ierra Leone held on Sept. 8 the second round presidential elections. In the first round on Aug. 11, opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma obtained 44% of the votes and outgoing vice president Solomon Berewa came second with 38%. Neither candidates obtained the necessary absolute majority to win in the first round and in this second round, a simple majority will be sufficient for a victory. Koroma's All People’s Congress Party, won 59 of the 112 seats in Parliament against the 43 seats obtained by the Sierra Leone People's Party led by Berewa.
Outgoing president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, having completed two mandates cannot run in the elections because a third presidential mandate is not foreseen by the Constitution. These elections are the second since civil war ended in 2002. In that year elections were held under the supervision of the UN peacekeeping force, which left the country in 2005.
Xaverian Missionary Fr. Gerardo Caglioni, for many years a missionary in the country, comments on the situation in Sierra Leone. “Since the end of the civil war in 2002 undoubtedly there has been progress and improvements. But with these elections the country says it is tired of empty promises and the usual familiar personages and is asking, as in the previous elections, a change of administration. “
“Elections are means through which civilized nations choose those who should govern and direct the future of their countries. Elections are the testing ground on which to see how much we have cultivated a culture of peace, non-violence and respect for the rule of law. Elections are not meant to foment violence, intimidation, hate and lawlessness”.
Statement of the Bishops Conference of Sierra Leone before the presidential runoff
“The party in power has favored only the more developed south east, and now it is totally rejected by the rest of the country: the north and a greater part of the people living in the peninsula of Freetown. The people in these areas reject the Sierra Leone People’s Party’s, but it faces the choice of returning to the past and bringing back into power the All People’s Congress Party, the party in power in the 1990s before the civil war. However in order to form an executive this party will probably have to make alliances.”
”Sierra Leone's future – Fr. Caglioni continues - will depend on the alliances the two leading candidates make with those who failed to obtain enough votes to stay in the race, and there is a risk, according to local observers, that the president may belong to one party and the parliament to another.”
Bishop Biguzzi reflects on the present situation: “These days are momentous days for Sierra Leone. On August 7 the ruling party suffered a heavy defeat. For the presidency no candidate received the required majority. It looks like the opposition will win also this time.”
“There have been some instance of violence connected with the election campaign, but the security forces have put everything under control. We are quite safe and I believe there will be another peaceful election. The memories of the war in Sierra Leone are still too fresh. No one wants to return to a state of confusion and brutality. As a church we have been heavily involved in voter education and in training people to exercise responsible citizenship. The UN representatives have commended us for our work in peace building and peaceful coexistence” concludes Bishop George Biguzzi, of Makeni.
Fr. Caglioni writes: “One thing is certain, despite their traditional patience, the people of Sierra Leone are tired of promises: work for young people, quality education (books, libraries, grants, teachers and especially guaranteed salaries for teachers), infrastructures in the field of the communications (roads, telephones, Internet, radio and television...), electricity (this is the only country in the world which has no electricity. But the issue most at heart and which was also central in the electoral campaign is the eradication of corruption present at every level in the administration, which still feels the effects of the tribal system. The democratic and tribal (monarchical) systems cannot exist together!
The people are wondering what happens to the countries riches, diamonds, bauxite and other minerals of which Sierra Leone is rich, with the sectors of fishing, timber and other products. Who reaps the benefits? Why are the people either too rich or too poor? It would seem that nothing was learned from the civil war which lasted eleven years and that things continue in the same manner if not worse,” concludes Fr.
Caglioni.
(From Xaverian News - Fides Service)