Sierra Leone: Civil Society group calls out stakeholders for election dialogue

28 Septembre 2017

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, September 28 (Infosplusgabon) - A civil society group, Fambul Tok Sierra Leone, has called on political parties, the electoral body and the Political Parties Registration Commission to have an open dialogue ahead of the 2018 elections.

The call comes amidst the ongoing wrangling between the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) over missing voter data. NEC has always said they have restored the missing data but APC insists that the numbers do not add up.

Making the appeal on Wednesday, Programme Officer of the group, Martha Alieu, said her organization has been following the discussion and that is why they are concerned as a peace-building organization.

“Fambul Tok has observed with grave concern, divergent opinions, statements and counter statements from various political parties, including the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) and the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) regarding issues relating to the proper conduct of  of next year’s general elections. Similar concerns have been echoed by some sections of civil society and this makes it worrisome,” Alieu said.

Electoral watchdog in the country, National Elections Watch, has consistently dismissed the fears of APC, defending the process of NEC as credible. Opposition SLPP has accused the government of lobbying for more time for the President.

Sierra Leone is set to conduct elections on 7 March, 2018 and the government has vowed to hold the election on that date. However, government officials in the country have gone on the record, saying they want to avoid the Kenya situation, where the electoral body blundered in their duties.

Fambul Tok is a civil society organization that is focused on peace building in Sierra Leone. After the civil war, they conducted reconciliation exercises across the country.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/ATR/GABON 2017

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