The Coordinator of the civil society organisation, Campaign for Good Governance says the increase in nomination fees for candidates in November’s elections is a “setback” for women and youth intending to contest.
Speaking to Politico, Valnora Edwin also says the new fees impact on the campaign for the inclusion of women and young candidates and will smother their chances because socioeconomic standing is low and may find it difficult to raise the fees especially at such short notice. She says that even though the National Electoral Commission has the mandate to determine nomination fees, the closeness of the announcement to the elections and the percentage increase are both challenging for candidates. She expresses the hope that there will be room for “dialogue so that the fees can be reconsidered”. Valnora says that unlike in some other countries where supporters contribute towards the campaign of their candidates, in Sierra Leone it is the reverse in that voters expect their candidates “to solve all their financial problems”. On Monday NEC announced huge increases in nomination fees for candidates contesting in the November polls saying it needs it to raise Le 88 Billion to conduct the elections. A presidential candidate is to pay Le 100 million – up from Le 1 million in 2007 – and a parliamentary candidate is to pay Le 25 million up from Le 250,000, among others. The Commission argues that the increase is necessary to meet around a quarter of the cost of the conduct of the elections. While the governing All People’s Congress party has welcomed it saying it reduces dependency on donors, the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party has condemned it saying it is a ploy for emasculate the opposition who cannot afford the new fees
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