News

By Mabinty M. Kamara                    

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has ended a two-day training for fact checkers in the implementation of the Countering Disinformation and Hate Speech project during and after the June 24 2023 elections.

By Chernor Alimamy Kamara

Due to the heavy downpour of rain in the early hours of Wednesday 10^th May 2023, a woman with a nine-month-old pregnancy, Marie Kamara died after a nearby concrete fence collapsed, bringing down her house and nearby houses in the Bankole community at Clinetown, close to Queen Elizabeth II Quay (Water Quay).

Four others were said to have also perished under the rubble that fateful day according to residents.

By Nasratu Kargbo

The National Secretary-General of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Lansana Dumbuya has called on the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL) to redo the voter Identity Cards. He made this call on the 11^th of May 2023 at their party office in Freetown.

Dumbuya stated that the faces on the ID cards are smudged and that one can be hardly recognized, he said.

By Alpha Abu

The Provisional Nomination Process of Presidential Candidates and Running Mates for 13 Political Parties has ended at the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) headquarters in Freetown with the election body approving all 13 aspirants and their running mates.

The final day of the nomination exercise yesterday saw the only female Presidential candidate in this year’s polls Madam Iye Kakay of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) given provisional approval by ECSL. Her running mate is Ambrose Franklyn Kobi.

By Chernor Alimamy Kamara

In order to observe the pre and post-election environment of the June 24^{, 2023,} Elections, a coalition of Civic and Non-Governmental Organizations, under the umbrella of National Elections Watch (NEW) has deployed Long-Term Observers (LTOs) across all 16 districts of Sierra Leone.

A Press Statement from NEW dated 8^th May 2023 said the deployment is part of the organization’s 2023 election observation strategy to ensure a free, fair, and credible outcome of the polls.

By Nasratu Kargbo

United Nation’s Resident Coordinator Babatunde Ahonsi has on behalf of the UN said that they will monitor the electioneering process to ensure that the country has women representation.

Ahonsi made this statement whilst updating the press on the 2022 UN annual result report on Sierra Leone.

By Chernor Alimamy Kamara

With General Elections getting closer, women’s advocacy group- 50/50 has urged Political Party leaders at the executive level to ensure that in preparing the list for Members of Parliament, they should place women in either first or second position for every district.

They made the plea in a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed K. Konneh, and the Chairman of the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC), Abdulai Masiambay Bangura on the 9^th May 2023.