Politics

Sierra Leone’s main opposition party rejects presidential election results

Published

1 year ago

July 1, 2023

Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) has rejected the announced result of the just concluded presidential election.

The APC cited “glaring irregularities” in the election which gave the candidate of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), President Julius Maada Bio, a second term ticket, and called for a rerun of the June 24 election.

The APC in a statement said it rejected the outcome “given the glaring irregularities and violations of established electoral procedures.”

“We can no longer tolerate injustice, tyranny and usurpation of power in Sierra Leone. This is what dictatorship looks like,” it said.

President Bio was re-elected with 56% of the vote, narrowly avoiding a run-off which could have been if none of the candidates secured 55% of the votes cast. But APC candidate, Samura Kamara has questioned the official result.

Also, in a joint statement on Wednesday, the EU, the US, the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France expressed their worries about the lack of transparency in the tabulation process, as well as the fact that voting was significantly hindered in some areas due to substantial logistical issues.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information, Mohamed Rahman Swaray has dismissed the opposition party’s position.

“A rerun after an official declaration of results and a swearing-in ceremony is unconstitutional.

“It can only happen through a Supreme Court decision. Otherwise no political party can arrogate themselves that right or power. It’s wishful thinking,” Swaray told journalists.

“A president who has led his people so well that they just renewed his mandate through democratic means cannot be subjected to sanctions.

“That’s entirely their discretion. We want a truly multiparty parliament but it is their choice to make. I hope they’ll reconsider that decision,” Swaray added

Prior to the elections, an NGO poll that is a collaborator with the pan-African pollster, Afrobarometer predicted that Bio would win with 56% of the vote while Kamara would get 43%. The poll also predicted that the SLPP would take between 56 and 61 percent of the seats in parliament, with the APC taking the remaining seats.

It is common to have election results contested in many African nations. Elections in Kenya, Nigeria, and Togo that resulted in new governments last year were surrounded by claims of fraud and irregularities.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

23 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.