Biometric voter registration (BVR) staff of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in Kenema district have, in a letter circulated to stakeholders, threatened to demonstrate against the commission for allegedly failing to pay them their contract fees after successfully rectifying registration errors at affected centers during the exhibition period.

The 45 NEC BVR staff claimed that since they completed the verification exercise in Kenema district, they are yet to receive their stipends despite several calls from the regional office and other stakeholders in the electioneering process.

They accused NEC of not treating their issue seriously and have therefore decided to barricade the main entrance to the commission's Kenema office "to prevent staff from doing any official job until the issue is given the seriousness it deserves".

According to the affected individuals, they were commended for doing a very good job during the registration exercise and were therefore considered a priority by the commission. "But this has turned out to be the contrary and a very unfortunate situation," they said.

"We are calling on the commission to immediately pay us before this issue gets out of hands," they pleaded.