The Sierra Leone Action Network on Small Arms (SLANSA) and its various partners of over 80 international and local election observers have described the August 11 elections as credible.
These observers which include West Africa Network on Peace building (WANEPA), the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA) and the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) were deployed all across the country with a strong message of “ballots not bullets.”
The independent national and international observers are said to have been encouraged by the well informed manner in which the polling process was conducted in all the polling stations.
They are commending the National Electoral Commission (NEC) for their diligence and commitment.
Mrs Florella Hazeley, the director of SLANSA on behalf of all the observers stated that, “the process was transparent, polling staff were patient and respectful towards the electorate”
She said party agents were also tolerant towards each other and that the police was professional and occasionally stepped in to maintain order.
The SLANSA director also congratulated the people of Sierra Leone for their steadfastness in ensuring peace during the process and encouraged them to continue to maintain the peace and respect the final results of the elections.
The media were also congratulated for the responsible manner they reported on the elections.
Concerns were also expressed about the large numbers of void votes.
Mrs Hazeley urged that NEC, civil Society, especially women should resolve to educate the voting populace on how to vote so that the number of spoilt votes would be reduced. The observers were funded by IBIS West Africa.
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