Concord Times (Freetown)
Ibrahim Tarawallie
3 January 2008
Freetown — National Electoral Commission has declared July 5, 2008 as the date set aside for the conduct of the local government elections.
The commission successfully conducted the presidential and parliamentary elections some three months ago.
Making a statement on behalf of the NEC's chairperson, Commissioner Northern Province, Alhaji Algassimu Jarr told journalists that the commission has the sole authority as mandated by the constitution to prepare and conduct all public elections and referenda.
He said the commission would conduct elections for five City Councils in Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Koidu-New Sembehun and Makeni, one Municipal Council in Bonthe Township and thirteen District Councils.
NEC's Director of Operations, N'far Conteh said the local government election is ward based adding that the commission is conducting the election under the Local Government Act and the Electoral Laws Act of the constitution of Sierra Leone.
He said the commission would also conduct by-elections in March 2008 for vacant parliamentary positions.
"We will not succeed in the conduct of any public elections if the security atmosphere in the country is not conducive," he observed.
When contacted, Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party, Jacob Jusu Saffa said they were not informed as a party.
"The commission did not officially inform us about the set date for the local government election. We have nothing to do as a party but to accept the date for the election," he said.
PMDC's Publicity Secretary, Mohamed Bangura said they are happy with the date set by NEC for the local government election, adding: "As a party we are well prepared for the upcoming election." He expressed hope that NEC will continue to maintain its neutrality as they have done in the past presidential and parliamentary elections.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Concord Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
