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Sierra Leone's March 31, 2018 Run-Off Election: WAEON Calls for Peaceful and Credible Polls

Posted on Mar-30 2018

Ahead of the second round of presidential election, the West Africa Election Observers Network (WAEON) calls on the two main candidates, Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC) and Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), and their respective supporters to avoid the use of inflammatory language in the conduct of their campaigns. WAEON further calls on the leadership of political parties to condemn any form of behavior with potential negative consequences for peaceful elections. WAEON notes of the generally peaceful conduct of the March 7, 2018 and commend the people of Sierra Leone for comporting themselves during the electioneering period. However, WAEON is concerned with reports of increasing cases of incitement of tribal sentiments and use of inflammatory language in the days leading to the run-off election. WAEON views these developments unfortunate as they have the potential to polarize the nation and undermine election peace. With the run-off election scheduled for March 31, 2018, following lifting of the injunction placed on it, WAEON urges caution on the part of candidates, leaders of the two main political parties and their supporters. WAEON further calls on supporters of political parties to vote based on issues and refrain from acts that will escalate tensions during the polling day and the post-election period. Finally, WAEAON wishes the people of Sierra Leone peaceful elections, and reminds all electoral stakeholders to conduct themselves diligently to ensure that the outcomes of the polls are regarded as credible. WAEON is an independent, non-partisan and non-religious organization of citizen observer groups from 13 West African Countries that aims at strengthening and supporting Citizens' Election Observation Groups (CEOGs) in the sub-region. It was formed in 2010, and has its secretariat at the Accra-based Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana). Signed James Lahai Acting Chairman (For and on behalf of WAEON) Contact Number: +232-76-962-233 Dated: March 30, 2018 For follow up information on the statement, please contact James Lahai on +232-76-962-233 and/or Dr. Franklin Oduro of the Secretariat on (+233 – 0302) 784293/4; 777214. Secretariat Contact Information WAEON Secretariat CDD-Ghana Physical Address: No.95 Nortei Ababio Loop North Airport Residential Area, Accra, Ghana Email: info@waeon.org Tel: (+233 – 0302) 784293/4; 777214

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