Kenema — Angry political parties' supporters yesterday chased eastern region National Electoral Commission (NEC) commissioner out of Holy Trinity Hall in Kenema as he completed reading election results for three wards in the district For the delay in the announcement of local council elections results, these irate supporters accused Sylvanus Torto of what they described as negligence of duty.

Amidst police protection, they screamed at Torto even as they attacked his motorcade.

"We will not encourage Kailahun court barray results any more. The results should be read as quickly as possible," one of them shouted.

But Torto tried to defend the commission saying they had to ensure accuracy and transparency that would speed up the announcement of the results. He said out of 5, 901 stations, the tally center has only received results for 1,780 and just 345,318 total votes -39.3% current average national turnout- have been inputted into the system.

"Whilst the number of ward results so far seems low, I would like to inform you that ward results are only announced when all the stations for a particular ward have been entered. Therefore I want to emphasize that results for all wards are being processed and considerable progress is being made," he said.

Speaking later at a press conference in Kenema, Administrative Officer of Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), Alice Marcarthy said it was unfair for commissioner Torto to have assembled people for more than an hour only to announce results of three wards.

She expressed disappointment at the slow pace at which official results of the local council elections are being announced and called on NEC to fast track the process before it creates more tension and mixed feelings among the people.

Alfred Roberts of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) said they expected Torto to have announced detailed results for both city and district councils.

"If NEC continues to pronounce just three results everyday, the process would take a long time. We are pleading for an improvement on the process," he appealed.

Former deputy minister of education, Martin Banya, said it was wrong for NEC to tally results in Freetown while it is being read in the regional.