AYV News, July 6, 2023
High Court of Sierra Leone presided by Hon. Justice Adrian Fisher has ruled out the matter between the All People’s Congress (APC) Party and the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL).
The honourable judge further ordered that the applicant, APC Party, pay a cost of two thousand old leones (two million old leones) to the defendant.
On 7th June, 2023, the APC Party and Lansana Dumbuya filed a case against the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (EC-SL) and the Chief Electoral Commissioner, seeking the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone to produce the disaggregated voter register and to comply with provisions of the Public Elections Act 2022.
In court yesterday, the APC Party was not represented whiles EC-SL and the Commissioner were fully represented by Lawyer Alie T. Turay.
In their Originating Notice of Motion, the Party asked the High Court for the following reliefs; that the Court “…grant an order of mandamus directing the Chief Electoral Commissioner of (EC-SL) to immediately provide to the First Applicant (APC) who is a registered Political Party, the National Register of Voters, which the First Respondent EC-SL had faithfully undertaken to release by its statement on the release of final voter registration figures for the updated of 2022 voter registration exercise, dated 24th December 2022.”
They furthered that the Applicants had legitimate expectations to receive the same in fulfilment of the First Respondent’s core value of transparency and which shall contain: Firstly, the names and particulars of persons who are entitled to vote in the Presidential, Parliamentary and local council elections slated for the 24th of June 2023, including voter identification number, date and place of birth, name and address and sex among others.
Secondly that: “This Honourable Court grant an order of certiorari directed to the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the EC-SL quashing all regulations, manuals, rules, procedure at variance with Section 88(3)91(1)92(2)92(3) of the Public Elections Act No.17 of 2022.
The motion was supported by affidavits, which were sworn to by the APC Secretary General, who doubles as the Second Applicant in the matter, and Dr Richard Conteh.
The EC-SL Chairman is the Second Respondent in the matter with the EC-SL being the First Respondent respectively.
