MR. Ernest Koroma , Are you listening?

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier  this month  launched a report titled Deepening Democracy: A Strategy for Improving the Integrity of Elections Worldwide  This must-read report takes a global view at the electoral process and how situations, most of them ugly, are created when democratic principles are thrown into the furnace as the desperate try to seize power or hold on to power using what can only be described as a lip service to democracy and the integrity of elections. It also highlights the benefits of conducting free, fair and participatory elections by an independent electoral body free from the corrupt influences of the Executive, Legislative and indeed the Judiciary. Indeed as he points out in the "Forward" of the report -

"In country after country, people have risked their lives to call for free elections, democratic accountability, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Elections are the indispensable root of democracy. They are now almost universal. Since 2000, all but 11 countries have held national elections. But to be credible, we need to see high standards before, during and after votes are cast. Opposition organizations must be free to organize and campaign without fear. There must be a level playing field among candidates. On polling day, voters must feel safe and trust the secrecy and integrity of the ballot. And when the votes have been counted the result must be accepted no matter how disappointed the defeated candidates feel."

This report should be carefully read by all political parties, all civil society groups, all stake holders in Sierra Leone's democracy with a view to taking the right decisions, making the right and legal moves that would ensure that no Sierra Leonean is deprived of his/her right of freedom of political expression, participation and ownership. Long gone should be those times when nominations days were declarations of war against the opposition and equally, we hope would be long gone the days when election petitions are never decided by the courts no matter how many petitions were brought by losing candidates who were of the considered opinion that illegal methods were used to deprive them and their supporters of a free vote. The integrity of elections hinges on the strict observance of the rule of law—the capacity and norms that ensure that governments are accountable by law, that citizens are equal under the law, that lawmaking and enforcing are not arbitrary, and that laws respect human rights. When applied to elections, this means that action must be taken against incumbents or entrenched political interests seeking to manipulate the electoral process. Strong independent courts are needed to protect the rights of all voters, political parties and candidates, to enforce free and fair electoral procedures, and to prosecute violations of the electoral process. For elections to have integrity, electoral justice must be done, and citizens must see that it is done.
Independent and effective courts must therefore be set up to deal with such petitions swiftly and such decisions should not be weighted in favour of the ruling party. Indeed as noted in Kofi Anan’s new report