By Saio Marrah
Five political parties have in a communiqué at a Strategic Planning retreat for their senior leadership at Radisson Blu hotel in Freetown last Friday, called on the government of Sierra Leone to give a subvention to parties as administrative support to enhance their participation in the country’s politics.
The Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP), National Unity and Reconciliation Party (NURP), Alliance Democratic Party (ADP), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the United National People’s Party (UNPP) were all signatories to the communiqué.
They earlier highlighted the various challenges they are faced with as political parties and advocated for infrastructural and technical support like office space, mobility, training and auditing, and financial resource mobilization.
Improving political dialogue and engagement among political parties, promoting political tolerance and inter-political coordination and cooperation among political parties in the country, were among the requests made.
They also called on the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) to strategically integrate parties in their planning and decision-making processes.
Working with democratic institutions to promote the prevention and reduction of political and election-related violence, was another issue they mentioned. Promotion of trust among political parties was also a part of the communiqué.
The National Secretary-General of the RUFP, Alice Katumu Pyne, accused successive governments of not honouring the Lome Peace Accord signed by then President Ahmad Tejan Kabba and the leader of the Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh.
Alice said despite non-conformity to the agreement, their members have maintained the peace in the country.
Talking about the significance of the party in Sierra Leone politics, she said their party came 6th Position out of the 17 political parties that contested the 2018 general elections.
She also accused successive governments of still repeating the same causes that led to the past civil war and that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations have not been honoured. Pyne therefore called for a revisit of the Lome agreement.
The Chairman and Leader of the National Unity and Reconciliation Party (NURP) Dr. Jonathan Sandy said as the General Election is approaching, they are facing many challenges that needed to be addressed which are related to administrative capacity, office space and house rent.
He said this is because the constitution made it clear that political parties are the only institutions that bring the people of Sierra Leone together because when registering a political party you have to involve persons from all the districts, irrespective of tribe or gender biases. He said it is a platform that enhances national integration, unity amongst tribes so as to enhance national stability and promote democracy.
Dr. Sandy therefore, said all political parties have their ideologies and that NURP’s ideology was borne out of the TRC report.
He noted that the constitution gives the mandate to political parties to shape the political will of the people of Sierra Leone, and that they should generate ideas to discuss issues of national interest. He however said successive governments have not been giving subvention to any of the political parties.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (13/07/22)
