Preliminary Statement Of The Wademos Solidarity Mission To Sierra Leone Ahead Of The June 24, 2023 General Elections

Introduction
The West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS), from May 15–18, 2023, embarked on a pre-election solidarity mission to Sierra Leone ahead of the forthcoming presidential, parliamentary, mayoral, and local council elections scheduled for June 24, 2023.

The mission was in recognition of the shared democratic values of people across the ECOWAS sub-region and in acknowledgment of the unity among civil society and other civic actors across the West African sub-region in their common desire to see democracy upheld in Sierra Leone. It seeks to provide an opportunity for civil society in West Africa to work collectively and across borders with stakeholders at the national and regional levels to enhance the credibility and integrity of elections in the sub-region. The mission follows similar pre-election and election- day missions to the recently held 2023 national and gubernatorial elections in Nigeria.

Stakeholders Engaged
Following a briefing by National Election Watch and Network members of WADEMOS, on developments around the elections, the mission met with other stakeholders in Sierra Leone including, the Human Rights Commission, the Office of National Security (ONS), the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), Political Parties Regulations Commission (PPRC), and political parties, Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), and the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC). During these stakeholder engagements, the mission received briefings on the socio-political and electoral landscape and the level of preparedness for the election.

Moreover, WADEMOS in partnership with its network members in Sierra Leone took the opportunity of the visit to organize a roundtable discussion to deepen learning, experience sharing, and exchange knowledge to enhance the capacity of network members and other relevant stakeholders to contribute to the quality of the upcoming elections.

Background and Context
The forthcoming June 24 elections will mark the fifth consecutive election cycle since the end of the country’s civil war in 2002; a 21-year period of unbroken democracy. A major development in the 2023 parliamentary and local council elections is the introduction of the proportional representation (PR) system. The presidential election and the election of mayors adopt a majoritarian first-past-the-post electoral system. That is, a presidential candidate is required to obtain 55% of the vote in order to become president whilst the mayors are elected

by a simple majority. The introduction of the PR system also led to the creation of 3 additional parliamentary seats. A total of 13 candidates have filed for nominations to contest the presidential elections, according to the ECSL. Of the 17 political parties registered with the Political Parties Regulatory Commission, two main political parties, the incumbent Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the All People’s Congress (APC), have so far completed nominations for all elective positions. According to the ECSL, elections are expected to take place across 11,832 polling stations in 3,306 polling centers. In addition, a total of 2,982,680 voter ID cards, representing 87.4% of registered voters, have been distributed.

The environment leading to the election is characterized by a number of socio-economic challenges including rising cost of living and high youth unemployment. The political atmosphere remains tense and fraught with a palpable sense of mistrust that is fueled by persisting grievances from both the SLPP and the APC. These tensions threaten to spill over and escalate into election conflict as the country approaches election day.

Major Observations

1. The mission recognizes the significance of this election in light of the strides that Sierra Leone has made in sustaining democracy over the past 21 years since the end of the war in 2002. We further recognize the milestones achieved with the introduction of extensive electoral reforms, including the passage of the Political Parties Regulations Commission Act and the Public Elections Act of 2022, which provides new regulations for voter registration, an improved framework for government transition, and the transfer of authority to ECSL to announce dates for elections.
2. The mission recognizes the efforts by various organizations across the national, regional, and international community that are aimed at promoting and sustaining peace and national cohesion. These efforts should be encouraged during and after the elections.
3. The mission acknowledges the great strides made toward participation and inclusion of women in the political processes of Sierra Leone with the introduction of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) Act of 2021, which provides that at least one out of every three candidates nominated by political parties, should be female.
4. Again, the mission acknowledges the effort that has been made in ensuring security for the forthcoming election, with plans for the deployment of the police and other security agencies to every polling station. We further acknowledge the role of the Office of National Security (ONS) in coordinating election security with other stakeholders, through the Integrated Election Security Committee, undertaking election threat assessment, and implementing strategies for combating misinformation and disinformation.
5. The mission recognizes the investment that has been made in the training of different segments of the security apparatus to ensure that they are equipped and up to the task as E-Day approaches.
6. The participation of civil society in supporting the electoral process at different stages is quite notable. We commend particularly the role played by civil society in voter education and in bringing attention to emerging developments in the lead-up to the elections.

Key Concerns and Challenges
High Level of Political Mistrust

• We observed a high level of mistrust among key actors involved in the election notably between the two major political parties, the APC and SLPP, and also between APC, and the ECSL.

This high level of mistrust is driven substantively by a legacy of political grievance arising from major political developments since 2018. This includes the removal of MPs following the high court ruling, the mid-term population census, the recent August 10 riots, and the late introduction of the PR system.

• This has led to a heightened political environment ahead of the elections.

The Use of Hate Speech in the Political Discourse

• Linked to the high level of mistrust is the increased use of ethnocentric, inflammatory, and incendiary language in political discourse through media platforms particularly social media.
• This has the potential of fueling ethnic tensions which could escalate into violence before, during, and after the June 24 elections.

Challenges in the Compilation of the Voter Register

• Despite the ECSL having concluded with the issuance of voter identification cards, the mission notes the general frustration associated with the final voter register not being ready five weeks before election day.
• We further note other concerns related to the unavailability of a disaggregated voter register for polling stations, poor quality of voter ID cards, and the absence of clear and elaborate e-day protocols for managing voter verification of affected persons.

Challenges with Results Management

• Given the complexities associated with the multiple deployments of electoral systems for various elective positions, the mission is concerned with the late implementation of the ECSL’s plan to conduct an E-Day simulation and engagement around the results management process for the election.
• In addition, we are concerned about the lack of clear guidelines on the application of Section 86 (1) of the Public Election Act, 2022 which grants the ECSL discretion to cancel any election result due to electoral violence or malpractice.
• We note the ECSL’s decision to use the “substantial impact principle” to adjudicate such cases. However, the mission is deeply concerned about the possible exploitation of political parties to disrupt the electoral process in opponents' strongholds.

Gaps in Communication Processes between the ECSL and Political Parties

• In spite of the existing mechanism for inter-party dialogues such as the Political Parties Liaison Committees, we noticed gaps in the sharing of information on ECSL processes, for example, the deduplication exercise to expunge 250,000 duplicate names from the register.

Compliance with the GEWE Act

• We observe the lack of clarity on where women should be placed on the party lists to secure the targeted 30% of women to the various elective positions, and challenges with compliance in filing of candidates for the local council election.

Security and Securitization of Elections

• The mission notes the ban of political street rallies by the PPRC which in the past had posed a serious threat to public safety. They were marred by violence, hence the subsequent issuance of guidelines to regulate such rallies. However, we are concerned about the movement of party supporters to and from locations designated for political party rallies.
• The mission further notes concern from civil society and other election stakeholders of the excessive deployment of security forces, particularly the military, and the ban on vehicle movement on election day, which negatively impacts voter participation in the election.

Voter Education on the PR System and Other Electoral Processes

• The mission again notes with concern, the low level of sensitization and education on key electoral processes and activities such as the deployment of the PR, Results Management process, and general voter education.

Logistical challenges related to weather conditions during elections

• The timing of the election was another major source of concern due to the onset of the rain. This is likely to put a strain on the deployment of election materials and personnel, access to polling units particularly for persons with disability (PWDs) and elderly people as well as voter participation.
• We acknowledge the assurance of the police to provide tents and other equipment for their personnel.

Recommendations

1. Dialogue is critical for promoting peace, trust, and confidence among the different actors and stakeholders in the elections. We urgently call on political parties, particularly the two leading parties, to engage in dialogue to address outstanding challenges with the electoral process to secure a peaceful and credible election. To facilitate these processes, we call on civil society, the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, PPRC, ECOWAS, and Development Partners to support the speedy resolution of all pending electoral-related disagreements.
2. Stakeholders, particularly political party supporters, must be mindful of using ethnocentric, incendiary, and inflammatory language including hate speech and disinformation to safeguard the peaceful conduct of elections. We call on the media, media regulatory agencies, media professional groups, and influencers (editors guild, etc.) to prevent the use of their platforms for the dissemination of hate speech and inflammatory language. We appreciate the security agencies’ concern with cyber security threats. However, we implore a firm adherence to balancing the protection of free speech and the rule of law.
3. Compilation of the voter register remains one of the key outstanding issues in the preparation for the election. We recognize the assurance of the ESCL to publish the Final Voter Register on the website of the ECSL and to distribute it to political parties, soft copies which include the removal of 250,000 duplicate voter registrants and 605 voters with falsified information. We call for a prompt implementation and commitment to this process.
4. We encourage the ECSL to close the information gaps and engage with stakeholders in the upcoming processes to print ballot papers and deploy of sensitive materials for election to build trust and confidence in the electoral process. The ECSL should also provide elaborate guidelines on the results management processes, the use of the “substantial impact principle” to adjudicate cases and any processes related to election day and post-election activities. We also call on the ECSL to factor protective materials and response strategies in their deployment plans in the event of rain.
5. We acknowledge the assurances from the ONS and the SLP to address the issue of over-securitization of the election including the deployment of only police personnel to the polling stations and limiting the military to general patrols during election day. We welcome this development and encourage the security agencies to work with other stakeholders to provide an enabling environment for citizens’ participation in the election.
6. As a result of the complex rules of the PR system, the ECSL and all election-related stakeholders should expand voter education and training of the citizenry.

About WADEMOS Network
The West Africa Democracy Solidarity (“WADEMOS”) Network is a non-partisan, independent civil society-led transnational democracy solidarity network consisting of over thirty-five (35) civil society organizations located in 15 countries in West Africa. The purpose of the WADEMOS Network is to mobilize, coordinate, and leverage the collective power of civil society and other pro-democracy actors, resources, and opportunities within the West African Region to advance, defend, and reinvigorate democracy and promote democratic norms and reforms in the sub-region.

Delegation
The delegation comprised members of the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network and was led by Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director, Advocacy and Policy Engagement, CDD-Ghana, and Head of Secretariat, West Africa Election Observation Network (WAEON), an affiliate of WADEMOS.

Other members of the delegation included Paul Osei-Kuffour, Ag. Network Coordinator for WADEMOS; Dr. Isata Mahoi, National Coordinator, WANEP-Sierra Leone, Damian Ihekoronye, Partnership and Grant Manager, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa); Madam Ebere Ifendu, President, Women in Politics Forum; Samuel Folorunsho, Information Technology Manager, Yiaga Africa; and George Sagbeh, Legal Officer, Center for Democratic Governance (CDG).

The national partners in Sierra Leone included Marcella Samba Sesay, Chair, of National Election Watch (NEW); Bernadette French, Director of Programs; and Badriatu Turay, Programs Officer, National Election Watch (NEW);

From the WADEMOS Secretariat, the delegation included Emmanuel Yeboah, Research Analyst, David Asante-Darko, Research Analyst, Abigail Dzifa Manu, Programs Assistant, and David Gomado, Communications Officer.