Dixon’s Pen: ELECTIONS DATE: WHY NFA CONTEH SHOULD BE BLAME?

By Thomas Dixon

President Ernest Koroma has seemingly allay the fears of Sierra Leoneans by stating that the elections are going to be held according to the 1991 constitution and that people should stop making unnecessary tension.

The President was careful in his statement when he said that the elections will be held under the 1991 constitution but refused to be very clear on the year and the date for elections.

One may not want to agree with the President that the elections will be done under the 1991 constitution for the simple reason that there are sections in the 1991 constitution which talk about extension of term, more so when the state of emergency in the country is still in force.

On the same elections, we have seen leaked letters from the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Nfa Alie Conteh to the President Koroma, proposing several dates to the President for the 2018 elections but there has been no response from Koroma to the letters of the Chair of NEC.

The fact that Nfa Alie has been flip-flopping on dates in several letters means that he is not prepared to conduct the 2018 election because if he has written a letter to the President proposing February 3 2018, his second letter should just be a reminder and not to make another proposed date, contradicting his first letter.

Besides, Electoral Process in Sierra Leone is governed by legislations vis-à-vis the 1991 Constitution which is the supreme law of the land and the Public Elections Act of 2012.

People expect that, if for any reason, Nfa Alie should be very much knowledgeable of the Electoral Laws and if possible consult lawyers to make clear some of the issues in the law.

The reason for this is because Part V, section 43 subsection 2 says, “The vacancy to be filled by a presidential election shall be declared by the Electoral Commission by proclamation made after consultation with the President.”

But what amount to “CONSULTATION”? Does writing a letter to the President informing him on the date of elections amount to consultation?

According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, to consult means to ask for information or advice from someone, to discuss something with someone or to get their permission before you make decision, therefore, CONSULTATION could amount to discussion, sharing information and meeting.

So, the letter written to the President proposing a date could  amount to consultation and the Public Elections Act does not say the President should be consented before the pronouncement is made rather it says he should be consulted and informing him in a letter means that Nfa has consulted the President.

The responsibility to proclaim the date for elections for Presidency lies squarely on the shoulders of the Chair of NEC and the Electoral Commission and not the President.

Apart from announcing elections date, it is also the responsibility of NEC to register voters and this is where one may want to disagree with President Koroma when he talked about the Civil Registration for elections, simply because it is against the 1991 constitution and the Public Elections Act of 2012.

Nfa Alie and NEC have been hearing about the talk of the civil registration for elections which is against NEC’s own laws and the 1991 constitution, but up till now, they have not made any statement in that direction.

Nfa Alie was also part of the Commission when the last biometric registration of voters was done and huge amount of money was spent on the process on the pretext that there will only be an update of the electoral registrar and the Voters ID will last for five elections but Nfa’s NEC has been very silent about that.

The Chair of NEC should be prepared to announce the elections date so that everything will fall in its place whether or not there is a reply from the President to his proposal. He must ensure that he maintains the institutional integrity of NEC and his own personal probity.