Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister David Moinina Sengeh has announced that the Tripartite committee has identified 86 issues and agreed on 169 recommendations.

As the Chief Negotiator for the Agreement for National Unity, he joined APC Leader Dr. Samura Kamara on June 18, 2024, in an expanded Tripartite Committee meeting to review the progress, just one day before the initial six-month mandate expired.

The Tripartite Committee was established following Sierra Leone’s disputed 2023 elections to review election results, certification processes, observer reports, and the Public Elections Act of 2022. This committee emerged from a communiqué signed between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC), in October last year, facilitated by mediation from the international community, including the Commonwealth, African Union, and ECOWAS. The U.S. government contributed $1.5 million to support the committee’s operations.

Despite these efforts, there has been growing public and journalistic concern over the committee’s lack of communication and transparency. No media representatives have been present during its deliberations. The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) was initially expected to be part of the committee, but the opposition APC objected, and the ruling SLPP supported their exclusion. This has led to a scarcity of real-time updates on the committee’s activities, fostering public suspicion and a perception of secrecy.

In a related development, the APC announced on June 18, 2024, its decision to resume participation in the Tripartite Committee despite ongoing challenges and allegations of non-cooperation from the SLPP government and the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL).