Mediated dialogue between the government of Sierra Leone and the All Peoples Congress party โ 16-18 October 2023.
An agreement for national unity
Resolutions
The parties resolved the following:
1. His Excellency the President to make a national address on dialogue, unity, cohesion, and peace.
2. The APC will end its โnon-participation in governanceโ
3. His Excellency the President in consultation with the APC, will constitute a cross party committee on electoral systems and management bodies review with a three-way leadership nominated by the government of Sierra Leone, the APC, and development partners. This body will examine the electoral systems, structures and processes of the 2023 multi-tier electoral cycle. The committee will also be informed by previous elections with a view to highlighting and addressing the continuous issues of elections and results management including the collation, verification, authentication and publishing of electoral data consistent with international best practices to enhance the credibility of all future elections in Sierra Leone that guarantees elections to be free, fair and credible.
4. The terms of reference will be developed under the joint leadership of the committee within 30 days.
5. The duration of the committee will be 6 months from the date of establishment.
6. The recommendations from the committee shall be actionable and implementable.
7. The committee will be gender-balanced
The parties to the dialogue agree to the following:
โข Release of any persons arrested, detained and or imprisoned for alleged elections and civil protest (informed by a list to be submitted by the APC and other political parties, and considered by the government of Sierra Leone).
โข The discontinuation of any politically motivated court cases against the APC, other parties and their supporters (based on a list to be submitted by the APC and other parties and considered by the government of Sierra Leone).
โข Support the resettlement of any political party supporters internally and externally displaced due to political intimidation, attacks, and harassment (informed by a list to be submitted by the APC and other parties and considered by the government) as soon as possible.
โข That upon assumption of their elective governance positions, all elected APC officials (members of parliament, mayors, chairpersons, councillors) will have the issue regarding their entitlements addressed accordingly by the appropriate institutions.
โข Parliament to address any issues as it relates to the leadership, composition of committees and representation in international parliaments on behalf of APC (the composition of committees and international parliaments must reflect APCโs share of seats in accordance with the constitution of Sierra Leone).
โข Both parties agree to the institutionalisation of an inter-party dialogue framework between the APC, SLPP, and other political parties. This will be facilitated by the government.
โข Both parties commit to re-engineer and rekindle the relationships within the national socio-political eco-system such as between his excellency the president and former political leaders (former presidents and vice presidents), the APC and SLPP leadership, etc.
โข The government of Sierra Leone and the APC party strictly condemn all citizens at home and abroad who incite violence, spread hate speech and disrupt national cohesion (online and offline) and government will continue all efforts to bring those involved to justice.
โข There shall be actions and commitments by the parties to implement the agreements reached during this mediated dialogue.
To this end, the government of Sierra Leone and the APC party commit to the establishment of an independent committee of โmoral guarantorsโ whose membership shall be agreed upon by the parties to support and monitor the implementation of this agreement.
Signed: government of Sierra Leone and the All Peoples Congress Party.
