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Popular Sierra Leonean journalist Umaru Fofana has weighed in on the ongoing debate over proposed constitutional amendments, suggesting a potential compromise on one of the most contentious issues—the presidential election threshold.
As Parliament prepares to vote on the proposed amendments, a major point of contention is the threshold required for a presidential candidate to win outright.
The government has proposed a system under which a candidate would need to secure 50% plus one vote, alongside a requirement to obtain at least 20% of votes cast in two-thirds of the country’s districts. The parliamentary opposition, however, is pushing to retain the existing 55% threshold.
Fofana has suggested that both positions could be accommodated within the law. Under his proposal, a candidate could win the presidency outright by either securing 55% of the nationwide popular vote or obtaining 50% plus one vote while also meeting the geographical spread requirement of at least 20% in two-thirds of the districts.
He further proposed that if no candidate meets either of these conditions, the election would proceed to a runoff, with a simple majority determining the eventual winner.
Fofana questioned whether the approach could provide a workable compromise by balancing the need for a clear national mandate with the importance of broad geographical representation.
“After all, either threshold will be very hard to reach and forces a candidate to have a broad appeal nationwide,” he argued.
His proposal comes amid heightened political debate over the proposed constitutional and electoral reforms, as lawmakers and other stakeholders continue to deliberate on changes that could significantly shape Sierra Leone’s electoral framework.
