In another letter written by Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah Esq., the erudite lawyer has requested that the ECSL provide details of certified results that formed the results he announced as Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Councils, questioning whether the said ECSL has certified copies of the various RRF forms signed by the respective agents on polling day after counting in all 11,712 polling stations across the country.
By asking these questions, it is suggestive that the said data provided by the ECSL did not meet the required data that the Lawyer asked for, and there are insinuations that they light have been cooked, especially as it took a long time for the ECSL to respond to the request and that of all international and local observers, including the main opposition.
Many are asking why has the ECSL deliberately refused to publish the said data since the announcement of the results, plunging the country into unnecessary tension and speculations of big time rigging. The current release of the said result by the ECSL has been seen as lacking in integrity, and may not represent the true figures of the results by polling stations, as demanded by all parties.
See letter below:
Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah Esq.
LLB. (Hons); LLM (HRDA—Pretoria); BL.
2nd floor, 35 Jones Street, Freetown.
Tel: 076497991 Email: bigsoe@gmail.com
5th September 2023
The Executive Secretary
Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone
OAU Drive, Tower Hill Freetown.
Dear Sir,
RE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON POLLING STATION RESULTS IN RESPECT OF ECSL’S RESULTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL, LOCAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS HELD ON 24TH JUNE 2023
I received your letter of 30th August 2023 in response to my request for information on district level certified results of presidential, parliamentary, and local council elections held on 24th June 2023. First, I must commend the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (“ECSL” or “the Commission”) for the tremendous work of planning, organising, and conducting a relatively peaceful multi-tier elections on 24th June 2003. Second, let me state for the avoidance of doubt that my enquiry bordering on the results of the last elections published by the Commission is not intended to minimise its work or undermine its mandate but to promote sound electoral practices, enhance transparency in the Commission’s work and advance our democracy.
Your letter of 30th August 2023 on behalf of the Commission while it is a response to my request for information, unfortunately falls short of providing complete answers to my request for information regarding the how, where and when the district level certified and verified results were compiled. Further, as at the time I made the request on 31st July 2023 the compiled district level ‘signed results’ were not available on the Commission’s website and I observed that they were only uploaded on 29th August 2023, a day prior to your letter in response to mine.
Consequently, your Commission’s letter has prompted additional request for information. I therefore request pursuant to section 2(1) of the Right to Access Information Act 2013, the following information, and related copies of documents:
- Whether the Commission has in its possession and custody Results and Reconciliation Forms for all 11,712 polling stations across all sixteen electoral districts which were the basis for its Presidential election results declared on 27th June 2023;
- Whether the Commission has in its possession and custody Results and Reconciliation Forms for all polling stations across the sixteen electoral districts which were the basis for the Parliamentary and Local Council elections results declared or published on 1st July 2023;
- Polling station data for all 11,712 elicited from certified and verified Results and Reconciliation Forms for each respective polling stations which inform the Commission’s published summary “certified results” for each of the sixteen districts in respect of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local elections posted on the Commission’s website on 23rd and 29th August 2023.
Kindly be reminded that in the statement of 24th June 2023 (Statement from the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Chairperson and National Returning Officer of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone on the Presidential Election Results held on 24th June, 2023), the National Returning Officer and Chief Electoral Commissioner had in fact expressed the Commission’s commitment to publish the requested data: “Details of the results at polling stations on the ECSL website https://ec.gov.sl/ ” (page 1, bullet No.3)
I hope that the Commission would comply with my foregoing request without the need in this instance for a recourse to the Right to Access Information Commission.
Yours faithfully,
Augustine S. Marrah Esq.
CC: The Commissioner, Right to Access Information Commission File
