Sierra Leone presidential hopefuls commit to violence-free process

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone’s election organizing body, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has announced preparations to send ballot papers into districts for the March 7, 2018 general elections.

The NEC has also held a meeting with presidential aspirants at its headquarters in Freetown. Its chair commended commitment to non-violence by all sixteen flagbearers.

NEC boss, Mohamed N’fah Alie Conteh also assured aspirants that the process was going to be free, fair and credible.

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The Commonwealth of which Sierra Leone is a member has meanwhile announced an observer mission to be led by former Ghana president John Dramani Mahama.

“The Commonwealth has been invited to observe the election by the chairperson of the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone.

They added that the 15-member team “will observe the electoral process independently, following standards set out in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation, to which the Commonwealth is a signatory.”

The European Union was the first to deploy a mission to the West African country. The African Union is yet to deploy its mission.

The country is set to have a new president because incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma has served the maximum term of 10 years since coming into office in 2007.

To be elected president of Sierra Leone, a candidate must gain at least 55% of the vote. If no candidate gets this, there is a second-round runoff election between the top two candidates.

Since the 7th of February, the EUEOMSLeone2018 has been monitoring radio, TV, newspapers and social media. Media monitoring consists in analysing time and space allocated to political actors and the manner in which relevant actors are framed. #SierraLeoneDecides pic.twitter.com/8TgNWrVP6G
— EU Election Observation Mission Sierra Leone 2018 (EUEOMSLeone2018) February 20, 2018