The United States Embassy in Freetown has expressed strong condemnation for the death threats directed at election observers during Sierra Leone’s recently concluded general elections.

David Reimer, the U.S. Ambassador, took to Twitter to express his deep concern upon learning about the death threats aimed at election observers. Reimer emphasized that such threats have no place in a peaceful and democratic society, whether they are directed at ECSL officials, election observers, or anyone else.

The role of election observers has faced public scrutiny following the release of the findings by National Elections Watch (NEW), an accredited observer for the Sierra Leone 2023 general elections. The report assessed the credibility of Sierra Leone’s presidential, parliamentary, and local council elections held on June 24th, 2023.

NEW, which deployed 6,000 observers across the country, including 750 specially trained individuals, utilized the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology to evaluate the quality of the election process and verify the accuracy of the official results announced by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL).

According to NEW’s findings, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) candidate was expected to receive between 47.7% and 53.1% of the vote, whereas the ECSL’s official result reported 56.1%. Similarly, the All People’s Congress (APC) candidate was projected to secure between 43.8% and 49.2% of the vote, while the ECSL’s official result stood at 41.2%.

Since the release of these findings, NEW and its Chairman, Marcella Samba-Sesay, have been subjected to hate speech, including death threats.