Africans Rising Calls For Free, Fair And Peaceful Election In Sierra Leone

By Samuel Ouma

Africans Risings for Justice, Peace and Dignity is calling for peace in Sierra Leone ahead of general elections slated for June 24.

In a statement, the movement called on Sierra Leoneans to exercise their right to vote peacefully, abstain from all acts of violence, and shun politicians who advocate for violence.

“You must prevent a resurgence of violence in order to avoid undoing the progress gained over the years,” read the statement in part.

Africans Rising also urged Sierra Leonean electoral commission, National Electoral Commission, to ensure that the polls are free, transparent and fair.

“We call on the National Electoral Commission to carry out its constitutional role in a free, fair, verifiable, and transparent election without intervention from internal or external forces. It is important to respect the will of the people,” read the statement further.

It further called the candidates to desist from utterances that could lead to violence.

Political parties have been asked to use established constitutional mechanisms

in case of disagreements with the electoral process.

At least 17 registered political parties are running in the local council, parliamentary, and presidential elections, with roughly 3.37 million registered voters likely to vote.

In the Presidential race, the incumbent, Julius Maada Bio, is seeking re-election, but he is facing stiff competition from Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC), the largest opposition party in the West African country. Kamara narrowly lost to Bio in the 2018 elections.

The election is the fifth presidential election since the end of the civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002 and resulted in more than 50,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.