Members of the Civil Society Consortium on Community Accountability and Service Delivery have condemned some members of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party.

They criticized them for not speaking the truth about the work of the Tripartite Committee.

They also accused some diplomats of playing a double role between the two main political parties Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and All People’s Congress (APC) party in the work of the Committee.

Addressing a news conference over the weekend at the Sierra Palms Hotel, Lumley Beach, in Freetown, the National Coordinator, William Sao-Lamin said while the government representatives at the Committee were busy explaining the scope and mandate of the Committee, APC members were busy raising the hopes of their members that there was going to be a re-run of the June 2023 presidential election.

He stressed that the Committee was established to look at all the laws governing elections with the view to improving conducts on future elections.

He pointed out that only the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone has the power to nullify elections’ results but not the Tripartite Committee which has been lately established to review the June elections last year.

“The Committee does not have any mandate to recommend a re-run of the 2023 presidential elections or have removal powers to remove ECSL commissioners from their positions as it is believed by APC supporters,” he said.

The consortium expresses serious concerns over the decision of the APC party to suspend their participation on the Committee’s work few days to the end of its work.

He noted that some of these diplomats are saying different things to the two political parties and the general public , this bad  practice, he noted, has the tendency to undermine the country’s peace and stability.

He said Commissioners of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) held five hours meeting with members of the Committee where several issues were discussed.

“Any grievance regarding electoral outcomes should be followed by the due process including recourse to the Supreme Court as outlined in Section 45 (2) paragraph A, B, C,” he stressed.

Sao-Lamin emphasized that the work of the Committee does not involve re-run of the elections, adding that their mandate is to review the 2023, 2018, 2012 and 2007 elections and make recommendations that will improve and guide future elections.

He accused the APC delegation in the Committee of misleading their supporters that there was going to be a re-run of the June 2023 elections.

He said government, on the other hand, had done a lot to engage the people on the truth behind the setting up of the Committee.

He called on the people of Sierra Leone to remain calm and not to allow any politician to mislead them.

In his contribution, the Spokesman of the Consortium, Moses S. Mambu, said the work of the Committee is not to audit the elections’ results but to look at all the laws and make recommendations that will improve future elections.

He said the APC team in the Committee was not clear with their message to their supporters while the government side was clear to admit that there was not going to be a re-run of the elections. Mambu pleaded with the people to go about their normal business, adding that police have not granted clearance to anybody or group of people to demonstrate.

“Sierra Leone belongs to everybody and so it does not belong to one set of people only.”

For his part, David Koroma of the Civil Society Consortium of Public Accountability, blamed the government and APC for failing to educate the public about the work of the Committee. He said if they had done public education earlier it would have been a different situation now.

He said the Committee should be seen speaking with one voice and sending one message so that the people will know exactly what is happening.

David called on politicians not to add burden on the people as they are already going through a lot.