AYV News, May 20, 2025
The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL) has held a day’s stakeholders’ engagement on the development of the 2025 – 2029 Strategic Plan in Bo. The engagement brought together selected stakeholders from all walks of life, including public officials, CSOs, Media Practitioners, and local authorities at the Bo District Council conference hall, Falaba section along the Bo-Taiama highway
Speaking at the August ceremony, Commissioner Edmond Sylvester Alpha, EC-SL Regional Commissioner South foremost, underscored his Commission’s appreciation to stakeholders for honouring its invitation. Retrospection, he said, “Five years down memory lane, the Commission engaged a battery of stakeholders who made indelible inputs in the development of the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan, which became a working document for the Commission. Commissioner Edmond Sylvester Alpha told his audience that the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan had expired; thus, the need for the development of a new document. He stated that electoral governance is considered a business for everyone, noting that the activities of the commission are cyclical and liable to be revisited after every five years, employing assessment.
Addressing his audience, Mohamed Kenewei Konneh – Chief Electoral Commission and Chairman of Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone unravelled, the stakeholders engagement was for the commission to make presentation on its achievements in the relation to the strategic plan for 2020-2024 electoral cycle and to also solicit their inputs into the development of the new strategic plan for 2025-2029 electoral cycle. He said that at the end of every electoral cycle, the commission will be required to assess the performance of the strategic plan for the said electoral cycle. Mohamed Kenewei Konneh explained that the commission had assessed its activities implemented in the previous electoral cycle. He noted, stakeholders’ inputs into the 2025-2029 Electoral cycle will be guided by lessons learnt from the last electoral cycle that have to do with issues regarding the tripartite recommendations and discussions on constraints encountered during the 2020-2024 electoral cycle.
He said the stakeholders’ engagement aims to create the enabling space to strengthen the country’s electoral management system for the next elections. He emphasised that the commission is guided by fundamental documents or principles known as the Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Public Elections Act.
“During the 2020-2024 electoral cycle, a total of one hundred and sixty-three activities were projected to be implemented and divided into ten pillars with sub-activities, thus was used to conduct the 2023 elections in the country” Mohamed Kenewei Konneh explained.
Mohamed Kenewei Konneh disclosed that out of the 163 slated activities, the Commission was able to implement 138 activities amounting to 85%. He said 8 activities were not complete in the 2020-2024 electoral cycle, amounting to 5% and will be brought forward in the 2025-2029 strategic plan. He pointed out that 17 activities were not implemented due to obvious reasons, totalling 5%.
Chairman Mohamed Kenewei Konneh highlighted some of the Commission’s achievements, which, amongst others include institutional staff capacity and infrastructural development and financing, accountability, and transparency.
Chairman Mohamed Kenewei Konneh also noted that 90% of funding for the conduct of 2023 elections was provided by the government of Sierra Leone, noting the need to enhance and strengthen the electoral governance system in Sierra Leone by addressing some of the Commission’s weaknesses, identified is of Paramount importance.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in a frantic deliberations and discussions spoke around issues of legal reforms with more inclusive components, Proportional Representation System versus first past the post were thoroughly screened with emphasis on high threshold of the Proportional Representation System in the 2023 elections and funding of elections by government rather than depending on foreign supports was considered an innovative stride climaxed the one day interactive regional stakeholders engagement in Bo.
