The Carter Center one of the election observation missions in Sierra Leone has in their pre election report, disclosed that they are concerned about the events that led to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) not fielding a Presidential Candidates for the November 17th elections.
In the Pre-Election Report, they are also closely monitoring the NDA matter, which is presently in the High Court, stating that “while the details of the case are nuanced and complex, the Center regrets the parties’ inability to resolve their dispute internally and the slow pace of the adjudication process that has effectively prevented the NDA from participating in the Presidential elections.”
The Center also observes that they have discovered that several Paramount Chiefs were openly campaigning for political parties and candidates, particularly in Koinadugu, Tonkolili and Kono districts. Though there are laws barring the Chiefs from identifying with a political party, they [Chiefs] the report stated, that their [Chiefs] “their overt participation in certain campaign events has raised concerns about their roles as traditional leaders and their influence on constituents looking to vote on November 17th.”
The Carter Center also in its pre-election report, further revealed that there are also instances of the illegal use of state-owned property for electoral purposes, including in the Western Area and noted early campaigning from APC and SLPP in Makeni and Bo respectively.
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The Center also noted with concern, the low turn-out of women Members of Parliament and Local Councils, which is only 11 percent and that the “MP candidates in 2012, remains worrisomely low and unchanged, compared to the 2007 election parliamentary elections.”
The Center calls on all “Political Parties to redouble their efforts to promote women candidacy and leadership roles, within their ranks and encourages the All Political Parties Women Association, the Campaign for Good Governance and other civil society organizations to pursue their advocacy work on behalf of aspiring women candidates and office holders.”
However, the Center commends NEC for the conduct of a successful nomination process and they observed that the whole process was transparent and straight forward but at the same time, they said some party activists and other aspiring for different positions especially women reported cases of violence in certain areas.
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