In preparation for the June 2023 Elections: West Africa Democracy Solidarity Mission visits Sierra Leone

AYV News May 19, 2023

The West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS), a pre-elections solidarity mission, has arrived in Sierra Leone ahead of the country’s June 2023 elections.

WADEMOS consists of over thirty Civil Society Organisations in fifteen countries in West Africa including Sierra Leone.

The delegation met with Sierra Leone’s Chief Electoral Commissioner and Chairman, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh at the EC-SL Headquarters in Freetown on pre-elections assessment of the EC-SL in preparation for the June 24, 2023, multi-tier polls and also solidarised with one of West Africa’s Election Management Bodies. 

During the engagement, Chairman Konneh used the opportunity to update the delegation on the Commission’s level of preparedness for the June 2023 polls. 

Head of the delegation, Paul Osie Kuffur, from Ghana, registered WADEMOS’ commitment to ensuring that democracy thrives in the region, which now experiences the reemergence of military interventions in Governance that threatens the democratic gains that have been made in the sub-region.

The head of the delegation also presented its report on Democracy and Elections from the Nigerian experience.

In a similar development, the EC-SL will on Monday 22nd May, 2023 hold its ‘Float Parade’ in all 16 districts of Sierra Leone.

With financial and technical support from the European Union and Germany, the EC-SL launched a comprehensive nation-wide sensitisation campaign on the Proportional Representation System (PR System).

The rationale of the project is to engage electoral stakeholders on all aspects of the newly-introduced PR system which was recently passed into law and will be utilized for the forthcoming parliamentary and local council elections.

According to the EC-SL, float parades, strategic engagements and town hall meetings will be held simultaneously across the 16 districts of Sierra Leone.

This will include political parties, independent candidates, Members of Parliament, representatives of Paramount Chiefs, the media, Civil Society organizations (CSOs), including Inter Religious Council, domestic observers’ coalitions, Student Unions, Bike Riders’ Associations, representatives of Persons Living with Disability (PWDs).

Commissioner Zainab Moseray of EC-SL said the Commission remains committed in ensuring that electoral stakeholders are sensitised not only on the PR System but in all related electoral processes for the forthcoming general elections.