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The Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) and the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion have jointly released a statement addressing their observations of the twenty days of electoral campaigns leading up to the 24th June 2023 elections.
The commissions expressed deep concerns over several disturbing occurrences during this period.
Among the issues highlighted in the statement were the defilement of children, who were seen singing and dancing to profane and insulting songs in front of the President and Vice President’s campaign posts.
The commissions also raised concerns about premature pronouncement of election results and the persistent harassment and intimidation of Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) personnel.
Additionally, the commissions condemned the use of intemperate and scathing comments against political opponents, intermittent confrontations and disruptions of campaign activities in some provinces, and the flouting of security directives by political parties and candidates, leading to avoidable confrontations. They also expressed alarm at the persistent calls for illegal protests and threats to disrupt the upcoming polls.
These activities, if not addressed, could have far-reaching consequences. They have the potential to stoke conflict, undermine democratic processes, weaponize segments of the public against state institutions and officials, compromise public safety and public morality, and betray the peace pledge recently signed by the leadership of the contesting political parties and their presidential candidates.
In response to the complaints received by the PPRC from the ECSL, the All People’s Congress (APC), and the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), a dialogue meeting was convened on June 9, 2023. However, the APC Party did not attend the meeting, and the commission is awaiting an explanation for their absence.
The commissions jointly called on all political parties participating in the upcoming elections to condemn all forms of threats and intimidation against the ECSL and other electoral management bodies.
They urged the parties to dissociate themselves from and denounce any calls for unlawful protests and disruption of the polls. They also stressed the importance of maintaining a temperate and tolerant approach in campaigns, with messages of a national character.
Finally, the commissions urged political parties, their leadership, candidates, and supporters to uphold the spirit of the peace pledge they recently signed, emphasizing the need to prioritize peaceful and fair elections for the betterment of Sierra Leone.
PPRC and IPCfPNC, please be bold enough to categorically state here that the apc should stop the spewing of hoaxes and unleashing out tribal, political hate speeches and the unlawful calls for demonstrations to disrupt the peaceful electoral processes. Their so-called chartered machinery in the person of adebayor, is whom the apc is using to cause mayhem in this country. In the recent audio of the said adebayor, he is heard saying that they can only go to the polls if samura kamara could tell them to do so , as according to him the apc will not win the election now if they go to the polls. The SLPP had not in any way used invectives and motherly insults against any state functionary and neither called for protest,
You even heard that in Bo town last week, that apc thugs were caught in their regalia, with arms trying to disrupt the campaign of SLPP. for the claim of attack of the apc in Kenema, it was due to disorderly behaviour and lack of respect for the rule of law.
You may have as well seen their criminal cabal leader showing “Babu yai too” to police officers in Kono.
The whole of this country’s problem and the election is the apc trust me. They are completely unruly.