By Africa 24 analysts

The fissures , scuffles, and puzzles on Sierra Leone post-elections has been  put behind in order to allow peace to reign and to enable the country to progress on many developmental strides.

The aftermath of June 24 general elections in Sierra Leone saw a dark cloud above Sierra Leoneans as government was put under serious sanctions owing to its ‘illegitimacy concerns’.

Both local and international CSOs, UK, USA, EU and key Western elections missions bodies, the Carter Centre, considred  SLPP’s government as incredible after it was believed the elections’ results officially announced by electoral commission as not corresponding to elections observers data.

The European Union and a local coalition of CSO called NEW destested the results declared by Chief electoral commissioner, Mohamed Konneh.

They said President Julius Maada Bio hadn’t the required percentage of figures to have made him president of Sierra Leone.

An EU latest report said Bio of the SLPP and Dr. Samura Kamara of the main opposition , APC, did not get 55 percent of the votes cast, which is the country’s winning base mark.

The allegations of electoral rigging caused All People’s Congress party to boycott parliamentary activities.

APC’s MPs had refused to attend parliament since June 30 when they signed up a party’s oath to avoid in participating in all government activities. Elected Councils, Chairpersons and Mayors also followed their party’s line of action.

But, the narrative has changed after a latest mediation peace accord  signed by SLPP and APC bigwigs.

The Peace Dialogue, as it is referred to by the government, has paved way for all elected Councillors, MPs, Chairpersons, Mayors to  get their full monthly payments and benefits.

The ‘mediated dialogue’ which is to produce ‘ an agreement for national unity’ stipulated resolutions which are ought to be respected by members of SLPP and APC.

It promises that ”APC will end its ”non-participation in governance”; an independent committee of  moral gurantors of electoral systems and management to be set up; it should comprise government representatives, APC representatives and development partners.

The outcome of the  mediation also calls for the release of any persons arrested and imprisoned or still in cells in relation to elections periods activities.

It calls for all court cases against APC which be dropped off for peace sake.

The Peace Resolution also calls for APC party supporters home and abroad to settle in peace in their country. These people should no more be threaten, attack or harassed by the police, army officers. The peace talks started since Monday 16, and ended on Wednesday 18, October, 2023.

It was chaired by African Union, the Commonwealth, ECOWAS at Bintumani Hotel, in Freetown. Her Excellency , former Gambian Vice President, Fatmata Jallow -Tambajang, was the mediation joint facilitator. Other key figures are: Justice Amraphael Msagha, Commonwealth Secretary-General’s envoy, and Patience Chiradza, representative of Africa Union.

President Bio’s government is getting recognition and credibility in the sub-region. But it is faced with global disaproval owing to its ”illegitimacy concerns” due to June’s 24 elections alleged rigging and the insistence refusal of electoral commission to make public the ‘aggregated results’ voted by districts.

The United States sanctions may be over anytime soon. The US government had never supported the move by the main opposition to boycott governance activities in parliament.

But the United States and European Union still maintain their earlier stance that President Bio had never won Sierra Leone’s June 24 presidential elections.

 

They still consider SLPP’s government as incredible. But, as a compromise has been struck between APC, the opposition and SLPP, the governing party, it is clear that Bio will be running the country as ‘illegimate president” and ‘legitimate Head of State’. What still  confuses people is that despite Bio is believed not to have won the elections, but he is indirectly being made the winner by the opposition seemingly being pushed on the wall to strike out a ‘compromise deal’.  To many people, President Maada Bio will see this as a  Done Deal.

To many others, the corporate governance seems to overweigh democratic stance by global power donor drivers.

The European Union, for example, has taken a soft approach by sitting with President Bio at State House on October 17, which was also the second day-dialogue  of AU, ECOWAS, the Commonwealth and ICDNC’s three-day mediation.

ICDNC is Sierra Leone’s Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion.

At the end of EU and President Bio mediation, EU’s short statement  on  October 17, 2023, stated:…” both the  governement of Sierra Leone and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the partnership between Sierra Leone and the European Union, including a shared pledge to continue to hold regular political dialogue on issues of common interest…”. EU was well repesented by ambassadors and key corporate stakeholders and it emphasised the need to seek the welfare of EU airflight, Brussels Airways and other firms operating in Sierra Leone. At the diagllogue were: EU Ambassador Manuel, Muller; Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sierra Leone, Jens Kraus-Masse, the Ambassador of Ireland to Sierra Leone,the Counsellor of the Embassy of Denmark Ms.Trine Lober, and the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Italy, Mr. Giovanni Fidele.