By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Following the dominance of the yet-to-be-sworn-in Sixth Parliament by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) both parties will still have a lion’s share of the council seats across the country.
This became evident after Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Konneh announced on Tuesday 11th July the final results of the 24th June local council election.
From the available 493 (four hundred and ninety-three) local council seats in Sierra Leone, SLPP secured a total of 270 (two hundred and seventy) seats nationwide, and APC got 215 (two hundred and fifteen) seats. Two other parties- Peoples Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) and the National Grand Coalition (NGC) got 6 and 2 seats respectively.
Konneh in his brief statement before the announcement of the results expressed appreciation to the Media, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Political Parties who have been working with them throughout the electioneering process. He said there are lessons learned by the commission at every election and they were able to improve and enhance quality in the 2023 polls.
He said the commission would from experiences gained add value to the next elections in terms of management of the entire electoral process.
“Sierra Leone is still at a learning curve and we are not there yet, but we will continue to grow and improve on procedures and processes until we get to where other advanced countries are, in terms of democratic processes,” he said.
He extended gratitude to the European Union (EU) for their due diligence, saying the commission had read their report and taken onboard their recommendations and a series of other recommendations from other partners and observers. He stated that normally the tradition of the electoral commission at every election is to come together to evaluate the processes and procedures and come up with a strategic plan that will be reflective of the lessons they have learned and how to improve on the next elections.
President Julius Maada Bio won by the first ballot with 56.17% defeating his main Challenger Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara of the APC who got 41.16%.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (12/07/23)
