By Sulaiman Jalloh
Chief Minister of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) led government and the 2023 presidential candidate and leader of the opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC), Dr David Sengeh and Dr Samura Kamara, respectively has, on Monday, 1st July, 2024, submitted the final report and recommendations of the Tripartite Committee to President Juluis Maada Bio at State House in Freetown.
Submitting the report to President Bio, Dr David Sengeh and Dr Samura Kamara stated that the Tripartite Committee worked for six months amidst challenges they described as ‘contentious issues.’ According to them, the Review of the Electoral Systems and Management Bodies is deemed critical for strengthening the country’s democracy.
“Joint efforts by the SLPP led government and the APC is an incredible opportunity to provide Sierra Leone with the right types, fit for purpose institutions with its attendant progressive legislations, systems, and processes. The path to reaching the much-needed consensus had been onerous and sometimes challenging. There have been instances of outright disagreement. The Chief Negotiators, Co-Chairs and Committee members at various times referred to ‘for the good of the country’ which indicated that in all that is being done Sierra Leone is in mind,” the lead negotiators stated, adding that, “The Report is a mixed bag of issues that evolve around elections from 2007, 2012, 2018 and 2023 being the most recently concluded multi-tier elections.”
Samura and Sengeh further informed President Bio that there are split views on the outcome from the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and the APC and that the Report has areas of general agreement by both parties as well as areas of marked disagreement. They however noted that it is part of democracy, agreeing to disagree and not always agreeing on everything but the report explained everything and people are expected to read it.
“The task ahead dealing with the implementation of the recommendations is one that would determine the degree of commitment and sincerity of the parties. The implementation is what would justify the investment of time and financial resources as it what a good number of Sierra Leoneans are eagerly looking forward to and so are our partners. As parties to the Report, we must strive to do everything possible within the law and our conscience to ensure that implementation is timely and impactful,” they asserted, adding that, “It would ensure that the country is assessed as being committed to legal and institutional reforms that will not only improve but also bring electoral systems up to-date and meet international best practices.”
A few minutes after receiving the report, President Bio posted via his X account confirming that he has received the Tripartite Committee Report. “Today, I received the final report of the Cross-Party Committee on Electoral systems and bodies at State House. I am committed to deepening our democratic credentials by instituting just and inclusive electoral management and electoral process reforms. I want to thank members of the Committee for their exceptional service to our beloved Sierra Leone. I am deeply grateful to our development partners for their support of the principle, objectives, and work of this Committee,” President Bio posted.
It could be recalled that the opposition, APC rejected the 2023 general elections results, claiming that they were marred by what the party described as, “massive irregularities of electoral procedures,” and therefore decided to boycott governance.
A few months later the ruling SLPP government held a mediated dialogue with the opposition APC involving the Independent National Peace Commission (INPC), the Commonwealth, African Union (AU) and the ECOWAS at the Bintumani Conference Centre, Aberdeen, West of the Capital.
During the mediated dialogue, the ruling SLPP led government and the opposition APC, signed an agreement for national unity focusing on electoral justice, accountability and transparency after the 2023 general elections. The said mediated dialogue saw the emergence of 8 resolutions and resolution 3 stipulated that both parties should come together and establish a cross-party committee involving third parties in a bid to review the electoral management systems and bodies.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Wednesday, July 3rd , 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
