was unconstitutional because he had not resigned from public service one year prior.
Speaker after speaker from the party’s side of the isle did not question his competence but insisted on the point of constitutionality.
They also argued that President Julius Maada Bio had not consulted political parties as the law dictated, before his appointment.
A letter to the Speaker from the APC Secretary General, Osman Yansanneh read out in parliament by the House Minority Leader, Chernor Maju Bah, says President Bio only telephoned the leader and chairman of their party and former president, Ernest Bai Koroma to inform him about his decision to appoint Konneh. Saying that was not consultative.
The letter says the party wrote back to object to his nomination citing grounds for such, but that State House only replied to acknowledge the letter without addressing the points raised.
The SLPP House Majority Leader, Mathew Nyuma said the law did not say what form such a consultation should take. He said the fact he had telephoned the APC leader before making the announcement meant that he had consulted him.
Nyuma cited the appointment of the former NEC chief, Nfa Alie Conteh who had not resigned while working at the electoral commission before his ascension to the leadership.
The House Leader of the opposition National Grand Coalition, Dr Kandeh Yumkella, told parliament that his legal advisers had briefed that the provisions of the law did not disqualify Konneh’s nomination. He therefore approved of his appointment.
Dr Yumkella advised the new elections chief to implement the recommendations emanating from the observations of election observers of the 2018 polls. He had also asked for the issue of Sierra Leoneans abroad to be allowed to register and vote from their countries of residence.
The parliamentary leader of the Coalition for Change (C4C), Saa Emerson Lamina said the nominee was “competently qualified” to head NEC. He said their analysis of the eligibility criteria was consistent with the appointment.
Konneh was sworn in at State House later in the day where he vowed to serve the nation faithfully.
Before his appointment as the elections chief, Mohamed Konneh had worked as an investigator at the Anti-Corruption Commission before resigning to work as a financial investigator at the African Development Bank (AfDB) based in Tunisia and Ivory Coast. He returned home recently to head the Financial Intelligence Unit.
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