Every trick under the palm tree is being applied by the failed ruling SLPP government to win the 2023 general and presidential elections at all costs.

President Julius Maada Bio, widely deemed as a ‘One Term President’ is very jittery at the moment. This is because he is very aware of his government’s inability to have delivered for the people of Sierra Leone in the last four years. Among the many dubious strategies already put in place by the SLPP government agents to win next year’s election by any dubious means necessary is the redesigning of the country’s internal boundaries by creating new constituencies in their southeast strongholds that would be advantageous to President Bio. (Photo: Sidi Tunis, the APC Spokesman opposes the illegal boundary).

The main APC opposition party and other political parties have however raised serious concerns over the illegality of the Boundary Delimitation and there are frantic efforts behind the scenes to thwart any attempt by the government to actualise the Boundary Delimitation agenda. It is now official that APC has made it public that they will kick against any attempt by the National Electoral Commission NEC, now renamed dubiously as the Elections Commission of Sierra Leone ECSL. Clearly controlled by President Bio, the ECSL is taking instructions from the presidency to aid and abet the ruling SLPP party to clinch the 2023 elections at any costs.

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The one-tribe Mende ECSL, led by the ardent SLPP party member Mr Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, has already endorsed the Boundary Delimitation, which was machinated by the Statistics Sierra Leone SSL headed by another President Bio puppet called Dr Osman Sankoh. All these dubious strategies by the SLPP regime are geared toward cheating and stealing the May and June 2023 elections. It was the APC Spokesman Mr Sidi Yayah Tunis who recently made the official announcement that the SLPP Boundary Delimitation would be strongly opposed by the APC and other political opposition parties have already followed suit.

The Consortium of Progressive Political Parties COPPP, comprises thirteen registered political parties, including the All Peoples Congress Party APC, the National Grand Coalition NGC, the Coalition 4 Chance C4C, the Unity Party UP, the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change PMDC, Alliance Democratic Party ADP, and others have decided to block the illegal SLPP Boundary Delimitation for the 2023 elections. COPPP is chaired by the UP leader Madam Claudius Femi- Cole and the consortium have made their criticisms known regarding the illegal SLPP Boundary Delimitation as the nation gets ready for next year’s crucial elections.

The APC Acting Publicity Secretary Yayah Tunis did not mince his words when he aired his views on the SLPP Boundary Delimitation describing it as suspicious believing it will undermine the democracy in Sierra Leone. President Bio and his SLPP government have broken all the electoral laws since they assumed power over four years ago. The Sierra Leone Constitution clearly stipulates the ten years margin for any population census to be conducted and the next one is expected in 2024 but the jittery government has decided to hold the unprecedented Mini-Census last year which was broadly opposed inside and outside the country. Yet, President Bio’s regime is determined to force the people to accept a census that is clearly unpopular and widely condemned.

In the same vein, the APC Spokesman Tunis noted that the ECSL was wrong to mention Boundary Delimitation at this time. From Freetown, the Calabash newspaper releases more information on this issue: “The APC official Tunis said registration of voters will start in September this year, with the number of voting centres having been increased by 10 percent from 3,300 to 3,600. He pointed out that boundary delimitation takes time – at least one year. The APC publicity went on to ask where it will be done. He further stated that Government should not interfere in the work of ECSL. The data collected for Mid-term Census that was conducted by Statistics-Sierra Leone has a lot of controversies and many people did not take part in it to make its results credible and acceptable.

“Sidi Tunis said the basis for boundary delimitation would cause controversy and chaos adding that ECSL is doubted, Mr Tunis intimated that looking at them closely, the APC party hopes that they will not continue with the exercise as it will not augur well for democracy and peace. You do not just get up and do boundary delimitation, he reiterated, asking, where is the prototype of where it will happen? He added that ECSL should not do its work based on what the government wants but to serve Sierra Leone so that peace and stability remain.

“The APC official added that its conduct will be a hindrance to the election and a hindrance to peace and quiet. ECSL, he said, should work transparently and fairly in the interest of this country. Tunis noted that nothing from SSL’s mid-term census data will be acceptable. Meanwhile, APC is of the conviction that two districts have been created by the government in the South-East as a means of encroaching into the 2023 electoral process. We are not going to accept anything that comes from that SSL data, the APC international spokesperson warned.”

Source: https://theorganiser.net