By Bampia James Bundu
One hundred and eleven candidates are set to take part in the chieftaincy elections for 19 chiefdoms across the country slated to take place from 2 to 20 December, 2013.
Chief Electoral Commissioner,Christiana Thorpe,told a press conference at their offices on Tower Hill in Freetown that the declaration of rights of the aspirants for paramount chieftaincy had been completed by the ministry of local government and rural development.
She said the ministry had ordered that the declaration of rights’ meetings conducted in “Gbargbo and Bagbwe Chiefdom, both in the Bo District, be redone on the 26 and 27 November 2013 respectively”.
She continued to state that the commission observed the declaration meetings as being challenging and interesting for both chiefdom authorities and the declaration officers.
“They relied heavily on recounting, unwritten and non-archived linage relationships dating from pre-colonial era,” she said, adding that they also relied as much on the legal framework of the Chieftaincy Act of 2009 and on “tradition and customs” of individual chiefdoms.
“We view the declarations process as being successfully accomplished in a transparent and credible manner”, she said.
She said with the power vested in the commission under and pursuant to the provision in Section 28 of the Chieftaincy Act of 2009 they were conducting the elections as planned.
(C) Politico 28/11/13
