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Mohamed Konneh, Sierra Leone’s Chief Electoral Commissioner, has declared that he will not be seeking a second term in office, citing family reasons.
This announcement, made during a two-day citizen’s dialogue session, has garnered widespread attention. The event, aimed at consolidating democracy and promoting inclusivity, was organized by the National Council for Civic Education (NaCCED) and the National Commission for Democracy (NCD) and held at the Atlantic Hotel in Freetown.
Konneh’s decision comes a year after he successfully led the nation’s multi-tier elections on June 24, 2023. Reflecting on this pivotal event, Konneh expressed confidence in the electoral process’s fairness and transparency. He highlighted his open-door policy, which enabled the general public to engage with his office on various electoral issues, fostering a sense of trust and accountability.
The 2023 elections were marked by the introduction of the proportional representation (PR) system, a move that faced criticism from the All People’s Congress (APC) party. However, Konneh staunchly defended the PR system, asserting that, if properly managed with a minimum threshold, it has the potential to bridge divisions and mitigate politicization within the country. “The PR system can be a unifying tool,” Konneh emphasized, “reducing the intense political rivalries that often characterize our elections.”
During the dialogue session, Konneh also addressed the political parties, urging them to concentrate on their commitment and strategies for winning elections rather than focusing on the Electoral Commission. “Political parties should focus on politics and forget about the electoral commission if they want to win an election. It is a question of how committed you are in winning an election,” he stated.
The announcement of Konneh’s decision not to seek reappointment has sparked discussions about the future of Sierra Leone’s electoral processes. As the nation looks ahead, the principles of fairness, transparency, and inclusivity that Konneh championed will remain central to its democratic journey. The dialogue session at the Atlantic Hotel underscored the ongoing efforts to strengthen Sierra Leone’s democracy, with various stakeholders reiterating their commitment to these values.
“The PR system can be a unifying tool” but unfortunately ECSL did not follow the method prescribed in the Public Elections Act (PEA) of 2022 to determine the threshold. The PEA prescribed 2 methods to determine the threshold:
1. As a percentage of the number of District seats: Threshold = 100%/ no. of seats
2. As a percentage of the total number of valid votes cast in a district: Threshold = votes cast for a party/ total no of valid votes cast
Which means each district may have a different threshold .
Instead ECSL wrongly chose an incomprehensible method, the total number of parliamentary seats per district:
total number of parliamentary seats/ total number of districts which is 135 seats/16 districts (*100%) =11.9%
And then uniformly applied the 11.9% to all the districts (including western urban and rural areas).
Was this deliberate by ECSL. Did the political parties not notice this or chose to ignore it? Whatever the case, ECSL did not follow the method prescribed by the PEA of 2022.
I think it’s one of the most disgusting job. How can someone, give his total self to job, that don’t have any ending.
Why shouldn’t everyone think about the other side. You bringing in confusion and wishing the country worst of everything. And not realizing that there equal number of citizens whom your unsubstantiated behavior will not be accepted by the other party. That’s how the war was nurture, in the first place. Especially as ordinary citizens you should know that, getting power out of the agreed system will not be tolerated. It may result to anything I think the civic education, should have everything the brought on our country. Let our next generation be saved from everything this ours endured.
Mr. Konneh please pay the money 💰 the poor and jobless Sierra Leoneans have worked before retiring from your please! If not God will surely decodes!
I will say this again, Konneh is the main problem of this country.
Congratulation konneh, job well done
Mohamed Konneh posterity will judge you for stealing the will of the people.
Mohamed konneh mission accomplished once a solider Hmmmm
The worst ECSL commissioner of all time
Sierra Leone,,this country will fight you back as you fight the people of mamah salone,..
Trust,,what goes around will surely comes around,and it will be too bad at the end
Yeah successfully as this writer indicates it coz he is getting well paid for doing such scrap.
Morever the idiot knows there is no way we as a nation will allow him to conduct any election in that this our beloved country so let him do his fake bluff.
KONNEH SHOULD BE ASHAME OF HIMSELF.