…calls for peaceful, credible process
Nigeria’s former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday urged all Sierra Leoneans to do their part to ensure peaceful and credible elections that will reflect the will of the people.
Osinbajo, who chairs the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) in Sierra Leone, spoke at a press conference marking the launch of the COG election observation activities in Sierra Leone ahead of the country’s elections scheduled for 24 June.
At least 17 registered political parties are contesting local council, parliamentary and presidential elections, with approximately 3.37 million registered voters expected at the polls. It will be the fifth time the Commonwealth is observing national elections in Sierra Leone since the end of the country’s civil war in 2002.
“The eyes of more than 2.5 billion people of the Commonwealth – more than 60 percent of whom are young people under the age of 30 – will be upon Sierra Leone. Watching, in solidarity and in hope,” Osinbajo said.
“The peaceful and prosperous future of the nation lies in your hands. And in that future, violence, division and hate cannot play a part. The hard lessons that history has taught us through the tragic loss of lives and livelihoods – we cannot afford to repeat,” he said.
Osinbajo, who arrived in Freetown on 17 June, is leading a group of 11 other international experts, including John Njie, National General Secretary (Executive Director) of The Gambia YMCA & National Coordinator of the CSO Transitional Justice Working Group, The Gambia, and Anande Trotman-Joseph, President, Caribbean Women in Leadership & Chairperson, Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies, Grenada, to observe and assess the election process.
Other members of the COG are Nasim Zaidi, former Chairman & Chief Election Commissioner, India; Amraphael Mbogholi Msagha, Retired Judge, Kenya; Sangwani Mwafulirwa, Director, Media and Public Relations, Malawi; Elsie Nghikembua, Chairperson, Electoral Commission, Namibia; Cynthia Mbamalu, Co-Founder and Director of Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Nigeria; Glen Mashinini, Commissioner, Electoral Commission, South Africa; Rohini Marasinghe, Chairperson of The Human Rights Commission and former Supreme Court Judge, Sri Lanka; Wesley Gibbings, journalist/media trainer, Trinidad & Tobago; and Elizabeth Lwanga King, Development Advisor and former UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in Sierra Leone, Uganda.
Osinbajo emphasised that the Observer Group has no executive role. Its function is not to interfere with, but to independently observe the pre-election environment, polling day and in the post-election period, and then provide recommendations to improve the process.
According to the COG’s full schedule, the group will spend the coming days in discussions with various stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, government representatives, political parties, security agencies, civil society groups, citizen and international observer groups, diplomats and the media.
From 22 June, Commonwealth observers will be deployed in small teams across various parts of the country to observe the voting, counting and results process, as well as meet with other stakeholders in respective locations.
Among other factors, the observers will assess whether conditions exist for credible elections, including a fair election environment; whether public media has been impartial; the transparency of the entire process; whether voters are free to express their will; and whether the counting and results process is transparent.
The COG plans to issue an interim statement on its preliminary findings on 26 June, before members depart Sierra Leone by 30 June. A final report will subsequently be prepared and submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General which will then be shared with relevant stakeholders, including the public.
“In conducting our duties, we will be guided by the principles of neutrality, impartiality, objectivity and independence. As we are here in our individual capacities as eminent and experienced Commonwealth citizens, our assessment will be our own, and not that of any member government,” Osinbajo explained.
“As this great nation expresses its will for its future, may peace, justice and national unity prevail above all. We enjoin all political parties and their supporters to uphold the commitments of the Electoral Pledge to free, fair and violence-free elections, admirably signed barely two weeks ago,” he said
