Tihun, Southern Province, Sunday 1 January 2023 – His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has called for peaceful elections and appreciated opposition leader National Grand Coalition, NGC, in Parliament, Hon. Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, for spending New Year’s Day with him in Tihun, his birthplace.
It could be recalled that in exercise of the powers conferred on it by law, the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, after consultation with the President, on 14 March 2022 proclaimed 24 June 2023 for the multi-tier elections and on 21 October 2022 declared the use of the District Block and Proportional Representation system.
The President, therefore, was calling on citizens, political party leaders and their supporters to ensure peaceful voting when he addressed the New Year’s Day mass at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tihun, Sogbini Chiefdom, adding that elections violence should not be allowed in before, during and after the polls.
“We want a multitier election that is free and fair. In the past, our elections have been characterised by bloodshed, which we will not tolerate during this year’s election,” he said.
President Bio also stated that the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party had always committed to peaceful, free and fair elections, adding that, “this should be a special year because there will be multitier elections in the country, and we should never allow the 2023 elections to be marred by political violence”.
“We have gone through a very difficult year, which was 2022, successfully. The COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war grossly affected the global supply chain and subsequently led to the rise in the prices of goods.”
He expressed optimism that the new year would be very kind to all Sierra Leoneans and the world “as we continue to look up to God for good tidings.”
Among guests in the congregation on Sunday was the leader of NGC in Parliament, Dr Yumkella, popularly known as KKY by his admirers in politics, who had accompanied the President to his hometown as a show of political tolerance and national unity.
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