By Abdul Karim Koroma in New Jersey
Almost a year after the conduct of the by-election in Constituency 110 in the Western Rural of Sierra Leone, Honourable Dauda Jawara Mansaray is now calling on the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to make a decision on that by-election by announcing the All People’s Congress (APC) candidate, Honourable Kadie Davies, as the winner.
Hon. Dauda Mansaray says the unconstitutional move by NEC, annulling that by-election result, by the former NEC Chairperson and National Returning Officer, has disenfranchised over 30, 000 electorate in that Constituency.
“For a year now, the people in Constituency 110 have no representation in Parliament. This is the worst form of democratic abuse,” Hon Dauda Mansaray, a senior stakeholder who hailed from that Constituency who commands tremendous respect in the Peninsula area, stated in an interview today (29 August, 2020).
Hon. Dauda Mansaray, who also doubles as a Foundation Member of the APC, notes that the results from the Angola Town polling centre cannot make any significant change to the overall election results because the votes cast at all polling centres had been tallied by NEC and from the tallied results the APC candidate was leading her Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) challenger, Josephine Jackson, and that Angola Town is an APC stronghold.
He avers that NEC should respect the verdict of the people and announce the APC candidate as the rightful winner of the by-election, adding that the conduct of free, fair, and transparent election is the oxygen of our democracy.
The Sierra Leonean-born U.S based Criminal Justice elite has issued a 45-day ultimatum to NEC to declare Hon. Kadie Davies as the duly elected winner of that election, failing of which he says he will mobilize the people within that Constituency to come out to send a strong message to NEC to announce the APC candidate as winner.
It could be recalled that before and during the conduct of the 24 August 2019 by-election, SLPP supporters led by the notorious SLPP thug called “Arata” intimidated and harassed APC supporters. These were made worst when the Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon, was seen overturning and carting away ballot boxes.
Hon. Dauda Mansaray recalled that after the APC filed a court injunction on the Constituency 110 by-election, the Chief Justice Babatunde Edwards is yet to assign the case to any Judge as the matter is yet to come up for hearing.
There is still widespread condemnation across the country by Civil Society Organizations and the court of public opinion over the unconstitutional decision by NEC to cancel all the results of the by-election in Constituency 110 that have so far been counted and tallied.
The people of Constituency 110 are demanding that Hon. Kadie Davies, the winner of that by-election, to represent them in Parliament.
Long live the Peninsula People
Long live Sierra Leone
