Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. A flagbearer aspirant of the All People’s Congress Party (APC) and former Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone, Ady Macauley, has publicly accused President Julius Maada Bio of laying the groundwork to rig the 2028 elections.
His claim is pegged on the recent appointment of Alex Pat Labib Saffa as the new Electoral Commissioner for the Eastern Region, which Macauley argues was made unconstitutionally.
In a recent interview, Macauley affirmed that President Bio violated Section 32(3) of Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution. The section mandates that the president must consult with leaders of all registered political parties before appointing members of the electoral commission.
Drawing from experience, Macauley stressed that the legitimacy of the 2023 elections has been called into question not only by his party, the APC but also by international partners and local election monitoring organisations.
He stated, “The result announced was statistically impossible,” referencing his role as the supervisor for the APC agents at the national Tally Centre in Wellington. He explained that the counting of the election results was still underway when the announcement was made declaring President Bio the winner.
“We were in the process; we had not finished the counting yet when they announced President Bio as the winner for the 2023 elections,” Macauley alleged, stressing that the situation indicates the elections were rigged.
He further claimed that the pattern of appointing electoral commission members without proper consultation is being repeated by Bio. “It is the pattern which President Bio used in 2023 by appointing a member of the Electoral Commission without consulting leaders of all registered political parties,” he said.
Macauley concluded by warning that the same tactics are being employed again, potentially jeopardising the integrity of the upcoming elections.
The main opposition has vehemently failed to agree with the results of the 2023 multi-tier election. Their opposition to the results were also backed by international bodies like the Carter Centre and the European Union. The EU, for instance, said that the election results were statistically inconsistent.
For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone Follow Africa-Press
