Sierra Leone risks another disputed election without urgent reforms

Revising post-war Sierra Leone’s Constitution to strengthen democratic governance and guarantee sustainable peace and stability was a key recommendation of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2004.

More than 20 years later, the Constitution remains unchanged, impacting efforts to address governance gaps that contributed to the 2023 disputed presidential election and the political impasse and could threaten stability and national cohesion.

This has become evident in problems with implementing some of the 80 recommendations for electoral, institutional and legal reforms issued by the Tripartite Committee in June 2024, which require constitutional amendments. The committee was set up as part of the Agreement for National Unity that ended the impasse between the government and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC).

The constitutional review process was initially launched by the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in January 2007. It has been protracted due to differences in approach and governance priorities of successive administrations.

Anonymous sources told the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) that the delay was also due to disruptions caused by the Ebola epidemic and COVID-19, and a lack of political will to implement amendments proposed by successive review committees.

While the TRC’s recommendations for constitutional revision largely focused on strengthening the protection of human rights and decentralisation, the delay has led to missed opportunities to address gaps related to structures and processes governing elections.

Tripartite Recommendations 35 and 36 call for amending Sections 32 and 34 of the Constitution to require a formalised process in identifying and appointing members of the National Electoral Commission, Sierra Leone (ECSL).

This would involve establishing a search and nominating committee with representation from media and civil society to undertake the interviews and shortlisting of commissioners. Appointments would remain a presidential prerogative, even if limited to a shortlist submitted by this committee.

Such a process could engender trust and confidence among political actors who, the Tripartite Committee noted, lamented the lack of consultation. The APC and ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have always accused each other of appointing loyalists to the ECSL.

In the lead-up to the 2023 elections, the APC accused ECSL chairman and commissioners, all appointed by President Julius Bio, of working to rig the elections in favour of the SLPP and demanded their resignation.

Beyond the contentions around the composition of the ECSL is the controversial use of census data for electoral purposes. Both the SLPP and APC, when in opposition, have been suspicious of the census as a manoeuvre by their opponent to gain electoral advantage and justify disproportionate allocation of national funds and services to their strongholds.

Indeed, censuses have often shown faster population growth in pro-government areas and have been used to redraw electoral maps. It has impacted voter registration and determined the allocation of parliamentary seats to electoral areas.

The 2015 census showed that Sierra Leone’s population increased by 42.5 per cent to 7,092,113 in the previous 11 years, with several pro-APC areas registering significant growth rates. This drew criticism from the SLPP (then the opposition), which ‘wholeheartedly and unreservedly reject[ed] the results.’

This was partly because it alleged the APC government, through Statistics Sierra Leone, had recruited loyalists to serve as census officers. In November 2021, Mr Bio announced a mid-term census to ‘correct anomalies … [and] provide credible and reliable data.’ In response, the APC called on its supporters to boycott the process, alleging it was the SLPP’s strategy to rig the 2023 polls.

To address the suspicion, the Tripartite Committee recommended amendments to Sections 38(4) and 38(5) of the Constitution to permit the use of only data from decennial – not mid-term – census and require publication of the results no later than 24 months before a general election.

As these amendments have not yet been adopted and implemented, political actors remain suspicious of the census process. The government’s postponement of a planned mid-term census to December 2026 has led to APC accusations of attempts to delay possible electoral demarcation that may not favour the SLPP.

The delayed constitutional revision has also meant unresolved disagreements over whether to run parliamentary and local council elections under the constituency-based first-past-the-post system (FPTP) or district-based proportional representation (PR). Both systems are provided for in the 1991 Constitution and have been used in various elections since 1996, including in 2023.

The FPTP allows citizens to elect their representatives directly. While under the PR system, votes are cast for political parties – not candidates, and seats are allocated based on parties’ vote share in a given district.

Despite a recent national dialogue to discuss the most suitable electoral system, divisions have persisted. While the government favours the PR system, saying it reduces costs, prevents electoral violence and promotes national cohesion, the APC says it should be applied only in exceptional circumstances, like a national crisis, when constituency boundaries cannot be drawn.

It accuses the government of trying to use the system to redraw Sierra Leone’s electoral map and gain an advantage ahead of the 2028 elections.

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While Mr Bio stated in April 2024 that the constitutional review was in the concluding stage, and stakeholders interviewed by the ISS noted a referendum on proposed amendments to entrenched provisions could be organised in 2026, the process could be prolonged further. This is because the country must not only prepare for the 2028 elections, but political actors must also agree on which electoral system will be used.

Moreover, it is unclear when and whether the amendments to non-entrenched provisions proposed by the Tripartite Committee may be laid before Parliament for debate and approval.

As Sierra Leone prepares for a general election in under three years, completing its constitutional review process is crucial to building trust and confidence among political actors in the electoral process.

Further delay could lead to another electoral dispute that may degenerate and undermine the country’s stability and cohesion. The country’s partners, including the African Union, Economic Community of West African States, and Commonwealth of Nations, should prioritise constitutional reform in their pre-election engagements and provide support where necessary.

Sampson Kwarkye, Regional Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

(This article was published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish.)