By State House Communication Unit
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) last Friday 25 August 2017 updated President Ernest Bai Koroma on voter registration as well as the exhibition of the provisional voter register.
Making the presentation, the executive secretary of NEC William Addo Davies explained that the voter registration data was consolidated and de-duplicated over the period May 1st to 4th June 2017, and that a total number of 53,000 has gone through the adjudication process with 1,539 cases confirmed as duplications and have been separated from the provisional voter register for administrative and legal actions. The provisional voter register, he reported, has already been generated by the Commission across the sixteen electoral districts in Sierra Leone and a total of 3,133,413 voters were generated in the provisional voter register, maintaining that the exhibition of the provisional voter register will be conducted in all 3,300 registration centres for a period of six days (22nd to 27 August 2017). According to Addo Davies, statements of all claims and objections would be published in the 3,300 registration centres nationwide on 28 August 2017, and that inspection of the provisional voter register will be conducted in 446 centres already identified for a period of three days – 29 August to 31 August 2017.
In terms of funding, the executive secretary of NEC disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development allocated Le72.9 billion to NEC for the 1st half of 2017 and Le51.04 billion remitted with outstanding balance of Le21.8 billion. He said urgent voter registration and other outstanding payments is Le7.9 billion and budget for revision of boundary delimitation approved by MoFED is Le2.1 billion. Total amount outstanding for 1st half of 2017, he revealed, was Le23.9 billion.
President Koroma thanked the Commission for progression in the exercise, hoping that the Commission will from time to time update government and the public on the ongoing electioneering process. He urged NEC to provide adequate sensitization to the public to enhance transparency.
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President Koroma partakes in 2018 voter exhibition process, urges ONS to intensify work on erection of temporary shelter for flood and mudslide victims
By State House Communication Unit
President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma today, Saturday 26 August 2017, participated in the voter exhibition exercise at the NIBATT 13 – Goderich Community Primary School in Constituency 109, Ward 364, Western Rural.
The exercise which kicked off on 22 August 2017 will end on 28 August, 2017.
According to the National Electoral Commission (NEC), “The purpose of displaying the Provisional Voters’ Register is for all eligible Sierra Leoneans who took part in the registration process to confirm, correct, or include names that had been omitted during the process.”
This exercise, the president said, was in line with Sections 31 to 37 of the Public Elections Act 2012 which mandated the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to conduct nationwide public inquiries for the settlement of any outstanding issues relating to the Provisional Voters Register.
Immediately after this event, President Koroma proceeded to Old School to oversee the ongoing erection of tents as temporary shelter for the affected persons of the flooding and mudslides that hit Freetown on August 14.
Upon arrival on the scene, the president raised several concerns relating to poor coordination of work and replacement of tents as previously agreed. He urged the Coordinator of the Office of National Security (ONS) to ensure effective coordination on the ongoing work in order to meet the deadline for the work to the completed.
