THE REFUSAL OF ECSL TO PUBLISH THE JUNE 24 ELECTIONS IS A REAL RECIPE FOR TROUBLE IN SIERRA LEONE:    Opinion By Sylvanus Fornah Koroma 

Generally, ‘a recipe’ is a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish, including a list of the ingredients required. But for this piece/article, a recipe is something which is likely to lead to a particular outcome, and this is why I have captioned this article THE REFUSAL OF ECSL TO PUBLISH THE JUNE 24 ELECTIONS IS A REAL RECIPE FOR TROUBLE IN SIERRA LEONE. Trouble can come in various forms including the current impasse that is visible in Parliament. Most people that I have engaged on the issue of the impasse in Parliament strongly believed that the Parliament is a One-Party parliament. The valid reason for their argument is in pursuant to section 38 A (2) of the 1991 Constitution as amended, it states: In the district block representation system, the election shall be contested in each specified district by political parties for the block or number of seats in Parliament allocated to the district by or under an Act of Parliament and the political parties shall be allocated seats in Parliament by the Electoral Commission on the basis of their proportional share of the total district vote. So, with the APC’s position that the Party is not partaking in any form of governance in order not to legitimize what has been dubbed as rigged election, then the Parliament as it is now One-party. The above constitutional section clears the fact that parliamentarians did not and do not contest on their own, the district block representation is as per the 1991 Constitution (as amended) mandatorily contested by political parties. Therefore, in such a system, it is the position of the political parties that matters and not the individual candidates! It is misleading to say for instance that people voted for Hon. Mohamed Bangura. It must be noted that individuals were not voted for, so wherein there is a conflict between the individual and the Party, the Party’s position holds sway. This is just an aside, the watch word is the RECIPE FOR TROUBLE when ECSL continues to be recalcitrant.

THE REFUSAL OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF SIERRA LEONE (ECSL) TO PUBLISH THE JUNE 24 ELECTIONS IS A REAL RECIPE FOR TROUBLE IN SIERRA LEONE. The goal of the author is to put forth reasons to get the ECSL to perform its national duty and publish the disaggregated results of the June 24, 2023, elections. These results must be clean, transparent, and fair to prevent further contentions. It is mischievous and disingenuous to ask the political parties (and particularly the APC) to first produce its results. The onus is on ECSL to first produce and then publish the results because it is part of their primary function. And it is for this reason that independent sources, for instance the National Elections Watch (NEW), had to wait in compliance with the strong advocacy that ECSL and the security apparatus held prior to the elections wherein it was stated that ECSL is the body mandated to first announce and publish the elections results. The political parties and other relevant stakeholders had Results Reconciliation Forms (RRF), and the purpose for having these forms is to determine the veracity of the results that the ECSL shall have published by law. The relevant laws shall be explicated as and when necessary to enhance our understanding on the subject matter. At this point, the author is urging well-meaning Sierra Leoneans to boldly demand that the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) to publish the disaggregated results of the June 24 multi-tier elections, in order to avoid the pending trouble that is looming! 

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Undoubtedly, a pending trouble looms, and ECSL must act swiftly to prevent the deterioration of the situation in Sierra Leone – this problem cannot be denied. The All Peoples Congress (APC) has taken an unprecedented political decision, refusing to participate in any form of governance determined by the ECSL. Additionally, the APC states that they will only accept the ECSL’s results once they publish the disaggregated results in a transparent manner, and not the allegedly manipulated announcement of ECSL Konneh’s outcome. The APC’s stance has resulted in an impasse in Parliament, many Local Councils, and visibly mounting tensions both domestically and among Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora, who are united in supporting the APC’s call for the ECSL to prevent conflict in Sierra Leone.

Now, it is essential for sincere and concerned Sierra Leoneans to stand up for the truth, becoming champions in safeguarding the nation from potential threats of war, which seem to be brewing, evident in the numerous demonstrations initiated and sustained by Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora. If Mr. Julius Maada Bio himself acknowledged that ‘rigged elections will lead to war,’ it’s puzzling why some Sierra Leoneans are seemingly ignoring the critical situation the country currently faces. This crisis is directly attributed to the ECSL’s refusal to publish the disaggregated results, which amounts to the manipulation of election outcomes. Sierra Leoneans must cease being hypocritical and join in demanding that the ECSL publish that the ECSL publish the results.

Religious leaders should take the lead in this matter, encouraging their congregations to demand that the ECSL publish the disaggregated results. Leaders and followers from all walks of life should consider it a moral imperative to demand transparency from the ECSL. This discussion must be held wherever Sierra Leoneans find themselves, until the necessary steps are taken. I will now delve into pertinent issues for further discourse and provide my opinion on why the ECSL has made this significant blunder.

First, I will start by looking into the hurried nature of changing the Country’s electoral laws just to beat the provision in Chapter 1, Section 2 of Article 2 (1) of the Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism For Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security which provides that: ‘No substantial modification shall be made to the electoral laws in the last six (6) months before the elections, except with the consent of a majority of Political actors’. The Public Elections Act, 2022, that was passed in Parliament on July 27, 2022, was assented by the President on September 6, 2022, and Gazetted on September 20, 2022, ‘provided laws that are not in the very law itself,’ and this forms part of the recipe for the impasse that Sierra Leone now finds itself. For instance, Section 93 of the Public Elections Act, 2022, (PEA, 2022) under the marginal note ‘Publication of Results’ states: As soon as may be after the National Returning Officer has declared the result of the election or elections under subsection (4) of section 93, the Electoral Commission shall publish the results so declared in the case of an election of –

• President, in the manner prescribed in section 52; and 
• Members of Parliament, by Government Notice and in any other manner as he may think fit.

It is certainly very critical and much more important to state what the law provides for both the referenced section 52 of the Public Elections Act, 2022. Moreso, the said provision is in relation to paragraphs (e) and (f) of section 42 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone which throws light for Sierra Leoneans see, know or even question as to why the ECSL has so far refused to publish the elections results even though it is provided for as per law. But, first, it must be noted that there is no section 93 subsection (4) as per the Public Elections Act, 2022. Therefore, I am not incorrect to say that the hurriedly passed law made laws that are not in the law! But let us endeavour to forge ahead and assume that it is a de minimis just so we can move and unravel the myth behind the ECSL’s refusal to publish the June 24 multi-tier elections, now dubbed as the broad day light electoral robbery of the electorate’s rights. And let us further assume that it is a typographical error that meant to state section 92 subsection (4), which has as its marginal note ‘Certificate of result by District Returning Officer’ and it states : The National Returning Officer shall, upon receipt of the summaries referred to in subsection (3), cause those summaries to be tallied and computed  and shall at the end forthwith declare the result of the election or elections as follows –

• in the case of the election for a President held the same day, in the manner prescribed in section 51, and ensure that the statements of the result of the polls and the sealed packages containing the voting papers and all other documents relating to the election, including all forms whether used or not, are securely kept by the Electoral Commission; and
• in the case of an election of the Member of Parliament, the number of votes cast for each constituency candidate.

For ease of reference and particularly for those without the legislations, I will bring out both the statutory references of sections 51 and 52 of the Public Elections Act, 2022, and as well as the constitutional provision as referenced i.e., section 42 subsection (2) paragraphs (e) and (f) of the Constitution so that we can have clear perspective of the problem that has emanated from the ECSL’s refusal and denial to publish the June 24 elections. 

Section 51 with the marginal note ‘Declaration of election result’ states in 51 (1): A Presiding Officer shall, after the expiration of the time fixed for polling, count the votes, polling station by polling station, certify the result of the counting, stating the number of valid votes cast in favour of each presidential candidate to the District Returning Officer, who shall in turn certify the result to the Regional Returning Officer and the Regional Returning Officer shall in turn certify the result to the National Returning Officer.

51 (2): As soon as possible after receipt of the result of the counting of votes under subsection (1), the Returning Officer shall tally and compute the results certified to him by various Presiding Officers and shall after that declare the result of the election. 

Section 52 which has the marginal note ‘Certification of election and publication of result’ states: The National Returning Officer shall, after declaring the presidential election –

• subject to paragraph (e) and (f) of subsection (2) of section 42 of the Constitution, issue to the successful candidate a certificate of election in the form prescribed in Form B in the Fifth Schedule; and
• as soon as possible, cause the result of the election to be published by notice in the Gazette and in any other manner that he may think fit.  [***Please, please, please take your time to take note of this special paragraph for the purpose of this article and read it in tandem with section 54 (1) of the PEA 2022. ***]

Section 42 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone provides: 42 (2) (e): no person shall be elected as President of Sierra Leone unless at the Presidential election he has polled not less than fifty- five per cent of the valid votes cast in his favour; and

42 (2) (f): in default of a candidate being duly elected under paragraph (e), the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes shall go forward to a second election which shall be held within fourteen days of the announcement of the result of the previous election, and the candidate polling the higher number of votes cast in his favour shall be declared as President.

From the above statutory and constitutional provisions, it is clearly spelt out that the elections results MUST be published. In fact, it is in the laws that the elections results must be published by notice in the Gazette as soon as possible. So, for those who say and still think that the laws of Sierra Leone do not provide the ECSL to publish the elections results must stop deceiving themselves! Those who are deceiving themselves must also be mindful of the phrase regarding the publishing of the results which states, ‘as soon as possible’. This phrase has been abused by ECSL (* this is a serious matter for the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate pursuant to sections 42 and 43 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2008, dealing with abuse of office and abuse of position respectively) as it has taken almost two months since the elections were held and said results are yet to be published. Section 42 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2008, deals with the abuse of office states: 42 (1) Any public officer who uses his office to improperly confer an advantage on himself or any other person commits an offence. 42 (2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall on conviction be liable to a fine not less than thirty million leones or to imprisonment for a term not less 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment. Section 43 of the same which deals with the abuse of position states:  A public officer who knowingly abuses his position in the performance or failure to perform an act, in contravention of any law , in the discharge of his functions or duties has commit an offence and shall on conviction be liable to fine not less than thirty million leones or to imprisonment for a term not less than 3 years or to both fine and imprisonment.  

In publishing the elections results, the National Returning Officer i.e., the Chief Electoral Officer must note that a summary of the results should be clear enough to capture the picture of the entire results in its disaggregated manner taking cognizance of the works of the Districts and Regional Returning Officers functions and duties to the declared results. In other words, the summary results must fully capture the certified results that are supplied to the relevant elections stakeholders as per section 92 subsection (2) of the Public Elections Act, 2022, which states: Certified copies of the summary compiled under subsection (1) shall be supplied to observers or counting agents present at the office of the District Returning Officer. It must be noted that the District Officer upon receipt of the results of the polling stations in the district under his/her supervision, is mandated to compile a summary of all the statements of the results from the polling stations concerned; and certify as many copies as may be required of each summary to the Regional Returning Officer showing the number of votes cast for each constituency candidate or, as the case may be, each candidate in any other election held on the same day. 

Seeing what the law states, it is becoming obvious that the ECSL has deliberately refused to publish the elections results to favour the SLPP candidates as against the other candidates. This wrongful action/inaction by ECSL has led to the swearing into offices of persons who undeservedly took oath of office in hope that the ECSL action/inaction will not be challenged and would not be reversed! The ECSL action/inaction is a dangerous recipe for trouble in our Mama Salone and this must not be allowed and must be stopped at all costs, otherwise if ECSL decision is allowed to stay and not corrected now, then Sierra Leone is doomed for trouble, and it would have killed the country’s hard earned & fought for democracy! I say so because, it will be useless to conduct any future elections as the will and decision of the people no longer matters, and what matters to determine any Government (Executive, Parliament, and Local Councils) will be the decision of the ECSL and not the people. This will undeniably be the new perception, but will such thing be allowed in modern day Sierra Leone?     

Allow me to express my opinion on why the ECSL hastily made the announcement that has been dubbed ‘rigged elections,’ without providing evidence to substantiate the veracity of the announcement. First, credit must be given to the National Elections Watch (NEW) for their bold attempt to avert the impending problem. In a prior press release, NEW clearly stated that no party had reached the fifty-five percent (55 %) requirement to declare anyone as President in the first ballot, implying that Sierra Leone was destined for a runoff Presidential election. This press release became a nightmare for the SLPP for several reasons, not limited to the significant ‘wasteful’ expenses, time, and effort they spent strategizing on how to rig the elections in the first ballot without recourse for runoff. To worsen the situation, the SLPP dreaded the idea of being in absolute control of the state apparatus in the runoff election because they would have exceeded what can be described as their mistaken extra three months (i.e. April 4 to July 4) after the effluxion of time in office of Mr. Julius Maada Bio. In fact, the latter reason was the principal reason why ECSL had the gumption to announce and make such troubling results & declaration which so far has proven to have no backup source results to authenticate that announcement & declaration by Konneh. It must be noted that section 43 paragraphs (a) and (b) of the 1991 Constitution provides for the Period during which Presidential elections shall take place, and the section states: 43. A Presidential election shall take place – 43 (a) where the office of President is to become vacant by effluxion of time and the President continues in office after the beginning of the period of four months ending with the date when his term of office would have expire by effluxion of time, during the first three months of that period; 43 (b) in any other case, during the period of three months beginning with the date when the office of President becomes vacant: This section of the Constitution is very critical and sometimes very complex to comprehend. Moreso, it is my opinion that the practice of this section has been abused by practice. Let me attempt to break down the explanation for the two provisions: Section 43 (a): This provision refers to the situation when the office of the President is set to become vacant due to the completion due of their term (effluxion of time). It specifies the time frame during which election shall take place in this scenario. It provides that if the President’s time is about to end, and the President remains in office for the first three months of the four-month period leading up to the expiration of their term, a Presidential election will be held during that first three-month period. Section 43 (b): This provision deals with situations where the office of the President becomes vacant for reasons other than the natural expiration of their term. It sets out the time frame for holding a Presidential election in such cases. This section provides that if the office of the President becomes vacant for any reason other than the completion of their term, a Presidential election will be held within the three months following the date when the office of the President became vacant. In summary, Section 43(a) addresses the timing of the President’s term is about to expire, and Section 43(b) addresses the timing when the President’s office becomes vacant for reasons other than the natural expiration of their term.                                                                          

Pursuant to section 46 (1) of the 1991 Constitution, it provides for Tenure of office of President: No person shall hold office as President for more than two terms of five years each whether or not the terms are consecutive. This section of the Constitution must be read in tandem with section of 42 (3) of the same in order to enhance our understanding of the term ‘effluxion of time,’ and section 42 (3) states: A person elected to the office of President under this section shall assume that office on the day upon which he is declared elected by the Returning Officer, or upon the date that his predecessor’s term of office expires, whichever is latter.  The term ‘effluxion of time’ is a legal term commonly used to refer to the expiration or elapsing of a specific period. In legal contexts, it’s often used to describe the natural or automatic ending of a legal right, duty, or obligation based on the passage of time as specified in a contract, statute, or legal provision. For instance, on April 4, 2018, President Bio was declared President of the Republic of Sierra Leone and he took the oath of office that same night. And therefore, his effluxion of time for that Presidency was April 4, 2023. However, practice made room for a President not to vacate the office at the effluxion of time, but a President cannot continue to hold on to the office in perpetuity. In any case, it is provided thatelections for the President were to be held during the period of three months beginning with the date when the office of President becomes vacant. This provision has been wrongly construed to give the incumbent President some additional time before the elections. The alternative interpretation, as I mentioned earlier, focuses on the timing of the election when the term is about to expire and when the office of the President becomes vacant for reasons other than the natural expiration of their term. The primary reason for this alternative interpretation is to ensure a smooth transition of power. By holding the election during the period leading up to the expiration of the President’s term (effluxion of time), it helps avoid any power vacuum or uncertainty. It allows for a clear process of electing the next President without a gap in leadership. So, moving forward, we should firmly reject and challenge any President who attempts to extend their term, like the recent case of President Bio, who added extra months beyond his term’s expiration on April 4, 2023, leading to the elections being conducted on June 24, 2023. With strict adherence to the law, Mr, Maada Bio should have ceased to be the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone on April 4, 2023. In such a scenario Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone should have served as the Interim President to oversee the elections, including the current situation when the runoff has been declared. It’s crucial to note that there is a significant possibility for the SLPP’s most dreaded thought to become a reality: that Mr. Bio will step aside, allowing the Chief Justice to serve as the Interim President during the runoff elections period. Think over and be prepared for section 42 (f) of the Constitution: in default of a candidate being duly elected under paragraph (e), the two candidates with the highest number or numbers of votes shall go forward to a second election which shall be held within fourteen days of the announcement of the result of the previous election, and the candidate polling the higher number of votes cast in his favour shall be declared President. 

The practice for runoff election date is the highest limit of fourteen (14) days after the announcement is made. Now, it is a known fact that the practice of adding three months or less after the effluxion of time by the incumbent President is wrong and can therefore be challenged because it is inconsistent with the Constitution. The Government Bio prior to the June 24 elections may have overlooked the constitutionality of this fact and benefited extra two months twenty days in office after his effluxion of time. In fact, even with the wrong or incorrect extra time, the Bio Government did not plan well for a runoff under his stewardship. And the runoff date would have been after July 4, 2023, meaning the President would have ceased been the President before the runoff elections are held even with the extra time of three months! The prolong stay and hold on to power by calling for elections at such a late date June 24, 2023, leaving the Presidency with a very short window of ten (10) days, posed a serious threat on Bio’s stewardship to completely be in charge of the elections should there be a runoff. And now a runoff election is imminent!!! This I believe is the real reason for the impasse that we now face. 

On another note, the APC leadership is committed to safeguarding the electorate’s votes and preventing any attempts to steal them. So far, the APC has made efforts to fulfil that commitment. However, on the contrary, the ostentatious and presumptuous SLPP National Chairman believes that everyone must align with the SLPP perspective during these elections, or else they risk being labelled as academically deficient or foolish. This empty and conceited individual openly referred to the APC as fools and even asserted that the SLPP will not relinquish power to the APC. The uneducated but credentialed SLPP Chairman, Dr Prince Harding, following what should be his regrettable statement, has seen it spread widely and still has the audacity and boldness to engage in public discussions without tendering his resignation (he must resign both in his capacity as a party official and government) for such recklessness. Furthermore, he is now suggesting that the APC should participate in parliamentary activities. Only fools will now listen to him, and the APC I know will certainly not be bothered with the deceit of the SLPP. The SLPP Government is notorious for deceit. The SLPP for instance informed the nation that the Mid-Census was not for political reasons, but it turned out that they conducted it solely for political reasons. But the issue of the SLPP National Chairman will certainly come again on another day’s topic. In nutshell, it is for these reasons that the SLPP in collaboration with ECSL tried to bulldoze their way and announced imaginary results and made a declaration in what is known as the Paopa-way. In our local parlance in krio, we say, ‘SLPP dem testilo’, meaning that SLPP took the chance to be imposed thinking that no one will resist them. As a matter of fact, in the early hours of June 26, 2023, one senior SLPP member insinuated that the APC was going to fight on the outcome the ECSL-Konneh’s announcement and then stated: “And off course APC get for fight, but it will not last for more than a week.” Indeed, APC is fighting but fighting differently from the type of fight the SLPP were expecting and will continue to fight to bring back the Democracy wherein the votes of the electorates matter, and the APC will politically resist any imaginary result that the ECSL makes so long as it is not clean!

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In conclusion, the APC leadership had solemn commitment to protect the votes of the people of Sierra Leone, and the APC as a Party is fully in support of its leadership; and the membership of the APC is of firm conviction that the Party leadership will continue to protect the votes of the people in the June 24, 2023, elections and never to allow those votes to be stolen. The ugliness of bully and use of force to bulldoze a Paopa agenda shall not continue to prevail in this modern age. Enough should be enough, and enough is enough. It is right to ensure that the correct and right things be done. It is a fact, and it is not a secret that nothing lasts forever. So, the bullying, bulldozing and or using ‘paopa way’ or negatively forcing things on the throats of people must come to an end and allow peace and justice to reign. KKY at his best can be remembered for the echoing and re-echoing the trending saying: YOU TOUCH ONE, YOU TOUCH ALL. Elections are like licensed battles, the acronym ‘TEAM’ (Together Everyone Achieves More), is the spirit that the APC is maintaining to secure the desired victory. And the team membership is of the firm conviction to remain focus and not be bothered by any form of negativity. The APC is highly positive and makes use of anything positive to ensure that the democracy is not stolen in Sierra Leone. The APC is determined to ensure that democracy is restored at all costs this time, even if it means using the favourite statement that has been re-echoed by the infamous and unpopular KKY and other political players across the board: YOU TOUCH ONE, YOU TOUCH ALL. The APC has embraced and imbibed the adage YOU TOUCH ONE, YOU TOUCH ALL and has rekindled to the envy of all. And the adage is serving the Party well in keeping the team spirit to overcome the struggles of APC to victory. In wrapping things up, let it be guided that, there was once upon a time, a Pa Kabba as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and then came EBK and so shall Maada. The Powers that be are bound to quit no matter how tough they project. So, it is wisdom to treat power fairly and enjoy its reciprocity. The nightmares of the repeats of Constituency 110 elections riggings gave the SLPP the audacity to think that they can do whatever they want, and no one will challenge or resist them. And even when they are challenged, they will at the end ‘Paopally’ get whatever they want. But this is the beginning of a new era in Sierra Leone, the Sun is bound to rise again in a democratic platform with a taste of admiration by all and for all the players. The APC is going to rise with the New Order wherein the right things will stand and stand justly for the people and future of Sierra Leone, thus providing the new light to make Africa proud. It must be noted that inasmuch as the APC will not want war in Sierra Leone, should there be any bullying or even attempt of bullying, the APC membership has the right to defend themselves and to resist any attempt or form of bully whatsoever. Certainly, the APC set for the right things and ensure that the correct things are adhered to. The APC will not settle for anything less than ensuring the correct thing is done regarding the June 24 elections results. Furthermore, it must be reiterated that the APC will not continue to tolerate further bullying or attempt of bullying/bulldozing strategies by its opponents should the opponent go by the already known mentality of the SLPP National Chairman Dr Prince Harding the celebrated certificated but not educated man. My last words are to the ECSL: ECSL do not be the reason for war in Sierra Leone again. ECSL endeavour to publish the disaggregated results as soon as possible and do not allow to be ill-advised that the law does not require ECSL to publish the disaggregated results. The law provides for the results to be published and thus caters for the publication of the disaggregated results as soon as possible. This matter is urgent and involves significant intricacies concerning the capacity and competence of ECSL in managing the elections. And on that concluding note, it is important to remember that Mr. Julius Maada Bio himself once stated that rigged elections could lead to war. Therefore, it’s imperative for ECSL to promptly publish transparent and disaggregated results for Sierra Leone. This is essential for fostering peace, justice, and unity among the people of Sierra Leone.