A big storm is brewing in Sierra Leone between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP) Government and the European Union ( EU) over the EU Elections Follow-Up Mission Report , which found the government, its National Elections Commission ( NEC) , the Political Parties Registration Commission ( PRPRC ) and the judiciary and the Police wanting in the promotion of credible, free and fair elections in Sierra Leone.
The Report, which has confirmed the complaints of this newspaper , opposition parties and neutral political activists in Sierra Leone said in part : “The Mission has been told that there is a significant decrease in trust in the essential bodies which play integral roles in the forthcoming elections. These include the judiciary, NEC, PPRC, and the police. Our findings are that these institutions’ reputations are less trusted than is needed. But further, our assessment is that there are real grounds for concern in the ways in which these bodies have administered recent bye-elections.”
Where one would have expected the government to deal with the matter diplomatically with a view to addressing the flaws exposed by the EU, the government has instead adopted a belligerent approach challenging the Report as biased.
