The Head of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Observation Mission to Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said the atmosphere of the polling stations was generally peaceful with security agents present in 92% of the polling stations they visited.
Dr Chambas made the observation at a joint press conference organized by ECOWAS, AU and Commonwealth Observation Missions to Sierra Leone, Freetown shortly after the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, ECSL announced 60% of the results of the ongoing Presidential Elections.
He said 37% of the polling stations observed, voting commenced within the first hour, while 63% experienced delay cases of polling due to late arrival of polling staff and electoral materials.
According to him, Articles 12 and 13 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance mandates the Commission of ECOWAS to provide assistance to member states conducting elections.
He explained that ECOWAS provided capacity building for stakeholders on dialogue and mediation, conducted training on media in election reporting, held engagement with the management of ECSL and also provided 500,000 dollars in support of the conduct of the general elections.
“In the build up to the 24 June 2023 election, and in furtherance of Articles 14 and 16 of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, the president of ECOWAS Commission HE Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, deployed an Election Observation Mission, EOM compromising 15 long term and 80 short term observers to Sierra Leone.
“The ECOWAS EOM is deployed with a mandate to observe the conduct of critical phases before, during and after election processes with a view to making critical recommendations for the improvement of the electoral process in the future,” he explained.
The Head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission said the mission notes the relative freedom the media enjoy, with both the print and electronic media landscape in Sierra Leone, offering plural and diverse platforms for citizens to have access to relevant information on the electoral process.
Dr. Chambas added that on election day, the Mission deployed 95 observers in 15 districts. He said the observers visited 337 polling stations both in Urban Area, 44%. and Rural Area, 56%.
On the area of inclusion, the ECOWAS Observation Mission boss said 63% of polling stations visited were accessible to Persons living with Disability, PWDs. He said they also observed that there were tactile ballot jackets in 33% of polling stations visited.
He noted that despite there were some challenges, polling proceeded smoothly and in a largely peaceful atmosphere, and that eligible voters were able to freely participate in the process.
Dr. Chambas added that, “The Mission commends the sense of patriotism exhibited by polling staff, the security forces, the general populace, who collectively played their parts in ensuring a peaceful conduct of the 2023 general elections.”
The Head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission however expressed regret that major political parties prempted ECSL by rushing to announce their ‘victory’ in the polls before the official announcement by ECSL.
He further appealing to all stakeholders especially political parties, candidates and their supporters, the security forces and the general citizenry to remain calm and patiently await the announcement of the final results by ECSL.
