𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬… 𝐀𝐏𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘

A Western diplomat resident in Freetown, recently noted that, the main opposition All Peoples Congress party are either not ready or are not prepared for the June 24, 2023 Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections. She praised President Julius Maada Bio for declaring the dates for elections exactly fifteen months before the due date. This, she said, is commendable.

Very recently, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio said, “My government remains fully committed to supporting peaceful, free, fair and credible electoral process”. The elections body, the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) is fully funded by the government to discharge its mandate.

Addressing the media and civil society organizations at State House in Freetown yesterday, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio said, “If you want to remove me from office, use the ballot box”. Thankfully, no one, not even the APC, have accused the President of trying to delay the conduct of elections in June 2023. Many people in the APC had held the erroneous view that the President was going to use the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to prolong his stay in office. They got it wrong!

President Bio has always argued that power belongs to the people. He believes that the people must be given a free hand to elect their leaders.

With barely ten months left for the general elections, the APC have shown no sign of readiness to take part in those elections. They want to use the back door to gain entrance into government through negotiations or violence.

The violent insurrection that took place on 10th August is a clear demonstration of the fact that the APC are hungry and desperate for power. They don’t believe that they can defeat the incumbent President in a free, fair and credible election. That is why they have resorted to violence in order to derail the seamless democratic process.

The visiting Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, His Excellency President Umaro Sissoco Emballo, told a press conference in Freetown on Monday that, ECOWAS and the rest of the international community will not recognize any government that is not elected by the people in a free, fair and credible election.

It is now very clear that the APC have no message for the electorate in the run-up to the next elections. They are clearly not ready or not prepared for the June 2023 general elections.

As things stand now, the 2023 elections will proceed in an irreversible manner. The APC have lost the plot. The date for the 2023 elections is cast in stone. And they are going ahead as planned.