Dialogue on the Future of Africa!

May PEACE Prevail in Sierra Leone!
May PEACE Prevail on Earth!

The Sierra Leone Digest

In sponsoring the Sierra Leone Digest, the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone aims to meet the need for a journal of significant thought and opinion on social, political, economic, cultural and development issues in Sierra Leone.

The digest of difference views represent the opinions of the contributing authors and does not necessarily reflect the center's
viewpoint or position.

The sponsorship of the Sierra Leone Digest by the Center is in line with its journalistic program to research and propound issues of developmental value to the Government and people of Sierra Leone, and foster interdependence and international cooperation, protect human rights and promote Sierra Leonean cultural interest and creative achievement in the world.

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Interview with Dr. James Jonah
-- Chairman, Interim National Electoral Commission (INEC)

As the date scheduled by the NPRC regime to return Sierra Leone to democratic civilian rule drew closer, increased attention was being focused on INEC, the body on which so much depended to transform that objective to reality. Read what the head of INEC then, Dr. James Jonah, told the Sierra Leone Digest

The success of the transition program that the NPRC has set in motion depends to a very large extent on a competent and efficient electoral commission. As Chairman what steps has the Electoral Commission taken to ensure a smooth transition to civilian rule?

DR. JONAH: First, the commission is grateful to the NPRC for granting its total independence. Secondly, I think men and women of goodwill will admit that the NPRC has carefully selected commissioners with proven record of independence and integrity. It is also clear that the commissioners who have been selected are politically independent. These three factors are valuable assets of the commission. To reinforce these assets the commission has set about to restructure its secretariat. It places great emphasis on the professional competence and independence of its staff. We have also felt that it is necessary to ensure complete transparency in the work of the commission which means we will be prepared at all times to open our records to the public and we will be ready to answer questions at all times. These are the considerations which we hope will give some confidence to the people that will be able to monitor this transition to multi-party democracy.

Do you think we can still have an election in this country notwithstanding the fact that some parts of the South and East of the country are seriously threatened by this destructive and senseless rebel war, and when the electorate in these areas are still languishing in neighboring countries?

DR. JONAH: The way we have answered this question in the commission is to say that one of our mandate is to determine whether the conditions are right to ensure free and fair election. One of the conditions we are going to consider is the status of the country as a whole and not just part of the country. Also the status of displaced persons and refugees. If these factors are going to adversely affect free and fair elections we will not hesitate to say so.

What we don't subscribe to is the view that we should not have an election within the eighteen month period that we have. What are the problems that your commission is facing to hold a free and fair election?

DR. JONAH: It is too early to say whether the commission is facing insurmountable problems. There are problems of logistic and organization. But these are normal problems when we are setting up a new institution. For example, we have not yet completed arrangement for the permanent headquarters for the commission. Until we have a permanent working headquarters we cannot be one hundred percent efficient. Secondly, there are problems in terms of material and financial resources which we are trying to tackle with the help of the government and other donors. We also have a problem of building up a professional staff.

What is your reaction to the view of some people that the composition of the electoral commission is inadequate being that the political groups were never consulted?

DR. JONAH: In a functioning environment it is customary to have an electoral commission that is composed of the number of political tendencies. But in Sierra Leone, you have an abnormal situation which the critics should bear in mind. Sierra Leone has had over thirty years of what could be called a corrupt system. In all our political life, going back to the first coup d'etat in 1967, the functioning of the electoral commission was at the center of dispute. As a result the confidence of the people in the electoral commission has reached rock bottom. Another consideration that we should bear in mind is that under the present political regime there were no political parties. So what is normal cannot be applied in an abnormal situation. So what the NPRC has done is to go in search of independent commissioners with integrity that the people can have confidence in.

What would you say to allay the fears of people who believe that you and other members of the commission will be manipulated by the NPRC regime to perpetrate their stay in power?

DR. JONAH: I have not yet heard that criticism being levied against the commission. I think the evidence is overwhelming that it is a farfetched idea that the commission could be manipulated by anyone. It is my own belief that if it was the intention of the NPRC to manipulate the outcome of any free and fair election then they would not have selected the kind of commissioners they have selected.

What will you do if they try to manipulate you?

DR. JONAH: All the commissioners are united in that if there is any situation of interference, which we do not foresee at the present time from the NPRC or from any other quarter, we will try to stop it. If we fail to stop it, then we will resign.

Will you welcome a foreign observer team to monitor the election to ensure that they are free and fair?

Dr. JONAH: Yes. What we have been doing already is to see that any step we take in the commission is in conformity with accepted international standards. When we invited outside consultants, it is not for them to tell us how to proceed with the mechanism of how to conduct a free and fair election but how to ensure double sure that out procedural and methodology is in conformity with accepted international standards. For example in reviewing the electoral laws of the elections we are suggesting a revision of the Electoral Representation Act in Sierra Leone in the light of recent rich experience in the conduct of elections in Namibia, Cambodia and South Africa. The principles of the electoral Laws in these three elections have been fully endorsed by both the General Assembly and the Security Council and they represent at the present time the most advanced electoral principles of guaranteed free and fair election. Finally, it is the recommendation of the commission and endorsed by the NPRC that we should have the presence of international observers during the conduct of our election at the end our transition period.

Balancing the Budget or Unbalancing Human Lives: Structural Adjustment in Africa - An Analysis
An article on IMF and World Bank structural adjustment programs in Africa. It gives a theoretical and historical background to stuctural adjustment in Africa -- Joe A.D. Alie, Phd. Department of History, Fourah Bay College (USL) was commissioned by CADS Sierra Leone to write this article for the Sierra Leone Digest: Published, August 1994.

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