Sierra Leone Telegraph: 5 June 2022:
Despite serious concerns expressed by opposition political Parties and some civil society groups about the credibility of the provisional results of the 2021 population census published last Thursday by Statistics Sierra Leone, the ruling SLPP is calling on the government “to dismiss all condemnations of the census result and uphold the provisions of the 1991 Constitution.”
Secretary General of the SLPP – Umaru Napoleon Koroma (Photo above) is also calling on the Electoral Commission “to proceed with the delimitation of constituency boundaries pursuant to the powers confer on it by the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act No.6 of 1991).”
Writing in a press statement three days ago, this is what Umaru Napoleon Koroma said: “The public would recall that on April 2, 2016, the SLPP issued a public notice in which it catalogued a number of anomalies in the then released 2015 census results.
“Amongst the concerns raised in that notice were the credibility of the data and the entire conduct of the 2015 census. The SLPP has always been desirous of credible data that would help government make informed decisions on development planning and resource distribution.
“Given that background, the SLPP has keenly analysed the just released Midterm Population and Housing Census and is pleased with the outcome, especially when it was unique in that it is the first digital census ever conducted in Sierra Leone.
“The SLPP would therefore like to thank the Government of Sierra Leone and all its partners through Statistics Sierra Leone for the successful outcome of the exercise.
“In particular, the SLPP would like to thank the Government and the people of Kenya for supporting Sierra Leone to undertake the first digital census. This underpins His Excellency, President Bio’s determination to promote e-governance.
“Consequently, the SLPP now calls on the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone to proceed with the delimitation of constituency boundaries pursuant to the powers confer on it by the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act No.6 of 1991).
“The SLPP also calls on the Government of Sierra Leone to dismiss all condemnations of the census result and uphold the provisions of the 1991 Constitution.
“The SLPP is willing to work with all stakeholders to make the next elections preparation smooth and seamless.”
Congratulation S/L. The only country without a war, yet we are stuck with war stricken countries at the bottom of the human development index. A.P.C, S.L.P.P, are beyond evil or depraved. There is something seriously wrong with our socio-cultural environment.
Our people suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. I rest my case.
“Well, you see”? Has the APC and CORP heard what the Secretary-General of the SLPP has said? Is our constitution mad? When the opposition APC comes, they talk about article “this” of the 1991 constitution, and when the ruling party SLPP comes, they talk about the article “that” of the 1991 constitution. This is why it’s challenging to pinpoint who is to blame. Our country’s lawyers and legal champions don’t come out and explain anything to us. That bothers me. Most of us don’t have a clue when it comes to digesting such matters or have the time to read the constitution. They should guide and put the records straight when such problems arise. They are more divided than the citizens. Bottom line, it’s all “tit for tat”.
My take from the SLPP’s Secretary General’s statement is that the SLPP is not ready to discuss the census results with parliament because he is addressing NEC directly. What will the opposition do if the SLPP government adopts the results of the midterm census? That’s why I have said it ever since that we should vote for leaders and not party this time around. Who is to blame for this mess taking place in our politics? The Constitution, The APC or the SLPP? Voter registration is the only way out now if the census results are adopted—controversial and confusing. God bless Sierra Leone and our constitution.
Hopefully, action will be immediately implemented to make it a level playing field. The link below is a justification for this call from the SLPP Secretary General:
https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/legal-proposals-aimed-at-changing-the-electoral-boundaries-in-sierra-leone-laid-before-parliament/
Alusine Fallay, thank you for sharing. We all know what the race between your two (parties) is all about? A race to outdo each other and drag us further and further down the bottom of human development indices. Just seven more steps until your party, the APC or another bloody conflict clinch us the title of the least developed country in the world.
This statement by Mr Umaru Napoleon Koroma the secretary general of the ruling SLPP in supports of the provisional results of the census , by our so-called respected statistican and their method used to capture the digital data on the demographic changes of the population of Sierra Leone is full of partisan antidote that offer little solutios to our country’s problem . How do you sort out the cost of living crisis affecting families up and down the country ?That should be our main topic of discussion .Not whether Kenema has more people than Konaidugu.On this issue trying to separate the SLPP party from the ruling SLPP party, is not only trying to compromised the truth but is murdering the truth in front of our own eyes.And we as citizen can do nothing to rescue the truth from the new barbarians ruining our country .
Notwithstanding the figures that have so far been released are skewed in support of the ruling one directionless Poapa government, is not only a slap in the face to all the opposition parties and stakeholders that raised their objections to the results , but the suggestion Mr Umaru Napoleon Koroma is saying is either their way or the highway. Well that’s the definition of POAPA .Take it or lump it mentality .And the door to any compromise, is now slam shut ,with the electoral commissioner Mohamed K.Konneh who is responsible for implementing this policies of boundaries changes , is now inescapably part of this charade manning the gates .Taking a leaf from Kenya and saying how the government of Kenya have supported the Bio government in carrying out this digital data collection farce is not only insulting to the intelligence of right thinking Sierra Leoneans but out of kilter.The silence of our western donor partners speak to the fallacy of it all. Kenya a country that in the early 2000s saw the deaths of more than one thousands of their fellow citizens following one of their Presidential elections in which their present leader Mr Kenyatta and his Vice President William Ruto where indicted by the International war crimes tribunal in the Hague for instigating ethinic fuel violence ,during that ekection , only later for the charges against them both were dropped , either because the witness didn’t come forward and the court couldn’t proceed with the charges because of lack of enough evidence .
I hope Mr Umaru Napoleon Koroma is aware of the history of ethnic elections violence in Kenya, before he comes out with such hogwash information and try and sove it down our throats..We Sierra leoneans should take no lectures from Kenya about how we exercise our democratic rights .We don’t need boundary changes in our country.We need a leadership that are allergic to corruption and Patriots that can deliver their promises to our people .Not gimmick projects that leads us to the road to nowhere .May God bless Sierra Leone.