“Although Sierra Leone has made progress in holding generally peaceful and credible elections, there have been isolated incidents of violence during this election period, including clashes between supporters of different political parties on one hand and between opposition supporters and the police on the other, and instances of property destruction such as arson,” the Executive Director of Fambul Tok Mr. Caulker said on the role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the just concluded elections, which he insists, would have enable them sell their manifestos to the people.
He said the organization was formed in 2007 as a civil society organization that promotes peace, restorative justice and community building in post-civil war country.
As a peace building organization, he said Fambul Tok is focused on promoting nonviolence and voter education through their community structures. They also advocate for a culture of political tolerance and facilitate stakeholders’ meetings to promote peace and national cohesion and avoid malice and violence despite political differences.
“Ahead of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections the Political Parties Regulation Commission imposed a ban on all street rallies organized by political parties. Many viewed this as an infringement of their rights to peaceful assembly,” Mr. Caulker said.
He noted that despite that ban, political parties were able to gather peacefully in public spaces to sell their manifestos.
He emphasized that the country has made significant steps to improve its electoral processes and ensure a transparent, democratic and inclusive political system.
He said civil society have played a crucial role to ensure free and fair elections by promoting voter education, monitoring the electoral process and advocating for electoral reforms.
He maintained that government and civil society have made considerable investments to ensure that citizens are well-informed about their rights, the electoral process and the importance of participating in elections, thereby creating a more knowledgeable and engaged electorate. He said CSOs were vigilant and expressed concern over increasing ethnic-based campaigns; hate speech and unrest, which he noted, were early warning signs of conflict and election-related violence.