The Talking Drum Studio-Sierra Leone (TDS-SL) on 30 Thursday, March 2023, officially launched the UKAID-funded project for Promoting Democracy and Electoral Freedom in Sierra Leone (ProDEF-SL) at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown.

According to the National Coordinator of TDS, Alpha Kamara, the project was implemented by the Coalition for Inclusive and Peaceful Elections in Sierra Leone (CIPE-SL) which comprise TDS-SL, SLAJ and IRN; adding that the project duration is from the 1st March to 31st August 2023.

He stated that, the project aims to support cross-community and political interest dialogue for peaceful and violence-free elections; leveraging on the three partners’ experience in delivering similar interventions in electoral processes.

He continued that the project will be implemented in eight out of the 16 districts in Sierra Leone through a combination of community-led peace promotion interventions and media programming for voter education directly reaching youths, women and PWDs, as well as key elections and democratic institutions.

Kamara furthered that indirectly, the project aims to reach 3,000,000 Sierra Leoneans; mostly through media programming led by TDS-SL and IRN’s network of over 50 partner radio stations dotted across the country.

The Southern Region Electoral Commissioner – Edmond S. Alpha, pointed out that an election is an important event in a country’s political atmosphere since it highlights the level of democracy; stressing that they would succeed when the people have confidence in the electoral justice system.

The British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney, disclosed that the UK Aid is aimed at ensuring the legality of the electoral process.

She mentioned that as a support body, they will assess the integrity of the electoral process by applying a comprehensive rights-based observation methodology; and conduct impartial and ongoing monitoring of all phases of the electoral cycle, affirming UK Aid’s continuous support.