The India Government has donated twenty-one boxes of Indelible Ink to the Government of Sierra Leone through the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL), to be used in the 2023 elections.

The Indian High Commissioner, Neerat Kumar Saint said the indelible ink that was donated by the Indian Government is a demonstration of a friendly gesture to Sierra Leone for the upcoming 2023 General Elections.

Neerat Kumar further revealed that the request for Indelible Ink was received from the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone in August-September last year and considering the cordial and strong bilateral relations between India and Sierra Leone, the Indian High Commission immediately sent the draft request to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also positively accepted the proposal and immediately started the process of purchasing Indelible Ink, noting that the 40,000 units batch of Indelible Ink arrived in Freetown on the 31st March, 2023.

He also disclosed that India had earlier donated permanent ink to Sierra Leone for elections adding that India has always been a time-tested friend of Sierra Leone.

EC-SL’s Chief Electoral Officer and National Returning Officer, Mohamed Konneh commended the support from the Indian Government to EC-SL, especial in the area of human capacity building for the IT staff of the Commission who were sent to India for training for about a month.

He also highlighted the cordial relationship that EC-SL has with the Government of India, which he said is an ongoing relationship that will grow to the next level.

The Chief Election Commissioner and National Returning Officer noted that the donations made by the Government of India will reduce the burden on the Government, while expressing profound appreciation and gratitude to the Government of India.