By Foday Moriba Conteh
In an effort to promote peaceful elections, which was slated to take place on 24th June, 2023, the Africa Young Voices (AYV) Media Empire in partnership with the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) has on Thursday 22nd June, 2023 hosted the Grand Finale of the Cypher Uncensored Rap Music Contest Special Edition and AYV Hit the Street Dance Contest as part of their Non-Violence Campaign in which young rappers nationwide participated to promote peace and foster talent development. The grand finale was held at the Sports Zone on Lumley Beach Road in Freetown and was witnessed by many Sierra Leoneans, who from their facial expressions, were thrilled by the masterpiece rap and dance contest during which contestants expressed extraordinary talents.
While the competition was becoming hot, the Chief Executive Officer of the AYV, Amb. Anthony Navo Jr. and the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh took the microphone in turn and lyrically preached peace, free, fair and non-violent messages in the form of rap music.
Thrilling the mammoth crowd of happily cheering spectators who witnessed the friendly rap battle between the two new rappers in town, Amb. Navo Jr focused his rap message on “Saful Elections”, where he encouraged Sierra Leoneans to “go out Saful, vote Saful, go home Saful, rest Saful and wait for the result from EC-SL Saful…” among other lyrics geared towards preaching and promoting peaceful elections.
Like Amb. Navo, his co-rapper, Minister Dr. Sengeh also preached peace through his rap lyrics and encouraged all to go out and vote peaceful and return home peacefully.
Prior to the Grand Finale, the Cypher and EC-SL team have been to different districts preaching peace before the elections.
These past months, the show has had qualifiers from various districts across Sierra Leone.
For the Cypher category 50 million old Leones (50 thousand new Leones) was divided between the three winners of the Cypher competition of which the winner received the sum of 30,000 New Leones plus sponsorship and brand Ambassador deals, the 1st runner up received 15,000 New Leones and the 2nd Runner up received the sum of 5,000 New Leones.
In the Cypher, 8 rappers contested in the grand finale which includes Tello, Hugo Boss, Nazawise, RTM, OG Too Sweet, CG Mayboy, Breenard and Idea.
After the rap battle between these contestants Lamin Conteh stage name Tello bagged the first position and was awarded 30,000 New Leones, Joshua K. Bockarie, stage name OG 2 Sweet, bagged the second position and was awarded 15,000 New Leones and Ishamail B. Kamara with stage name CG MayBoy bagged the third position and was awarded 5,000 New Leones.
For the Hit the Street competition 30,000 New Leones was divided between the winners of which Lumley Best Dancers took the first position, RDC Dancers took the second position and B2K dancers took the third position.
The programme was aimed at promoting inclusivity in the electoral processes by promoting citizens’ engagement, enhancing information sharing and information integrity by working with a range of stakeholders, including young people through rap music.
In a nutshell, AYV and EC-SL joined forces to support efforts to mitigate electoral violence including violence against young people and contribute to the promotion of a peaceful environment in Sierra Leone before, during and after the 2023 elections.
In a statement delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of the AYV, Amb Anthony Navo Jr he stated how it was a fantastic event with some powerful lyrics. He extended thanks to the Electoral Commission (EC-SL) for the partnership with AYV in organizing the programme, which he said was an effort to promote peaceful elections on 24th June, 2023
Amb Anthony Navo Jr furthered that it was also a great pleasure to have his brother – the youth-friendly Education Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh – as they both took part in a friendly rap battle, with lyrics of peace, free, fair and non-violent messages adding how the AYV Cypher and EC-SL team have visited different districts across the country promoting peace and national cohesion.
He ended up congratulating the winner who took home 50 million old Leones and a brand Ambassador deal and called on all to continue to engage and empower young people.
