As the historic West African nation of Sierra Leone prepares for one of its most controversial electoral contests ever events preceding the scheduled run-off of its latest Presidential election suggest that the exercise might be bedeviled by unprecedented crises and controversies. 

For example on Wednesday, barely six days to the second round of the contest, the National Elections Commission (NEC} released a public statement in which it raised alarm over acts of intimidation that it alleged were being perpetrated against it by the security agencies, especially some units of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP). Knowledgeable observers say that a protest of this scale against the government’s own agencies by the NEC has never been recorded in Sierra Leone before. 

They attribute this situation to reaction by the ruling party to the outcome of the first leg of the election which saw the main opposition candidate the Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s (SLPP)  retired Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio emerge as front runner over the ruling All Peoples Congress’ (APC) candidate Samura Kamara.  

Typical of the allegations tendered by the NEC is the following paragraph; “In recent days however, the SLP has unwarrantedly entered NEC premises unannounced and at random, interrogated NEC staff, and obstructed them from performing their duties, In addition to delaying the time-sensitive work that is critical to the conduct of the presidential run-off election, the unsystematic and confrontational nature of these visits has served to intimidate some staff.” Coming at a time when the sensitive issues of regional sentiments and party loyalty are being marshaled for what is expected to be a close race between the contestants, the suggestion that the ruling party’s underdog status is probably being covertly supplanted by the use of official power is very provocative. 

In the recent past the consequence of political violence in Sierra Leone generated a total breakdown of law and order and led to the complete collapse of the state. The potential for a return to this distressing state of disorder is one eventuality that must occupy the minds of all observers of the present state of affairs in the country.  It was therefore not surprising that the new President of the ECOWAS Commission Jean Claude Kassi BROU led a delegation of officials to Freetown immediately after the statement was issued to discuss modalities for ensuring that the exercise would be carried out without disruption and on schedule.

Apart from the anxieties expressed by the managers of the NEC other events and signals arising in the run-up to the run-off should serve as a warning for all those who wish to ensure that the election does not descend into a destructive and inconclusive confrontation among unprincipled adversaries and supporters of dysfunctional conduct. An injunction that has been raised by a supporter of the ruling APC is actually seeking to have the courts halt the second round on the grounds that the NEC cannot be trusted to conduct a free and fair election. 

It is hardly to be doubted that if the ruling party’s candidate had been the front-runner this order would not have been sought by the plaintiff. Some analysts have suggested that this strategy is part of a concerted effort being mounted by supporters of the ruling party to provoke retaliation and protests on the part of the supporters of the SLPP. 

They say that given the widespread allegations of partisanship on the part of the security agencies they can then be used to intimidate and even disenfranchise those who protest any interference with their right of free association and assembly. Any such tactic will be bound to undermine the peaceful conduct of the run-off and so should be guarded against by the regional monitors, while the judiciary must be wary of being used to create instability. 

The danger signals that have emerged since the announcement of Julius Maada Bio as the front-runner in the first round of the elections include a sudden upsurge in vocal expressions of regional bias being uttered by some supporters of the ruling party’s candidate from the Northern Provinces. 

For example, they have suddenly revived some old and unproven allegations against Maada Bio of anti-Northern bias when he served as former military Head of State. Maada Bio has made noticeable inroads in some sections of the country that had been considered impregnable APC strongholds and this has apparently unsettled the party hierarchy and emboldened some of the political stalwarts who had expected incumbency to serve as a key asset to enable their victory in the first round. 

The outcome has clearly rattled their presumptions and led to them becoming almost desperate in their reaction to the results that have been announced.  The NEC has placed the nation on notice that it is hopeful of being allowed to conduct a contest that will be impeccable for its fairness and this open declaration of neutrality has apparently provoked anger rather than support from those who claim that they were instrumental in appointing the members of the Commission. As a result, the mood in Sierra Leone as the historic second round contest approaches is one of anxiety and apprehension and all of West Africa is watching that nation with bated breath.