By Septimus Senessie in Kono
Some petty traders in the eastern Kono district have protested against last week’s elections results, describing the entire process as “undemocratic, stage-managed and invalid.”
Outside the polling stations, aggrieved traders in their dozens held on to placards with inscriptions “no elections without peace! Peace before elections!” But their calls were ignored and the OSD was called in to disperse them and warn them against coming anywhere beyond one hundred metres from the polling stations.
They were also threatened with court actions should they continue with their peaceful protest outside the polling stations
Acting chairman of the aggrieved traders, Jonathan Kabba-Sai, said they would not honour and accept the election results because the process was not competitive because contestants of the eight elective positions contested against government boxes with the remaining 12 positions subjected to selection.
He also alleged that the interim executive members who had served in those capacities for seven years did not relinquish power until on polling day.
Mr Kabba-Sai further claimed that they did not fill in candidates because it was not made public. He said “this is a naked breach of our constitution for someone aspiring for executive positions to hold onto power till polling day”, and described the action as “undemocratic, stage-managed and invalid”.
He alleged that two weeks to the elections day, his membership wrote a letter to authorities in district including the police calling for the postponement of the elections until their concerns were addressed. Claims the LUC of Tankoro police division, Superintendent David Sahid Koroma told Politico had been addressed on the eve of the elections.
But Mr. Kabba-Sai also challenged the police, saying on the eve of the election they were called by the LUC at his office to agree on power-sharing to which he had declined. He threatened that they would form their own traders’ union in the district that would advocate for their membership.
Coordinator of the elections, Patrick Fayah Mansary, dismissed the claims by the chairman against them as baseless, saying “it was constitutional for the incumbents to hold on to power till polling day because we do not want power vacuum as nature does not allows that”.
Mansaray, who is also the district coordinator of OGI and Health Alert, disassociated himself from the union of aggrieved traders, calling them “non-members of their union.”
A local observer of the elections, Komba Manga from a community based organisation called Knowledge for Community Empowerment Organisation (KoCEPO), also questioned the validity and credibility of the entire electioneering process.
He said though the elections were conducted by the National Electoral Commission, NEC, the “aspirants who organised the process were also serving as observers. I also saw aspirants directing voters how to vote”, adding that the aspirants contesting against government showed that the incumbent did not adequately advertised those positions for others to fill in their candidates.
Assistance district electoral officer of NEC in Kono, Emmanuel Thomson, said he suggested the idea of candidates contesting against government boxes for the sake of democracy. He said they had suggested to him early that all those positions should go unopposed. He denied any malpractices in the process and described it as “free, fair and transparent.”
Chairman elect of the union, William David Sesay, could not comment on the allegations against them, saying “it is too premature to comment on such matters without consulting with the national executive of our union.”
(C) Politico 08/07/14
