By Alpha Abu

Some eleven months to Sierra Leone’s General Elections, the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Konneh says his office remains committed to stakeholders' engagement and a credible election.

Konneh gave the assurances at the presentation of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone’s annual report and update on election preparedness to President Julius Maada Bio at State House in Freetown yesterday.

At the event which was attended by Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Ministers, other senior government officials, and development partners, the Chief Commissioner spoke about preparations for the 3rd September -4th October 2022 registration of eligible voters at 3,630 centres spread across the country, a 10 percent increase from the last voter registration exercise.

Konneh said the spread of centres took into consideration population density and topography as captured in the past Mid–Term Population and Housing Census by Statistics Sierra Leone. He said the registration would take place at a time schools will be in session and spoke of the commission’s engagement with Ministry of Education authorities so that the process would be enhanced without disruption to schooling.

The voter registration will go side by side with the National Civil Registration Authority’s (NCRA) process of registering people who were not captured in last year’s exercise.

Clear indication has been given that the earlier touted compulsory idea of voters having to get the Authority’s National Identification Number (NIN) has now been shelved.

On the issue of Boundary Delimitation, Konneh explained what he said has been a significant shift in the population at Ward, Constituent, and District levels based on the data provided by the Statistics office.

He said the Commission in consonant with its mandate and has signed an MOU with Statistics has resolved to review the boundaries in the country. He spoke about the setting up of a Boundary Delimitation Committee.

End of July to the end of August this year, ECSL is to engage stakeholders in various parts of the country on the boundary delimitation, which will then be followed by the drafting of its policy Instruments that would be presented to the Parliament of Sierra Leone for ratification.

Konneh also revealed that ECSL would be having two thousand (2,000) laptop computers for the elections scheduled for the 24th of June 2023. Preceding that will be the Paramount Chief Member of Parliament Election in May 2023.

Other key reforms highlighted were the electoral calendar for Local councils that has been extended by a year to now 5 years, and the presence now of Ward Coordinators at the district level to manage all electoral issues.

President Bio in receiving the report said he was appreciative of the immensity of the work and the time needed for ECSL to accomplish its tasks. He said he was receiving the report with great optimism and spoke of his government’s democratic credentials based on Media and Judicial Reforms that he said continue to generate accolades from bodies and institutions around the world.

He said his government would ensure the elections are conducted in a fair and credible manner.

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