By Saio Marrah
Over two years after a High Court stripped her of the seat, Kadijatu Davies of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) has again been elected Member of Parliament for Constituency 110.
Ms Davies polled 9, 354 votes, representing 51.7 percent in the tightly contested rerun election held on Saturday, December 12, according to provisional results released by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Sunday.
Her only competitor, Josephine Jackson of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), polled 8,729 votes, representing 48.2 percent.
Data from NEC indicates that an estimated 25, 000 people were registered to vote in the by-election. The exact turnout was not yet clear as we went to press, but initial indications were that turnout was much lower than the annulled 2018 elections when Davies was elected with 14, 342 votes, representing 45 percent, against Jackson’s 12, 092 votes, representing 38 percent.
The seat was declared vacant after the High Court nullified the 2018 election. The APC lost a total of 10 seats as a result of that controversial court decision in May 2019, which was sparked by multiple petitions filed by SLPP candidates, who made a host of allegations, including violations of electoral laws, malpractices and violence against their APC opponents.
But the Constituency 110 seat was declared for rerun, unlike the other seats, which were automatically occupied by the runners-up in the polls.
The first attempt by the NEC to conduct the re-run in August 2019 was aborted at the point of counting the votes. Both APC and SLPP back then claimed victory, even though partial official results released at the time indicated that the APC candidate was leading. The NEC cited electoral malpractice and unrest for the decision to abort the process.
Constituency 110 encompasses Goderich and surrounding communities like Hamilton and Funkia right around the peninsula in Kent in the Western Rural Area District.
In the run up to the by-election, candidates from the two political parties – the National Grand Coalition (NGC) and Unity Party (UP) – withdrew from the race.
According to reports, the process was largely peaceful.
The Constituency 110 vote was one of two parliamentary and two local council by-elections held on Saturday.
APC’s victory in the Constituency 110 by-election increases its seat in the parliament to 58, still not enough to have control over the House.
After the 2018 elections, the APC won 68 seats, against SLPP’s 49. The Coalition for Change (C4C) had eight seats, while the NGC had four seats, plus three seats for independent candidates.
With the High Court’s decision, the SLPP’s number of seats automatically rose to 58, against APC’s reduced 58. Along the way the SLPP would win a by-election in Constituency 040 in Falaba District, further stripping the APC off one more seat, making the balance of power in the House 59 to 57, in favor of the ruling party.
With the outcome of the Constituency 110 by-election, both the SLPP and APC are tied at 58 seats. If the by-election in Bo district goes to the SLPP as expected they will have the most seat by a whisker of a single seat.
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