INTRODUCTION
The June 24 2023 multi-tier elections which declared H.E President Julius Maada Bio as winner ended in a controversy with the APC rejecting the announced results; a three-day mediated dialogue between the Government of Sierra Leone and the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party (hereinafter referred to as the PARTIES), was held to address the political impasse; the mediation was facilitated by the African Union, ECOWAS, Commonwealth, and The Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC). One outcome of the mediation agreement (Resolution 3) was the constitution of a Cross-Party
Committee on Electoral Systems and Management Bodies Review (The Committee).
The Terms of Reference of the Committee were developed under the joint leadership of the committee within 30 days of the commencement date of 19th December 2023. The duration of the Committee will be six (6) months from the date of its commencement.
The recommendations from the Committee shall be actionable and implementable;
The Committee is being established to examine the electoral systems, structures, and processes of the 2023 multi-tier electoral cycle. The Committee will be informed by previous elections with a view to highlighting and addressing the contentious issues of elections and results management including the collation, verification, authentication and publishing of electoral data consistent with international best practice to enhance the credibility of all future elections in Sierra Leone that guarantees elections to be free, fair and credible. No such comprehensive analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the electoral architecture in Sierra Leone within the context of its functional capacity to deliver credible elections that can foster faster and smoother political transitions, reducing the cost of elections to stability and, development. This exercise will rely primarily on the recommendations of Election Observer Missions spanning 2007 to 2023. Additionally, it will assess the institutional capacity of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) and other entities that are part of the election’s architecture in Sierra Leone. Using a combination of desk review and primary data collection methodologies such as key informant interviews, the Review Committee will prepare a report on key recommendations to improve the performance of EMBs and the peripheral institutions that support the delivery of elections. The examination will primarily address the erosion of institutional capacity of key institutions that make-up Sierra Leone’s electoral system with a view to bolstering their independence and credibility through institutional and legal reforms. This technical assessment which will be contextualized within Sierra Leone’s broader political economy dynamics will result in the development of a legal and institutional reform roadmap to strengthen the capacity and the independence of the entities responsible for delivering elections. The reform roadmap will seek to enhance the simplicity, transparency, and modernization of Sierra Leone’s electoral system to consistently deliver free, fair, and peaceful elections.