NEC Chair Christiana Thorpe hands over certificate of election to President Koroma

By State House Communications Unit :

Chairperson of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Dr Christiana Thorpe has handed over the Certificate of Election of President to the winner Dr Ernest Bai Koroma at State House, Freetown.

Reading the citation shortly before presenting the certificate of election to President Koroma, Dr Christiana Thorpe said

“Dr Ernest Bai Koroma of the All Peoples Congress was a Presidential Candidate at the Presidential Election held on the 17th day of November 2012.

And Whereas after the Presiding Officer has, in accordance with subsection (1) of section 52 of the Public Elections Act, 2012, certified to me Dr Christiana A.M Thorpe, Returning Officer at that Election,that 1,314,881 valid votes were cast in favour of the candidate Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, at that election

An Whereas Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, therefore received 58.7% of the valid votes cast in the election:

And Whereas I have accordingly in pursuance to subsection (1) of section 52 of the Act declared Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, to have been elected President

Now therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Returning Officer by paragraph (a) of section 53 of the Public Elections Act, 2012,

I hereby certify that Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, has been duly elected President of Republic of Sierra Leone at the Presidential Election of 2012.

Dated this 23rd day of November 2012. End of citation.

Speaking shortly after receiving the certificate of election, President Koroma noted that running multi tier elections was a difficult task which the commission discharged to the admiration of all international and local observers of the entire electoral process.

He also noted that the declarations of international observer missions that the elections were free, fair, transparent and largely credible shows the level of performance and professionalism displayed by members of the elections commission.

President Koroma pointed out that the just concluded elections was not just one of the most peaceful elections Sierra Leone has witnessed in its history, but also one of the freest and most peaceful in the entire African continent, adding that “because of this, we’re proud of you as a commission”