Popular Lawyer and Former President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, Basita Michael has described the Electoral Commission For Sierra Leone (ECSL) as failing “woefully” for failing to discharge its duties in a manner that could have resulted in an unquestionable victory for President Bio.

Her comments follow the declaration of the presidential election results on Tuesday which saw incumbent President Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) declared winner, defeating Dr Samura Kamara of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) Party.

Kamara and the APC have refused to accept the result, describing it as a “daylight robbery”. Many international election observers also highlighted problems with transparency in the tallying process of the election results. National Election Watch (NEW), an election monitoring group that deployed observers in all polling stations across the country also said that the results declared by the ECSL show there are inconsistencies.

Reacting to issues surrounding the election, Basita Michael expressed deep concern over the actions of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL), stating that they have caused controversy and raised doubts about the credibility of the election results.

She emphasized that the ECSL’s failure to address the concerns raised by international observers and monitoring groups like National Election Watch (NEW) is a disservice not only to the commission itself and the country’s democracy but also to President Bio.

Michael hopes that President Bio’s call for collaboration with the APC and other political parties will lead to compromises and a framework that can bridge the political divide, fostering peace and unity in the nation.

“In light of the international observers statements on the lack of transparency in the counting process and NEW’s findings that no Presidential candidate won 55 percent of the vote in the first round and Nick Cheeseman’s cynical commentary that” only amateurs rig this late this badly and this blatantly”, I think it is absolutely important to state that the ECSL has done a great disservice not only to itself and our democracy but also to President Bio. By proceeding to announce the final results without pausing to take meaningful steps to address the concerns raised by the observers and in particular NEW, the ECSL woefully failed to discharge its duties in a manner that could have resulted into an unquestionable victory for President Bio.
No matter what the spin doctors will say, unfortunately the ECSL has caused and attracted lots of controversy leaving a dark cloud hanging over the credibility of the election results.
We can only hope that with the call of the President to work with the APC and all other political parties, compromises will be reached within a framework that will close the political divide and allow peace and unity to prevail.”