Minister of Information Responds to US Ambassador's Radio Democracy 98.1 Interview

 After the US ambassador's interview on Radio Democracy 98.1, the information minister responds

Chernor Bah, the minister of information and civic education in Sierra Leone, has responded to comments made by US Ambassador David Reimer on the multitiered election scheduled for June 2023.

According to Minister Bah, "We have a collaboration with the US Government that appreciates the need to strengthen rather than weaken our own democratic institutions."

Hours after Ambassador Reimer's conversation with Radio Democracy was released, he made his statement. Reimer stated in the interview that the US has received confirmation on the democracy in Sierra Leone, particularly the results of the June elections.

The ECSL reported results differ significantly from the parallel vote tabulation, and there are other abnormalities that have been examined by local and international observers, raising concerns in the United States, he said.

He continued by saying that because of disagreements over the results of the June polls, the US declined to congratulate President Julius Maada Bio, who was deemed the victor. He stated that going forward, the US will assess all government initiatives, but he added that they would prioritize the needs of the populace.

No matter what happens, we will always be for the people, Reimer vowed.

The All People's Congress (APC), the largest opposition party, refused to recognise the election results, making it one of the most contentious elections in recent memory. The party demanded that the country's Electoral Commission provide election results by polling stations, alleging that the vote was rigged in favour of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party.

According to the ECSL, the results were made public in accordance with the Public Elections Act of 2022.

Radio Democracy 98.1 in Sierra Leone stops broadcasting before a critical interview with the US ambassador

The popular and regularly listened-to radio station "Radio Democracy 98.1" in Sierra Leone experienced a brief transmission interruption on Wednesday, August 16th, 2023. This happened soon before the highly regarded Good Morning Salone program broadcast a previously taped interview with David Reimer, the US ambassador to Sierra Leone, in which Reimer raised concerns about the general elections.

According to the article, Ambassador Reimer discussed Washington's concerns about the June 24 elections in a leaked recording of an interview segment that the embassy has confirmed. He voiced doubts regarding the reliability and objectivity of the election results for Sierra Leone that the Electoral Commission had announced (ECSL).

"The United States is worried about anomalies in the results that were released by the ECSL," said Reimer. These irregularities include a significant discrepancy between the results as announced by the ECSL and the results of the parallel vote tabulation.

All of these issues cast doubt on the validity of the official findings, in our opinion. International monitors had criticized a "lack of openness" in the vote count and pointed out "statistical irregularities."

Ambassador Reimer confirmed that President Julius Maada Bio, who won 56% of the presidential vote, is in fact the president in the leaked interview.

He added that while "the US would not change its work with the people of Sierra Leone, including health programs, it would review its government-to-government programs, including a compact grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) worth hundreds of millions of dollars." He added, "What we have not done is congratulate him."

"We were very explicit with the government of Sierra Leone in the year or two prior to the agreement that in order to achieve a compact they needed to have a fair, free, open, and transparent election," he said.

"Sierra Leone had done everything else up to that point to obtain a compact; however, in light of the numerous concerns raised by the outcomes, we are reviewing everything, and this includes the MCC compact."

He stated that Washington wanted to see an "outside, unbiased look at the election" and government consultation with political parties and the public.

"We were quite explicit with the government of Sierra Leone that in order to get a compact they needed to have a fair, free, open, and transparent election," he added. "We were very clear with them in the year or two preceding the compact."

"Sierra Leone had done everything else up to that time to obtain a compact; given that there are a number of concerns with the outcomes, we're looking into everything, and that includes the MCC agreement."

In addition to a government engagement with civil society and political parties, he stated that Washington would like to see an "outside, unbiased look at the election."

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