AYV and Electoral Commission host Grand Finale of Cypher Uncensored rap music contest.
AYV CEO Amb Anthony Navo, Jr and Education Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh – both took part in a friendly rap battle.
In effort to promote peaceful elections on 24th June, 2023, the Africa Young Voices (AYV) Media Empire and the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL) have hosted the Grand Finale of Cypher Uncensored rap music contest Special Edition.
Ahead of Sierra Leone’s multi-tier general elections tomorrow, AYV Media Empire, in partnership with the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, organised “A Non-Violence” Campaign rap show for young rappers nationwide to promote peace and foster talent.
Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone who watched and witnessed the finale last night at the Sports Zone on Lumley Beach Road, were thrilled with the masterpiece rap contest.
As a teaser in cooking up for the grand finale between the Cypher rappers,
Chief Executive Officer of the AYV, Amb. Anthony Navo Jr. and Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh took the microphone in turns and preached lyrics of peace, free, fair and non-violent messages in the form of rap.
Thrilling the mammoth crowd of happily cheering spectators who witnessed the friendly rap battle between the two new rappers in town, Amb. Navo Jr focused his rap message on “Saful Elections”, where he encouraged Sierra Leoneans to “go out saful, vote saful, go home saful, rest saful and wait for the result from EC-SL saful…” among other lyrics, preaching and promoting peaceful elections 2023.
Like Amb Navo, his co-rapper, Minister Dr. Sengeh also preached peace through his rap lyrics and encouraged all to go vote peaceful and return home peacefully.
Prior to the Grand Finale last night, the Cypher and EC-SL team have been to different districts preaching peace before the elections.
These past months, the show has had qualifiers from various districts across Sierra Leone.
50 million old leones (50 thousand new leones) was given to the winner plus sponsorship and brand Ambassador deals.
8 rappers; Tello, Hugo Boss, Nazawise, RTM, OG Too Sweet, CG Mayboy, Breenard and Idea battled for the grand prize.
The programme aims to enhance engagement of and inclusion in the electoral processes by promoting citizens’ engagement, information sharing and information integrity by working with a range of stakeholders, including young people through rap music.
AYV and EC-SL joined forces to support efforts to mitigate electoral violence including violence against young people and contribute to the promotion of a peaceful environment in Sierra Leone before, during and after the 2023 elections.
Sierra Leone continues to demonstrate resilience by achieving significant progress in promoting peace as part of its elections’ peacebuilding and citizens’ engagement agenda.
