The Electoral Commission and the Management of Sierra Leone's
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The Electoral Commission and the Management of Sierra Leone’s Electoral Process: An Introduction By Mohamed N. Conteh PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The book “The Electoral Commission and the Management of Sierra Leone’s Electoral Process: An introduction”, is an introduction to the history of Sierra Leone’s Electoral Management Body (EMB) called The Electoral Commission (EC) or National Electoral Commission (NEC), the country’s experiment with electoral democracy, starting from 1951, and related matters. These include the development of political parties and their role in the electoral process, the history of Sierra Leone’s elections, the history of the institution of chieftaincy and local government structures, as “grass root” governance institutions in the country; and the aspects involved in administering credible democratic elections in general. The book provides a detailed survey and readable account, in a single volume, on Sierra Leone’s historical, political and electoral developments from colonial days to the present day, using the most extensive research materials. This single volume thus presents the reader with the most up-to date and authoritative information on major aspects of Sierra Leone’s electoral process. The book is divided into two major parts: part one (1) deals with the historical context and general considerations on the country’s electoral process. It explores the historical, political and related electoral developments in Sierra Leone; particularly the development of political parties, the history of elections conducted in the country from 1951 to 2008 and the body responsible for conducting them (NEC). Traditional and Local governance structures related to the institution of Paramount Chieftaincy and Local Government, respectively, are also discussed in detail. Part two (2) treats in detail all the major tasks connected with the actual conduct of Presidential, Parliamentary and Local government elections; staring with the demarcation of electoral boundaries (constituencies and wards), voter registration, candidate nominations, to polling day activities, including the announcement of results. This humble piece of academic work, comprising major aspects of Sierra Leone’s experiment with electoral democracy (including the challenges) and the best practices in the administration of credible elections in a single volume, will no doubt serve as a useful guide to election managers, stakeholders in the electoral process, both international and local NGOs with interest in the conduct of credible democratic elections. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of academic work will stimulate other researchers and intellectuals to write about elections related topics and democracy in general in Sierra Leone. Hardly any one writes a book of this kind all alone. In this regard, I owe a lot of gratitude to all those accomplished writers and institutions whose works formed the basis of research in the writing of this publication. I wish specifically to mention the following (out of many of them whose names regrettably am unable to mention here): Arthur Abraham, formally professor of African Studies Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; C. Magbaily Fyle, Professor of History, also formally of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; Dr. Joe A.D. Alie, Associate Professor and formally Head of Department of African Studies, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; Carl .W. Dundas, formally of the Commonwealth Secretariat; kwadwo Afari-Gyan, current Chair of the Electoral Commission of Ghana; i International Organizations like the UNDP Sierra Leone Country Office, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the International IDEA. I am also grateful to the Board members, management and staff of the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (especially Ansu Bangura and Michael Kamara who typed the manuscripts) and senior staff members of the Ministry in charge of Local Government and chieftaincy matters; all of them for their support and encouragement in the writing of this book. This work would indeed not have been possible without the support of the Chief Electoral Commissioner Dr. Christiana Thorpe and my Colleague Commissioners. Special thanks go to my wife, Agnes Conteh, and children (Fatima, Aisha and Hawa Conteh), who missed my company for most of the time whilst I was busy writing in the office. Additional thanks also go to Ansu Bangura my personal Assistant; Mark Sesay, my driver and Abdulai Kargbo my Security; all of whom patiently waited whilst I spent long hours in the office after official hours. The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policy of the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (NEC/SL) or any other institution mentioned in the book. Efforts have been made to acknowledge copyright materials, but where inadvertently this is not done, the author will be willing to do so at the earliest opportunity. Mohamed N’fah-Alie Conteh, Electoral Commissioner, National Electoral Commission, State Avenue, OAU Drive, Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone Email: [email protected] Cell # +232-76-638-675 February, 2013 ii The Author The author, Mohamed N‟fah-Alie Conteh, is an Election Administrator attached to the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (NEC) since 1990. He is currently one of the 5 Electoral Commissioners, comprising the Board of the Electoral Management Body; with the constitutional mandate to conduct all Public Elections and referenda in Sierra Leone i.e. Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections. Mr. Conteh‟s unpublished works include: “A short history of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone:-1961-2010” (2012), “The Institution of Paramount Chieftaincy in Sierra Leone: An introduction to its history and electoral process” (2011). He is a Sierra Leonean. Dedication This work is dedicated to the Board of Commissioners and staff of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone political parties and all other stakeholders in the electoral process. Note The author is in search of democratic institutions, interested individuals or other elections related INGOs, that are willing to sponsor the publication of this book; as a demonstration of their commitment to the promotion of democratic governance in Sierra Leone. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of the author. iii Acronyms AAEA - Association of African Election Authorities ADEO - Assistant District Electoral Officer AFRC - Armed Forces Revolutionary Council APC - All Peoples Congress BD - Boundary Delimitation BEAC- Basic Electoral Administration Course BRIDGE - Building Resources In Democracy, Governance and Elections CEC/Chair - Chief Electoral Commissioner and Chairperson DEO - District Electoral Officer DFID - Department for International Development (British) EC - Electoral Commission EC - European Commission ECONEC - ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions ECOWAS - Economic Community of West African States ELA, 2002 - Electoral Laws Act, 2002 EMB - Electoral Management Body EOC - Elections Offences Court ERSG - Executive Representative of the (UN) Secretary General EU - European Union FVR- Final Voters Register GoSL - Government of Sierra Leone HRMO - Human Resource Management Office (formerly Establishment Secretary‟s office) I.e. - id est. -“that is” Ibid - Ibidem i.e. „in the same place‟/work as quoted above‟ IDEA - Institute for Democratic Electoral Assistance. IFES - International Foundation for Election Systems. INEACE - Institute of Electoral Administration and Civic Education. INEC - Interim National Electoral Commission iv INGO - International Non Governmental Organization IT - Information Technology JICA - Japan International Cooperation Agency LGA, 2004 - Local Government Act, 2004 LPA - Lome Peace Agreement MDAs - Ministries, Departments and Agencies MIALGRD - Ministry of Internal Affairs, Local Government and Rural Development MoFED - Ministry of Finance and Economic Development MoU - Memorandum of Understanding NEC - National Electoral Commission NEC Act, 2002 - National Electoral Commission Act, 2002 NGO - Non Governmental Organization NPRC - National Provisional Ruling Council ONS - Office of National Security Op.cit - “Opere citato” – „‟in the work cited‟‟ (some where in this monograph) PC - Paramount Chieftaincy/Chief PEA-2012 Public Elections Act, 2012 PPRC - Political Parties Registration Commission RUF- Revolutionary United Front SLP - Sierra Leone Police SLPP - Sierra Leone Peoples Party SRSG - Special Representative of the (UN) Secretary General UMANSIL - United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone UN - United nations UNDP - United Nations Development Programme USAID - United States Aid VR - Voter Registration WANEP- West Africa Network for Peace building v TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGES Preface and acknowledgements . i The Author . iii Dedication . iii Acronyms . iv PART :ONE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON SIERRA LEONE’S ELECTORAL PROCESS Chapter 1 Historical Context Overview of Historical and Political Developments Introduction. 2 Administrative Divisions. 2 Ethnic groups. 2 Background history and major political developments. 3 Constitutional Developments and Democratic Experience. 4 Undemocratic Developments. 4 Military Coups: (21st March 1967 to 26th April 1968). 5 Introduction of One Party State (14th June 1978 – 30th September