By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
In order to foster peaceful, credible, and inclusive electoral processes in Sierra Leone, the National Youth Commission (NAYCOM) has urged Youths to participate without violence in the upcoming June 24th general elections in the country.
Officials of the commission made this statement during a National Consultation and Planning Meeting held at the New Brookfields Hotel on the 18th April 2023.
In his statement, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Chief Technical Adviser on Elections, George Baratashvili noted the importance of the event saying that Sierra Leoneans are going to the polls in 66 days’ time. He underscored that a significant percentage of the voting population are youth, some of whom he said will be first-time voters.
He added that Sierra Leone has a young population with 80 percent of the country’s population between 15 and 35 years accounting for about 30 percent of the population. He went on to note that Youths have huge influence and potential that need to be channeled for promoting peaceful conduct of the election.
“Therefore we welcome the youth commission in rolling out a series of capacity-building engagements of national and local youth councils, youth wings of political parties, youth groups, and associations to enhance young people’s meaningful participation in the electoral processes to promote violence-free elections,” he said.
Baratashvili went on to say that the UNDP in partnership with Irish Aid, the EU, the Government of Iceland, and Canada provide support to the elections management bodies and as stakeholders of Sierra Leone, were set to implement a project which aims at fostering peaceful, credible and inclusive elections in the country.
He also said that the project seeks to enhance the capacity of national institutions such as the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC), the Judiciary, and the Security sector to enhance credibility in the electoral process by promoting citizen’s engagement in information sharing and information integrity.
Assistant Electoral Officer of ECSL, Marilyn Dixon explained that, elections are the foundation of democracy and the basis for the legitimate transfer of power and that for the political systems to be representative, all parts of society must be included. She said inclusive political participation is not only a fundamental political and democratic right but also crucial to building stable and peaceful societies.
She referenced data from United Nations (UN) Youths which shows that young people between the age of 15 and 25 constitute a fifth of the world’s population. She said that Sierra Leone has one of the youngest populations in the world with 80 percent aged 18-35, quoting the 2015 Census.
“We have to understand that in such demographic realities, the Youth hold enormous potential for change and positive action. They are a unique resource that can develop innovative solutions for peace and development,” she said.
According to the Commissioner of NAYCOM, Thomas Ngolo Katta, during election periods, any method of translating votes into seats will pose coordination problems of varying difficulty for electoral competitors. He said those coordination problems arise due to fewer seats to be filled than potential candidates wishing to fill them.
Therefore, he said, electoral coordination remains critical for the credibility and acceptance of an electoral process by stakeholders. He added that proper election coordination is a major factor in successful elections in a multiparty democracy.
Commissioner Katta pointed out that, they have secured a grant on Election Coordination with Stakeholders which seeks to engage youths to contribute to addressing weak formal platforms through which youth leaders can interface and engage each other on matters of good governance and political accountability.
He also said that the project seeks to address young people’s contribution to promoting peace and credible election through collaborative and innovative interventions.
The National Youth Commission is a body corporate with the objective of empowering the youth to develop their potential, creativity, and skills for national development and other related matters.
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