By Alimamy Jalloh@awokonewpaper.sl
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE – The Chief Electoral Commissioner (CEC) of the Electoral Commission Sierra Leone (ECSL) Mohamed K. Konneh, on 24th December 2022, disclosed that the final number of registered voters is 3,374,258 that will be eligible to vote come 24th June 2023.
In his presentation, the CEC stated that ECSL undertook an update of the voter registration process from 3rd September to 8th October this year 2022 noting that the exercise culminated in capturing details of eligible citizens who wish to vote in the 2023 multi-tier elections.
Commissioner Konneh explained that pursuant to the legal framework, the ECSL exhibited the provisional list of voters (PLV) from 24th to 28th October 2022, where registered voters were given the opportunity to confirm their details, request inclusion if omitted from the PLV and object against persons whose details were on the PLV. During the exercise, he said issues such as unpublished, misplaced, and photoless data were reported.
“The ECSL took cognizance of these and proceeded to undertake retraction and re-transmission of data from voter verification kits (VVKs) and Voter Identification Units (VIUs) processes that restored most of the issues raised during the exhibition. In addition, the ECSL also processed correction and inclusion cases made during the exhibition exercise” Commissioner Konneh revealed in his presentation.
The final voter registration data, therefore, is the outcome of the registration and exhibition processes and its total for each district as well as the Western rural and urban he described.
The total number of final voters registered for each district and western area are namely Commissioner said Kailahun 193,578; Kenema 317,978; Kono 174,205 (Regional total 685,761): Bombali 206,250; Falaba 69,128; Koinadugu 85,258; Tonkolili 207,342(Regional total 567,978), Kambia 152,549; Karene 100,145; Portloko 236,923(Regional total 489,617), Bo 317,585; Bonthe 107,532; Moyamba 150,210; Pujehun 115,789(Regional total 691,116), Western Rural 341,764; Western Urban 598,022(Regional total 939,786) and National Total, he concluded is three million three hundred and seventy-four thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight (3,374,258).
The Commissioner disclosed to participants that approximately 607 underage children (voters) attempted to register, bypass the system, or fraud the system based on their record at some registration centres in the country. He affirmed that those with evidence of attempted registration will be handed over to Sierra Leone Police for investigation and possible prosecution.
In response to the presentation of the CEC and staff of ECSL, Dr. Richard Conteh APC 2023 election Flagbearer Aspirant, said in his remarks that “the explanation given here was not our problem. Our problem has to do with the fact that this information was not made available in a disaggregated form for us to verify. And what we said was that we do not have the information for us to establish exactly what happened, what constitutes duplication below, and what constitutes underage we know. And what you have just explained here we have no problem with that. We needed information on that, what we want to urge ECSL to do in the future, sometimes, some of these things are avoided only if we can have access to the information and that’s what the partnership is all about.”
Abdul Fatorma from CHRDI, in his short response, said “I think it gives us an opportunity for a role to wait for paragraph 4, of the press release which actually talked about the determination of polling station. This is very important you know for us from democracy point of view, a Human Rights point of view.”
Representatives from the SLPP, Dwight Z. K. Sheriff, National Young Generation Secretary, and Prince Coker, Chairman PDP who responded as Chairman for APPA all applauded the National Returning Officer and CEC for his significant work noting he has done the right job for the 2023 elections on June 24th. AJ/25/12/2022
