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Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) on Friday evening accused the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) of inconsistency in language.
The accusation came after an investigation by the party revealed that the language used by the ECSL on their social media page for the SLPP, PLP and UDM was inconsistent with that used for the APC during nominations earlier in the week.
“The APC however notes the inconsistency in language used by ECSL when on 1st May 2023, informing the public of the nomination of Dr. Samura Kamara and Hon. Chernor Bah of the APC, it stated that they have provisionally nominated,” the Party said.
The main opposition is believed to be concerned with the use of the word “provisionally” that was present in their case but absent in that of the other four parties that have went through the nomination process.
“The laws of Sierra Leone under which ECSL has mandate to accept nominations of presidential candidates created no hierarchy or class of nomination,” the APC protested.
They added that they believed all that have been nominated are qualified to be candidates.
The party said that candidates that have met the criteria of the 1991 Constitution and Public Elections Act must not be devoid of their participation in the election.
“If on fulfilment of the provisions of the Acts, then it should be the same for all candidates regardless of party or incumbency,” they said.
The APC said the peace and tranquillity the nation has enjoyed is in the hands of the ECSL and that the will of the people must be respected.
APC should be aware of one fact that, their candidate was standing corruption related charges prior to nominations, even where they were asked by the court not to accept Samura not to participate, yet went against the court order.
Who to blame if ECSL made that statement whatever, let’s leave the sleeping dog lie.
Standing corruption trial doesn’t means you’re guilty of corruption
The message of ECSL, was not professional because “provisional” should not be used in the case of Samura Kamara, simply because he is not a culprit of corruption. But one thing I always say to people is that, when we have people who are not patriotic working for a sensitive institution that has the capacity to turn this country into a chaotic state, their behavior is assessed by their languages. A single word can damage your reputation as a government that’s open to democracy. Now the international community is observing everything and is assessing the evidences presented by the opposition against the ruling government based on their the language. Let becareful with our languages on social media.