Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission in Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas has encouraged Sierra Leoneans to seek redress through legal means if they have any issue with the conduct of the June 24, 2023 general elections.
Dr. Chambas said: “If there are any issues with the June 24 elections, please use legal means to address them…”
Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas accompanied by Amb. Ansumana Ceesay, Deputy Head of Mission, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Amb. Harouna Moussa, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Sierra Leone, Amb. Joao Ribeiro Butiam Co Honorable and Edwin Melvin Snowe, member of the ECOWAS Parliament, also visited the ECOWAS Situation Room where they received initial briefing from the ECOWAS technical team responsible for compiling reports from observers deployed in the field.
The Head of Mission said his delegation observed the slow start of the electoral process but noted the process picked up during the day.
The Mission observed the large number of voters on the queues and commended them for their discipline and orderliness.
The Mission noted that no major incidents had been reported and appreciated the “peaceful climate” despite the delay in the commencement exercise in some polling centres, while appealing to Sierra Leoneans to continue on the path to democracy.
Apart from ECOWAS, there are other international Observers from the African Union (AU), the European Union, the Commonwealth, the Carter Foundation, the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (RESEAO/ECONEC) and Sierra Leonean civil society.
The ECOWAS Observation Mission is expected to issue its preliminary Report on the elections today Monday June 26, 2023.
Some 3,374,258 voters out of an estimated population of 8.7 million went to the polls on Saturday, June 24, 2023 to elect a new President, Members of Parliament and Local Councilors.
Thirteen candidates from 17 registered political parties are running for the Presidency, while 135 seats in Parliament and 493 in the Local Council are also in contention.
Voting took place in 11,832 polling stations in 3,630 polling centres across the country’s 16 electoral districts.
ECOWAS deployed 95 election observers in Sierra Leone for the presidential and parliamentary elections.
