Citizens No Longer Trust NEC After Aiding & Abetting SLPP Govt to Steal Votes in Koinadugu
By Abu Shaw in London (12/10/2021)
Trust in the National Electoral Commission NEC is at an all-time low in the aftermath of aiding the SLPP govt to steal votes in the Bye-Elections.
The current bunch of individuals controlling the National Electoral Commission Sierra Leone NEC-SL has become untrustworthy in the eyes of the citizens. The apparent loss of trust became even more glaring after the just concluded Koinadugu District Bye-Elections that ended in controversial circumstances with the ruling SLPP government dubiously aided and abetted by the corrupt NEC to win the Councillor post, while the main opposition APC party was declared winner of the District Chairmanship. Everyone knew the APC had won both positions. But with this crop of biased NEC, fairness was thrown out of the window. As a result, the APC has cried foul play and protested that they would not accept the results. (Photo: NEC boss Mr Konneh has lost credibility).
Amid the protests made to NEC by the APC party as well as other internal stakeholders, the NEC headed by the Chief Returning Officer Mohamed Kenewui Konneh has become irrelevant and untrustworthy because of the unprofessional ways they mishandled the Koinadugu Bye-Elections. Political observers believe NEC has reduced its overall standing at home and abroad as a credible, impartial, and reliable institution that is capable to oversee future elections in Sierra Leone. “This NEC is not fit for purpose. The broad daylight robbery that happened in Koinadugu will not be accepted,” a leading member of the APC Grassroots supporters warned.
“Adding, she blasted: This present NEC combination is a recipe for disaster. We do not trust them anymore to supervise and monitor the 2022 local elections and the 2023 crucial general and presidential elections considering the Koinadugu scenario which has undermined the fundamental ideals of democracy and free and fair elections. Stealing the peoples’ votes and giving them to the ruling SLPP government is shameful and we demand that those votes be returned to the rightful owners i.e. to the APC candidates in Koinadugu.”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=1634488966&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%2F3614-citizens-no-longer-trust-nec-after-aiding-abetting-slpp-govt-to-steal-votes-in-koinadugu&flash=0&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=321&rw=385&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&fa=27&dt=1634488969274&bpp=2&bdt=2308&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=2644833616435&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=429319225.1634488968&ga_sid=1634488968&ga_hid=1788948094&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=31063005%2C44752094%2C31063128&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H8qxRRWyp5tkcDo9_BPvEyBEDq62kruw0DcSiM9glXYep6miVnaIF77boz99P1CVl5NHo-7fXFaaMU1%2CAGkb-H9ISH-rVleGR9sDCZwbS-j6KQ-roUr97GBoLx_-mzCXQbzMLVhknwN4_mWNIbrs6lJ0th2xmzu0ww&pvsid=4469514050589623&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=00NeJnGFq5&p=https%3A//theorganiser.net&dtd=12
Upheaval is imminent in Sierra Leone if these present crop of NEC officials are allowed to oversee the coming elections. It is in the vein that the people of Sierra Leone are calling on the international community including the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, the African Union AU, the United Kingdom UK, the United States US, the European Union EU, and others to step up now and admonish the SLPP government of President Julius Maada Bio to stop manipulating the NEC for selfish gains to the detriment of peace and stability in Sierra Leone. (Photos: Dr Keifala Marrah raised the hand of APC winner Lawrence Teteh Kargbo. And the APC Scribe Osman Yansaneh, centre).
NEC is expected by law to show neutrality and professionalism in the conduct of its affairs. Unfortunately, Sierra Leoneans no longer trust the NEC led by Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, a man believed to be a diehard SLPP party supporter. Police brutality against innocent voters also worsened the situation in Koinadugu District last week. And despite the meeting on September 23, 2021, between the Sierra Leone Inspector General of Police Michael Ambrose Sovulla and the representative of the United Nations Development Programme Advisory Mission on Elections Roselyn Akombe, the Sierra Leone Police has not learned anything tangible from the George Street meeting in Freetown.
The majority of Sierra Leoneans do not want another civil war in Sierra Leone after the sad chapter of the bloody upheaval between 1991 and 2002. However, the very reasons that created the foundation for the war in the first place according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC – police brutality and corrupt Judiciary – have sadly resurfaced since President Bio took office in 2018. Rife human rights abuses, rampant corruption in high places, state-sponsored killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions of innocent citizens, etc are now the norm rather than the exception. And for the NEC to jump into the negative equation to rig elections in favour of the ruling government thus angering the electorates is a recipe for another bloody war.
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. The Organiser newspaper is equally flabbergasted that the new British High Commissioner Lisa Chesney, the US Envoy David Reimer, etc seem to have swallowed President Bio’s bait, hook line, and sinker. taking into cognisance the continuous hailing of the President by some global partners in terms of democratic governance. More details about NEC’s unprofessionalism thus
