By Alpha Abu
Leaders of Government and the main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) have on Tuesday 21st November taken practical steps in actualising a key resolution both acceded to in their brokered dialogue last month, following the launch by President Julius Maada Bio of a tri-partite Committee that will review Sierra Leone’s electoral systems.
Named ‘Committee on Electoral Systems and Management Bodies Review’ the grouping comprises representatives of Government and the APC as well as partners drawn from the international community, civil society, and the media.
President Bio told the well-attended State House gathering that included senior officials of the APC led by Dr. Samura MW Kamara, US Ambassador Bryan David Hunt, other foreign diplomats, development partners, the security sector, Civil society, and the media that the constituted committee was indeed “an important step to building systems, collectively working together, addressing the issues that affect our people and the democratic processes, and more importantly, institutionalizing dialogue in our body-politic’’.
He said the country’s democracy might not have matured as could have been desired yet it is a growing democracy. According to the President with the support of their partners, they can dialogue and build congeniality rather than protecting self-interests and achieve vain laurels.
The President recognised the efforts played by the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion to facilitate the dialogue with the support of development partners. “As President, I am delighted that the three-way committee we are unveiling today is a home-grown initiative drafted in my address to the Sixth Parliament 25 of August this year’’.
He said he made that pronouncement with a firm belief that systems and institutional development as well as inter-party consensus-building can resolve the bottlenecks and impasses in the country’s socio-economic environment.
Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in his statement expressed hope that the committee will form the basis of evaluating the electoral architecture of Sierra Leone and creating an inclusive and informed roadmap to electoral reforms.
Former APC Presidential Candidate in the 2018 and 2023 polls, Dr. Samura Kamara in his address registered his party’s commitment to work towards achieving the committee’s objectives and hoped that “systemic vulnerabilities’’ associated with the electoral processes will be addressed. He described the initiative as the ‘’most peaceful stakeholder out of court settlement ever’’.
Chief Minister in the Office of the President, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh said the whole dialogue preceding the establishment of the committee was a true depiction of the ‘’African spirit of give and take” and that at the end ‘’all won’’. He said both sides displayed a sense of national belonging during the mediation process and he was of the view that a reset button has been put in motion with an eye to the future as manifested in the resolve to get the committee up and running.
UN Resident Co-ordinator, Babatunde Ahonsi in his address said they look forward to full implementation of the agreement between the government and APC. He also spoke about ‘’the return of people displaced due to political violence to their communities, the release of individuals as agreed by both government and opposition and the isolation of any individual who continues to incite violence and hate speech’’, fundamental principles agreed on at the close of deliberations in October.
Following the outcome of the June 24 elections which saw incumbent President Julius Maada Bio re-elected, senior officials of the APC raised concerns over what they alleged were irregularities in the conduct of the polls on the part of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL). The APC then decided to stay away from any form of governance at both Council and Parliamentary levels, in protest.
It took the intervention of the Commonwealth, African Union, and Economic Community of West African States that brokered a three–day mediated dialogue in Freetown from 16th-18th October 2023, to get APC and SLPP to reach an agreement to end the political stalemate.
Members of Parliament, Mayors, Chairpersons, and Councillors of the main opposition have since taken up duty after being sworn into office, bringing to a close a deadlock that lasted some four months. On the 24th of October President Bio addressed the nation, promising to set up a body that will comprehensively address electoral concerns and ensure reforms.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (22/11/23)
