By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law Sierra Leone (CARL-SL), supported by the Open Society Foundation (OSF), concluded an engagement meeting on Wednesday, 10th July 2024, with the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Human Rights. The meeting, held at the Speaker’s Conference Room in Parliament, focused on human rights, electoral justice and security sector accountability concerning the 2023 General Elections in Sierra Leone.
During the engagement, Francis Langumba Keili, Chief of Staff at the Office of National Security (ONS), did a presentation on security sector accountability and electoral justice, while Jeremy Simbo, Head of Programs at CARL, addressed incidents of alleged election-related violence during the 2023 general elections.
In his address, the Chairman, Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Abdul Karim Koroma welcomed the presentations and encouraged the team to take members through and see how best, as a Committee they will be able to absorb the materials presented and to address possible threat to national security and make corrections or amends.
He expressed worries about peace because without peace, he said no nation can stand by itself and hope that the deliberations would match the challenging times.
In his presentation, the Chief of Staff at the Office of National Security (ONS)Francis Langumba Keili said that since its independence, Sierra Leone is said to have repeatedly experienced election-related violence in every electoral cycle and the 2023 general elections landscape was replete with political tension.
He added that some of the major impediments that were fraught with the 2023 general elections, revolved around, but not limited to heightened political tensions and violence.
The peaceful conduct of elections, he said is a catalyst to creating the enable environment to strengthen governance stability and institutions to respond to the needs of citizens, enhance the social contract as well as consolidate the dividends of democratic governance in Sierra Leone.
He concluded by emphasizing that the aim of the presentation is to highlight the critical challenges that are inherent in security sector accountability and electoral justice with some plausible recommendations for deliberation.
On his part, Jeremy Simbo, Head of Programs at CARL said with support from the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and through their monitors in various districts, incidences of alleged election cases were reported before and during the 2023 general elections.
He said for the purpose of the engagement he is presenting a random sample of the incidences of alleged election cases reported and they were captured in keys areas like Mile 91, Moriba Town/Rutile, Koinadugu, Pujehun etc.
According to him, those cases were reported to the Police and up till date there has been no outcome received from the Police Investigation.
Following the presentations, a question-and-answer session Committee members asked pertinent questions and made comments. The Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Human Rights commended CARL-SL for the engagement and for highlighting the reported election cases. They assured that the matters highlighted would be followed up on.
