The Leader and Presidential Candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, has in a nationwide address reiterated that, “the APC and its supporters will not accept any election results tainted by rigging or manipulation”.
He added that, “should there be any evidence of electoral malpractices or attempts to subvert the integrity of the electoral process, we will utilize all available legal and peaceful means to challenge such actions and ensure that the true voice of the Sierra Leonean people is heard”.
The APC presidential candidate was addressing a press conference on Wednesday at the New Brookfields Hotel, Kingharman Road, in Freetown where he made some demands.
Dr Samura Kamara demanded that “the ECSL [Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone] guarantees that the counting of ballots, tallying and certification of results will take place, initially, at the polling centre/station level as required by Law”; that “the tallying of votes must be conducted transparently through MANUAL and not ELECTRONIC processes in the presence of party agents and the local and international observers”, and that “the ECSL should immediately release the disaggregated and comprehensive final voter register detailing the centre names, codes, districts, voter names, ages, addresses, citizenships identifiable photos and fingerprints/signatures”.
Despite those demands, Dr Samura Kamara stated that the APC was “steadfast in [its] commitment to upholding the principles of national unity, democracy, transparency, and the will of the people”.
He called upon the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and all other stakeholders to demonstrate the same unwavering commitment to consistently choose peace over provocations and oppression. He further called on “President Bio and all other political stakeholders to strictly adhere to the recently signed Peace Declaration for ensuring free, fair and non-violent Presidential and General elections on June 24, 2023”.
The APC Leader and Presidential Candidate noted that “state capture of the ECSL makes it worrying that this institution no longer has the free will to conduct the elections in a free, fair transparent manner”. He added further that, “the government has ensured that all of the [ECSL] Commissioners are sympathetic to the ruling party and they themselves have confirmed this suspicion by their actions and statements”.
He stated further that in the last five years, the SLPP had been deliberate about “our democratic reversal and the signs are now very clear that they seem all set to kill and bury our hard-won democracy under the guise of discipline and the rule of law”.
Dr Samura Kamara averred that the “SLPP will want to use the state security to intimidate the people but the people will show their power through the ballot box and will ensure that their votes are counted”, adding further that: “we cannot and must not allow the SLPP to steal the elections and subject us to another five years of hardship, torment, oppression and divisiveness”.
He made it clear that “based on engagements and polls conducted by the APC, it is extremely clear that President [Julius Maada Bio] and his PAOPA government are hugely unpopular and the voters have very little confidence in their ability to fix the most pressing problems facing the country right now, including a divided nation, a collapsed economy, and a cost of living crisis”.