One Tribe NEC Electoral Commission Policy is a Recipe for a New Civil War in Sierra Leone
By Abu Shaw in London (14/10/2021)
Another bloody civil war is imminent in Sierra Leone if the one-tribe policy in the National Electoral Commission NEC is not immediately reversed.
This is frightenedly the widely held thinking across the length and breadth of Sierra Leone today. Sierra Leoneans fear that the current one tribe Mende domination of the NEC can hardly usher in free and fair elections as recently exemplified in the Koinadugu Bye-Elections which ended in controversy. NEC is a national institution and for the people to have total confidence in its operations now and in the future, those running it should not be limited to only one tribe. There are sixteen tribes in Sierra Leone which is vital for the ruling government to always remember. Unfortunately, the ruling SLPP government of President Julius Maada Bio does not care to apply the diversification policy in the interest of peace and unity in Sierra Leone. (Photo: President Bio is a proud tribalist. No one wants another war but Sierra Leoneans would not allow the government to steal their votes anymore).
The failure to learn from the past mistakes is one of the most unfortunate developments the people of Sierra Leone, especially the so-called politicians and rulers are continuing to make which ostensibly will catapult the country into another unwarranted bloody upheaval that may surpass the previous one. And for the ruling SLPP government to intentionally orchestrate these avoidable causes of mayhem in order to prolong their stay in power to the detriment of peace and tranquility, is regrettable and worrisome.
After the bloody civil war (from 1991 to 2002) the Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC that was set up to look into the causes of the upheaval highlighted the main reasons for the war and TRC later made clear recommendations to the people of Sierra Leone to prevent another needless war. But today under President Bio’s SLPP government, the same causes that TRC advised against namely corrupt judiciary, police brutality, tribalism, nepotism, human rights violations, state-sponsored executions, arbitrary arrests, and detentions of innocent citizens, etc have sadly reared their ugly heads again in Sierra Leone.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-7357360780567964&output=html&h=345&adk=2282423035&adf=2098076385&pi=t.aa~a.2340864923~i.18~rp.4&w=414&lmt=1634487311&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=6457675062&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=414×345&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheorganiser.net%2Fsierra-leone%2F3622-one-tribe-policy-in-nec-electoral-commission-is-a-recipe-for-a-new-civil-war-in-sierra-leone&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=321&rw=385&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1634487314527&bpp=2&bdt=2296&idt=2&shv=r20211013&mjsv=m202110080101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dfa969930e76d4ea3-223e4f8dd6cb0090%3AT%3D1634484988%3ART%3D1634484988%3AS%3DALNI_Ma76vw3ttzb3LHWu8ZMkQTEhoUPIA&prev_fmts=0x0%2C414x90%2Cauto%2C414x345%2C414x345%2C414x345%2C414x345&nras=2&correlator=7253339978816&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1890593705.1634487313&ga_sid=1634487313&ga_hid=1607073445&ga_fc=0&u_tz=-240&u_his=1&u_h=896&u_w=414&u_ah=896&u_aw=414&u_cd=32&adx=0&ady=1888&biw=414&bih=699&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31063118%2C44748552&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H_M00bTOnfcAB1POwsliUQa6iAEmgFe1IFIEHgKVVAFe4NQzxeSl1fMnAsiFhpsqlQQDs1kh1aAeXmf&pvsid=3007960316441384&pem=536&eae=0&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C414%2C0%2C414%2C896%2C414%2C699&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=8&uci=a!8&btvi=5&fsb=1&xpc=NbTNJLlEYl&p=https%3A//theorganiser.net&dtd=12
Despite the TRC’s advice to solidify the hard-earned peace, the ruling government has painfully decided to pay deaf ears. President Bio’s vision for tribalism has been manifested in all the government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies MDA in the country. From the military top brass to the police top brass and other institutions, President Bio has appointed mostly his Mende brothers and sisters in the top jobs and also as deputies. The NEC, mandated by the law to conduct free and fair elections has 98% of workers from the Mende dialect. This is unacceptable. (Photo: NEC Chairman Mohamed Konneh is a disgrace).
The Mende domination of the NEC has cracked open the foundations of Sierra Leone’s fragile democracy. The broad daylight thievery in the recent Koinadugu Bye-Elections is the latest electoral malpractices executed by President Bio’s SLPP party thugs. Keen political observers are of the vehement belief that the Mende-infested NEC is the greatest threat that is facing the country today because it has the potential to usher in another war in the country far worse than the bloody rebel war that devastated Sierra Leone in the nineties. The signs are very succinct and the indications of tribalism and nepotism and regionalism hatched by President Bio’s failed regime have already borne bitter fruits.
All the observers in Koinadugu District saw how the crooked and tribally based NEC officials stole votes and then tampered with the votes at the Tallying Centre in Koinadugu and in Freetown in favour of the SLPP party candidates much to the chagrin of the APC party candidates who were ostensibly the rightful winners. The NEC is headed by the Chief Returning Officer Mr Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, whose negative conduct so far has made citizens lose total confidence in the credibility of the NEC officials.
Mr Mohamec Konneh conspicuously has kept silent when one of his staff Paul Damba was caught altering the figures at the Tallying Centres in Koinadugu and subsequently at the Tallying Centre in Wellington near the capital Freetown last week. Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad have not hidden their disgusts over the thievery in Koinadugu District. “How can we trust this present NEC, when they cannot even behave themselves with integrity in Koinadudgu? They have just shown us that they are not capable to conduct the 2022 local elections and the crucial 2023 general and presidential elections. These tribal crooks must be replaced to bring sanity to our electoral system,” a concerned citizen told the Organiser newspaper from Freetown.
While the majority of internal stakeholders are keeping quiet, other patriotic citizens in the Diaspora and a few back home are speaking out against the corrupt NEC. One such critic is the former Executive Director for Democracy Sierra Leone Alhaji Mohamed Waritay based in the US. He blasted NEC last week in his audio: “I have come back with my once in year audio for very good reasons. Sierra Leone is the only home I know and secondly, I love Sierra Leone and its people very much. Though I make these audios once a year, it does not mean I do not know what is happening back home. It only means I give myself less time to talk because I had resigned as Director of Democracy Sierra Leone.
“But I find the need to talk now to send this audio out. It is short but I believe the message would be effective. And people who are dealing with the Sierra Leone affairs would learn from it. Ordinary people would also learn from my audio. I want to talk quickly about the National Electoral Commission NEC that is there to conduct elections. The people that the ordinary Sierra Leoneans vote for to represent them in different elective offices can be done only if NEC conduct free and fair elections. Then these elected people would occupy these offices with respect. So today, I want to talk about the Koinadugu elections and the role of NEC, the effects of what happened later. I want to talk about the Civil Societies generally and then make recommendations to the NEC, to the political parties especially the main opposition APC party.
“NEC went to Koinadugu to conduct two elections. One for the Chairmanship to replace the late Chairman and the other for the Councillorship for Ward 155; the whole world saw people coming out in their numbers to vote with many unfortunate pictures and intimidations emerging. Sierra Leone is not in isolation, the world is watching and surfing the internet about what is happening everywhere. This NEC problem did not start in Koinadugu. It started in 110, it happened during Mohamed Nfa Alie Conteh’s time as NEC boss. In 2018 it happened. I covered it personally in Freetown. A good number of the votes were not counted by the former NEC Chairman Nfa Alie. That was pure rigging of that election. There are many ways elections are rigged by the people who conduct them. They called it ballot touching. What they did in Koinadugu to change the numbers is when party representatives and observers are not paying attention. They did it many times in 2018 in favour of the SLPP party. For overvoting in the southeast in Kailahun, Kenema, Bo, they did it many times. Some fools attacked the former NEC boss, Dr Christiana Thorpe, for cancelling voting in 2007. SLPP wanted to rig the elections but Christiana Thorpe said no. Pre-counting is before the votes are cast, all the electoral players would know how many ballots are there after all had agreed in principle on the numbers,” Alhaji Waritay noted among many other things. (Photos: APC party in Kabala. And SLPP supporters in Koinadugu).
One of Sierra Leone’s most outspoken lawyers Mr Ady Macauley told his followers on his Twitter Page about NEC from Freetown: “The deafening silence from NEC Sierra Leone and its Chairman Mohamed Konneh in the face of credible evidence presented by the APC National Secretary General Osman Yansaneh showing fraudulent result tampering by NEC ICT Team and the brazen announcement of a winner in Ward 155 notwithstanding objections raised, is worrisome. The integrity of our elections must be protected. The dangers to the credibility of NEC Sierra Leone, State Cohesion, and National Security that fraudulent electoral practices, especially by agents of States presented can’t be overstated. NEC Sierra Leone has come a long way. Not now,” Lawyer Ady Macauley warned. Below are the names of NEC officials showing blatant SLPP party one-tribe-Mende domination –
SLPP Party Members and Mende Supporters Holding Strategic and Decision-Making Positions at NEC
(1) Mohamed K. Konneh – Chief Electoral Commissioner
(2) Edmond Alpha – Commissioner South
(3) Marian S Nyuma-Moijueh – Commissioner East
(4) Momoh Kanneh – Director Voter Education
(5) Mohamed Turay – Director NEC Operations
(6) Henry Swaray – Director Voters Roll (Please note, Swaray is currently assigned to the National Civil Registration Authority NCRA to help consolidate voter records for the 2023 elections.
(7) Musa Kangbai – Assistant Director of Procurement. Note Kangbai is now in charge of procuring ballot papers and other elections materials for the 2023 elections.
(8) Umaru Fomba – Assistant Director Northwest Region
(9) Paul Simbo – Assistant Director Ethics
(10) Ibrahim Kanneh – Assistant Director Voter Roll and Data
(11) Baleyma Musa – Elections Manager – Bo
(12) Augustine Saffa – District Elections Manager – Kenema
(13) Augustine Mohamed – District Elections Manager – Port Loko
(14) Henry Thompson – District Elections Manager – Moyamba
(15) Charles Ensa – District Elections Manager – Karene
(16) Usifu Kamara – District Elections Manager – Kono
(17) Larry Fangawa – District Elections Manager – Western Urban
(18) Louissa Gbassa – District Elections Manager – Western Rural
(19) Fatmata Jalloh – District Elections Manager – Pujehun
Some of these staff had been accused in the past of tampering with Ballot Papers/Ballot Stuffing in polling areas across the country. The public must monitor the movements and activities of these above-mentioned SLPP/Paopa operatives parading as NEC staff. Courtesy: Special Correspondent.
