By Chernor Bah My home country, Sierra Leone, in West Africa, recently held its sixth general multiparty elections since 1996, a year that marked our transition from military rule amid a civil war. This bold commitment to democracy was then supported mainly by Western aid. Twenty-seven (27) years later, in a testament to the country’s […]
By EL The National Elections Watch (NEW), which provided independent observation monitoring of all polling stations across the country) published their report yesterday (27 June 2023) in which they stated that no presidential candidate was able to score 55%. NEW claims to have used a statistical tool called Process Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) to
By Babatunde Rashid I have just watched a recorded news carried by CNN on the elections in Sierra Leone and I was left with a few questions. By the way, the reporter, Stephanie Busari, has a great reputation as a journalist in Nigeria and beyond. That is not to say we can’t ask questions if
Let’s Talk About The CNN Report on Elections in Sierra Leone Read More »
Why it matters to understand the APC’s posture now There is a context in which to understand the elections results that come out after the 24th of June polls, which will end in a victory for the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). It is natural with politics everywhere that an opposition would try to portray
OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE SLPP’S WIN ON 24 JUNE Read More »
By Babatunde Rashid In all multi-ethnic countries, the political fortunes or misfortunes of the smaller tribes lie in how they align their interests with that of the larger tribes. This has been the case also in Sierra Leone, particularly where the largest ethnic groups have always required the support of the smaller ones to gain
HARD TALK: Counting Krio Losses Read More »
No political leader in the history of Sierra Leone has endured such sustained insults and character assassination as Julius Maada Bio, then as a candidate for his Sierra Leone People’s Party, the SLPP, and as President of Sierra Leone. The smear campaign and character assassination began within his own party when Bio sought to lead
SALONE EDITORIALS: Julius Maada Bio: Motivations And Character Read More »
The 24th June elections will be Sierra Leone’s third election in which an incumbent government seeks a second-term mandate. It was President Ahmed Tejan-Kabbah who first sought a second-term mandate in 2002, followed by Ernest Bai Koroma in 2012 and now Julius Maada Bio in 2023. Neither President Ahmed Tejan-Kabbah nor Ernest Bai Koroma’s second-term
SALONE EDITORIALS: Why APC Should Lose The 2023 Elections Read More »
Another falsehood about Freetown and a misconception which has gained currency over time is the notion that only a Krio should be Mayor of Freetown. This is NOT true, and it is not a tradition.
OPINION: Is Freetown A Krio Colony? Asks Ibrahim Labor Fofana Read More »
By Mohammed Alhassan Abango and Leslie Casely-Hayford When President Salva Kiir announced the abolition of secondary school fees in South Sudan in February 2023, he was following several fellow African leaders. Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Zambia have all announced free secondary education policies in the last five years. Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa were early trendsetters in this regard. Despite
‘It is normal in any country that practices multi-party politics for citizens to see things differently; and stand the ground for their lenses. The challenge we have in Sierra Leone, however, is the failure to account for the human agency when tormenting political moments occur.’
The International Community and The Continuity and Quality of Democracy In Sierra Leone Read More »