By: Ilyasa Baa
Human Rights Defenders’ Network headed by Alphonsus Gbanie has expressed that the country is on track concerning the conduct of the June 24th polls, citing that issues about voters’ identity cards would not affect the conduct of the elections.
Gbanie made this disclosure on Monday during an online programme whilst responding to an interview about national issues. “The voter’s identity card is not an issue what is important is the voter’s register which is going to be used to usher in voters to cast their votes”, he said. He said without the voters register, the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) will not be able to conduct the elections.
He called on ECSL to release the register and make it available to all the contesting political parties before the election to avoid doubt in the process. ” Failure to release this register would create some elements of doubts that would undermine the entire process”, he warned, noting that the process has been smooth so far with few isolated cases.
Being a Human Right Defender, Gbanie has made a clarion call for citizens to avoid all forms of electoral violence and allow the process to go on uninterrupted. He said elections are the best ways for citizens to remove any government from power, not violence or the use of the gun. He said with devastating war history, citizens must ensure the country is not remoted or reduced to the way the eleven years rebel war reduced the nation into.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Defenders Network is calling on the Judiciary of Sierra Leone to expedite the Lara Tailor Pearce Tribunal to its logical conclusion establishing the merit and demerit of the case.