The Native Consortium and Research Centre/Network think tank has on the 25th June 2023 sent out a strong congratulatory and appreciation message to all Sierra Leoneans for the peaceful end of voting on June 24th.

The sent their profound appreciations to everyone who immensely participated in the election in ensuring that it is very peaceful including the international observers who have made it possible to be with Sierra Leoneans at this particular time.

They further called on the general public to stay calm and maintain the peace unto the final result if pronounced by the chief electoral commissioner.

The statement reads as follows:

“The Native Consortium wishes to congratulate all Sierra Leoneans for peacefully conducting ourselves to cast our votes. With the exception of few issues like late opening of polling centers in few areas, we want to, above all, thank God for making this day possible.

The Consortium so far expresses our thanks to the Media (IRN), fellow CSOs, the local and international partners observers who have been working tirelessly.

We also want to congratulate the political parties, inspite of isolated incidences, the conduct of political parties is one of the best atmosphere so far since 1996. We urge you all to continue with the same spirit. To our security forces, we salute you for your professionalism so far.

To the National Returning Officer and team at the ECSL, we thank you so far and we urge that the final result be put out as quickly as possible.

With support from our International Partners we deployed 800 Monitors across the country, not just to report on election figures but to report incidences with our specialized software. Let me hasten to report that the Consortium may not release its exit poll results this year for obvious reasons.

However in the post poll period we observe that some Independent candidates and political party players are having a challenge to crunch the Proportional Representation for Councillors and Members of Parliament seats. With support from ECOWAS we urge Councillors and MPs candidates and political actor to follow our video online on different bloggers sites like IB Blog and Sierraloaded, TV stations and feel free to call our situation room on 076 545595.

Finally, as collation and tallying continues, we will continue to call on all Sierra Leoneans to put Sierra Leone

before political party. Sierra Leone is bigger than any political party. Therefore, our peace should be maintained as ever.”