By Septimus Senessie in Kono
According to the crime officer at the Tankoro Police Division in Kono, on the 24th November one John Saidu who served as presiding officer in the just-concluded general elections at 3172 polling centre at EMS primary school, Kannehkor village, Gbaneh chiefdom, Ward 83 in Constituency 26 in Kono District attempted to take his own life.
Detective Inspector Abdulahi Kemokai said a matter was reported to them by the National Electoral Commission against Saidu for an alleged “misappropriation” of 111 ballot papers from the local council ballot box. He said that after obtaining the necessary information from him, he was handed over to the lock-up officer to keep him in custody pending investigations. He said the suspect told the lock-up officer that he wanted to buy orange which was granted him.
Kemokai said that the supect called a fruit seller who usually sells at the police station and bought Le 500 worth of it. He said according to the orange seller, the suspect asked for a knife to slice open the orange. He then used the knife right in front of the police cell to “stab himself in the stomach and immediately fell on the ground with blood oozing from him” the crime officer said.
He continued that the suspect was immediately taken to the Government Hospital and was speedily responding to treatment, and that he would be charged immediately he recovered for attepting to commit suicide as well as for the alleged electoral offences.
Speaking to Politico, the NEC voters' education and training officer, Kono, Gassimu Sillah said that during the recount of the 582 unsatisfactory polling
stations in the district few days after polling day they detected that the suspect had recorded 313 valid votes at polling station 2 in Ward 83, Constituency 22 on the final reconciliation form while in the ballot box there were only 202 valid votes which he described as a misappropriation of the ballot papers and that he should account for the surplus of 111 votes.
Sillah said that this discrepancy brought “suspicion and anxiety “ in the minds of the various political parties thereby “discrediting” the commission.
When contacted at the male ward of the Government Hospital, John Saidu, who doubles as head teacher of EMS primary school, Kannehkor village
said that he did not mean to take his own life, calling it “a temptation“ which he blamed on “the devil”.
© Politico 29/11/2012
