By Peter Olorunnisomo – The elections in Sierra Leone eventually went underway on Wednesday as the country prepared to replace the out-going President, Ernest Bai Koroma who has already spent the constitutional two-terms permitted by the country’s laws.
As polls opened, the West African country is voting in her third general election since the end of its brutal civil war, the Ebola virus pandemic, and the more recent deadly mudslide that was responsible for several thousands’ deaths. Sierra Leoneans, at this point will be hoping to bring into government with very high expectations, someone who can help them to overcome the sense of these tragedies. And it is a competitive field of aspirants indeed, as more than a dozen candidates are vying for the peoples’ mandate through the ballot box to lead.
According to reports from Jerry Bambi, Michael Oduor, Africanews’ journalist has been on the ground in Sierra Leone to monitor and report proceedings as the voting process and other allied procedures take place.
The National Electoral Commission chairperson in Sierra Leone, Mohamed Conteh, has urged citizens to patiently await official results noting that vote-counting will take several days to tally. He stated this while giving the first brief to journalists and the country since polls closed at 5pm GMT.
“Results require several days to tally. Please be patient. The only true certified results are the ones that I will announce on behalf the National Electoral Commission,” Conteh said.
The Sierra Leonean Police on the other hand have reported ensuring safety and security of the voting process by providing at least two officers in every polling station.
The Africanews correspondent, in the capital, Freetown, also said several police could be seen patrolling various sections of the city.
The chief superintendent of Police, Eiaha Edward remarked to the correspondent that the force is happy to provide an enabling environment for citizens to cast their vote.
‘‘We have adequate police officers who are enough. I did the deployment for the five polling centres and they are adequate and the people are well satisfied,’‘ Eiaha said.
He added that Sierra Leone civil war that ended in 2002 has always been the focus of any election in the country.
The movement of vehicles was restricted in all the major cities unless one was permitted by the National Election Commission. Thus many shops closed in most areas of the town giving it the semblance of a ghost town.
Reports have earlier indicated the impact of local trade pushing up prices because of the elections as most traders folded up to allow for the voting process. Similarly, trade is significant to the Sierra Leonean economy with the combined value of exports and imports equalling 77% of GDP of the nation.
As polls close at 5pm GMT, the electoral commission assured that all who will have joined the queues by that time will be able to cast their vote.
However, shortly after polls closed, the police reportedly attempted to raid SLPP offices in Freetown. They were prevented from entry and riot police reinforcement followed.
According to reports by a Reuters / BBC journalist covering the polls, Umaru Fofana, head of police intelligence unit, Mohamed Kamara, said they’d gone to search the premises on allegations that there was some hacking of the election.
Fortunately, head of Commonwealth Observer Mission and former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama was on hand to as Fofana put it, ‘diffuse a volatile situation,’ at a time the police had surrounded the SLPP premises.
But for Bio and his team, they have shrugged off the hacking allegations saying the move was an intimidation antic. They have also stressed the right to collate their results independently.
A government spokesperson, however, intimated that the action of the police should be seen as purely a security matter because they are state officers and not party political assigns. Hence the ruling All Peoples’ Congress (APC) cannot be drawn into the raid.
Maada Bio is contesting his second consecutive time for the presidency. He lost the first attempt to outgoing Ernest Bai Koroma in 2011. His main opponent is APC’s Samura Kamara – a former foreign affairs minister and career politician.
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is also on record to have stated that their system cannot be hacked because it is basic and manual. Unlike in other countries were electronic transmission of figures is used to collate votes.
NEC chairman, Mohamed Conteh has also called for patience as the results of the process could take days to be announced.
“Results require several days to tally. Please be patient. The only true certified results are the ones that I will announce on behalf the National Electoral Commission,” he told the press after polls closed.
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