By Mohamed M. Sesay
The Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) has on the 15th April, 2021 in its press statement, disclosed that the Commission has concluded investigation of aggrieved candidates of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party, (SLPP) Eastern Regional Elections Complaints Committee (ERECC).
The PPRC has now asked for the re-run of all the elections by the appropriate Organs of the Party, as prescribed by the Party’s Rules, under the supervision of the PPRC.
The re-run elections are specifically focus on the zonal/sectional elections in the whole of constituencies 13,15,,19,20 and 21,fallay section in constituency 011,kaklawa Biaton and kuallay sections in constituency 018 in the Kenema District, and Mansayifeh and Njaifeh sections in constituency 023,Baffinfeh and yantanda sections in Constituency 027 and zones one and two Kaokoyima town, zone two Sukudu, zone six Lebanon, zone fifteen No. 9 Junction and zone Eighteen Gbondopenipani in constituency 29 Kono District.
As part of the Commission’s findings, the SLPP zonal/ sectional elections held on the 27th March 2021, in constituencies 011, 013, 015, 018, 019, 020 and 021 in Kenema District and a total of nine zones and sections in constituencies 023,027 and 029 in Kono District, were substantially marred by violence and thus putting in issue, not only the credibility of the exercise, but also the full participation of the Party’s membership in those elections. It added that some of the said elections, were conducted by the wrong party officials in certain constituencies, and the results signed by the same wrong officials, were received and acted upon by the District Executive and ERECC.
The Commission received Petitions from the following petitioners; Messrs Antony Fonnie, Sama Vandi Sama, Mohamed Rogers and twelve others bringing it to a fifteen man joint petition against the decisions and conduct of the ERECC, relative to complaints filed before them from Constituencies 11,13,14,15,18,19,20 and 21 in the Kenema District. Their complaints were principally that; The ERECC members from Kenema and Kono, were openly hostile and bias against them and thus prejudiced. One of the petitioners produced a letter dated 29th March 2021, protesting the inclusion of Mr. Prince Quee, representing Kenema in the ERECC, by reason of his close affinity with the District Executive. According to him, his protest was never acted upon and this was not controverted by the National Secretary General of the Party, who was present at the hearing and to whom the said letter was addressed.
That constituency 020 has twenty zones and of those, elections were successfully conducted in thirteen zones. However the Constituency Chairman Mohamed Rogers, both in his Petition and at the hearing, averred that, the presiding officers he appointed in those thirteen zones, refused to present the results to him as Constituency Chairman, for his endorsement. Instead, in contravention of Clause 3 Rule 1(e)of the Party’s Rules and Regulations governing the conduct of executive elections, they took the Results to the sitting MP and the Mayor of the municipality of Kenema, who had them for days, before submitting them to the District Chairman. Consequently, the Constituency Chairman refused to sign the results, on the reasonably suspicion that, they had been altered and thus not representative of the outcome of those elections.
“The Commission received petitions from Messrs Saffa Kallon and Victor Musa Chiefdom Chairmen for Nomo and Tunkia chiefdoms respectively. Their Petition is to the effect that: ERECC did not hear their complaint. That they came to the Party office to prosecute their complaint, but they were not allowed in That parallel elections to theirs, were held by the Constituency Chairman, even though their Constituency is a multi-chiefdom Constituency and therefore, by clause 3 Rule 1(c) of The Party’s Rules, it is the Chiefdom executive that are to conduct sectional elections and Results signed by the Chiefdom Chairman and Secretary and sent to the Constituency executive, for onwards submission to the District executive”, the Commission noted.
The Commission reiterated that, parallel elections were also conducted in some constituencies for instance in constituency 013, wherein elections were conducted by both the constituency executive and the chiefdom executive of Nomo and Tunkia chiefdoms By clause 3 Rule 1(c) of the Party’s Rules and Regulations of the 24th March 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the Party’s Rules),this being a multi Chiefdom constituency and therefore, the sectional elections are to be conducted by the Chiefdom executive and not the constituency executive.
As part of its conclusion and recommendations, the Commission has further directed the following: That the constituency executives or chiefdom executives (in multi chiefdom constituencies) that are to conduct these re run zonal/sectional elections, are to announce and publish both the dates and venues of the elections, at least five days to the date of the elections and inform both the PPRC and the National Chairman and The National Secretary General of the Party through the Regional Chairmen, consistent with Clause 2 Rules 10 of the Party’s Rules; That the rerun in Constituencies 19, 20 and 21,to be done the same day, Constituencies 13, 15, fallay section in Constituency 11, Kaklawa, Biaton and Kuallay Sections in constituency 18 to be done the same day and the aforementioned sections and zones in Constituencies 23,27 and 29,be done the same day; and that any Constituency or Chiefdom executive elections conducted in constituencies 13,15,19,20 and 21, during the pendency of these petitions, be cancelled and the outcome declared a nullity AB INITIO, for want of legitimacy of the electoral colleges that might have voted in those elections, in obvious defiance of the directives issued by the Commission to the Party in its letter of the 6th April 2021.
The Commission further directed that critical stakeholders of the party like Ministers, MPs, District Council Chairpersons, Mayors, District chairmen and Secretaries of the Party, Regional Chairmen, aspiring candidates for Party positions from District level upwards etc. are precluded from going anywhere near the polling centers, during Zonal/Sectional executive rerun elections, unless designated by the Party as one of its observers. And that the District executive should wait for the results to be submitted to them, by the Party Organs charged with the responsibility of conducting those elections.