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Programmes Home > Sierra Leone Home
August 2008
In another sign that it is making strides toward consolidating itself as a free and stable democracy, Sierra Leone held a local council election on July 5, 2008.
 Residents of Freetown wait in line during
the local council elections, July 5th
SFCG’s election strategy for the parliamentary and presidential elections last year centred on two objectives:
- To broaden the space for Sierra Leonean citizens and political candidates to participate in free and fair elections, and
- To provide timely and credible information on the electoral process throughout the country. The Independent Radio Network was visable throughout the election process, rapidly responding to controversy and providing credible information
The local council election marked only the second time since the Lome Peace Accord was signed in July 1999 that Sierra Leoneans have been able to choose their local officials.
Turnout on Election Day was 38% of registered voters, as compared to over 75% in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections last year. This is likely due to the lower profile of the elections, although intimidation played a part in some locations. While the National Election Commission (NEC) was slow in counting the votes, the fraud that was revealed in the national elections emerged at a lower level during this round and by all accounts the results were accepted by the people as free and fair.
In what was a testament to the effects of strong monitoring of the polling places by the NEC and independent groups, only 22 polling stations were invalidated, mainly from one district: Koinadugu. One such independent group, the National Election Watch (NEW), a coalition of NGOs, fielded approximately 3200 observers from civil society groups around the country in nearly all polling centres. They commended the NEC for conducting a credible and orderly voting process. The final results revealed that there were ten district/city councils won by the ruling APC, eight in the hands of the SLPP and one municipal council won by the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC).
“Be you APC,
PMDC, or SLPP
candidate, we want you all
to work together for the
development of our beloved
country Sierra Leone.”
– IRN listener Pendembu
Town
 The Independent Radio Network was
visable throughout the election process,
rapidly responding to controversy and
providing credible information SFCG Election Strategy Realised
To gauge the success of its strategy at the level of the national elections, SFCG conducted independent and internal evaluations. Both evaluations came back with positive grades on the success of the implementation of the strategy. Key findings that specifically influenced preparations for the local council elections included:
- The Independent Radio Network
The network’s election coverage was widely listened to and was recognised as neutral and covering issues that people wanted to hear.
- National Election Watch
The extensive presence of NEW was felt on Election Day. Focus group participants said that they saw NEW observers and that they contributed to a sense that the polling places were safe from manipulation and fraud.
- SFCG’s TV program Insai di Saloon
The show was widely liked by women, the target audience, who identified with the characters and storyline.
For more than two years, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has been focused on preparing for and supporting the national and local elections processes. Recognised as a critical benchmark in the consolidation of the country’s peace, the 2007 and 2008 elections stood as key events in judging the success of the emerging democratic process and the potential for future of stability and development for Sierra Leone.
Based on the success of the 2007 election work and using similar tools, SFCG works at multiple levels with a variety of tools to support its partners to achieve the two objectives of the election strategy, ensuring that Sierra Leone moves forward in sustaining the peace and building an environment where citizens can participate freely in their country. The following offers a glimpse of SFCG’s impact and their efforts to support similarly transparent, participatory, and violence free elections on July 5th in two strategic components:
Broadening the space
By working within and supporting various coalitions of local civil society organisations such as NEW, The Independent Radio Network (IRN), and the Honouring Women’s Initiative (HWI), SFCG has created an enabling environment for targeted cooperation to support elections. By creating coalitions, coordinating actions, and involving diverse actors in the political space during the election period, SFCG has effectively broadened the space for participation.
Sierra Leone’s people have traditionally voted along regional and ethnic lines. Political space is dominated by partisan politics and a ‘you’re with us or against us’ attitude. The level of intimidation and harassment seen during the election process when there is little space for nonpartisanship, reflects this political intolerance and the vulnerability of individuals. SFCG’s work to broaden the space means creating the opportunities for individuals and civil society to be involved and contribute to the electioneering process: For example, IRN creates a space for broadcasters and radio stations to be protected from prevailing attitudes and partisan politics. The members in IRN are protected and regulated through a network mechanism and a mutually agreed code of conduct, allowing the network to provide unbiased and credible information at election time. SFCG is a founding member of IRN and supports its growth and development as part of the SFCG legacy strategy; NEW is a civil society coalition that provides a coordinated platform for cooperation among diverse organisations and associations in a national effort to observe and report the elections.
“IRN, thank you for your good work. Your news is accurate and educating. Keep it up.”
– Listener text message from Barmoi Munu
NEW works by creating space for participation among many local groups who want to engage in the electoral process and holding its members to standards of accountable and transparent decision making; The Honouring Women’s Initiative (HWI) is a collation group that began activities in January 2008 to promote coordination of women’s efforts. The combined efforts of SFCG and these partners were successful in building significant solidarity around leadership issues that provides momentum for continuing work at local council level and the future 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
The Women’s Solidarity Fund
A proverb used extensively by men in the campaign to intimidate female candidates in the local council election process, “Uman cock no de crow” or “Hens do not crow,” implies that women should not speak up in decision-making processes. SFCG and its HWI partners, namely Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), 50/50 and GEMS are working to reverse such marginalisation through encouraging women to participate in local government. Women identified the lack of funding and lack of confidence to challenge male rule as the major barriers to their standing as candidates. SFCG and HWI launched the Women’s Solidarity Fund to raise money and public awareness for female candidates. This groundbreaking fund raised money through a series of events and paid for the nomination fee of 244 female aspirant candidates and a bag of rice was also given to every candidate in the last days of their campaign.
In a post election survey of 876 persons, SFCG’s support for women’s candidates was shown to have had a beneficial effect. The evidence showed that the messages were clearly heard and that attitudes have shifted to favour women’s involvement in politics.
A primary focus of SFCG’s strategy was the inclusion of more women and their voices. SFCG used a variety of tools to accomplish this objective of ensuring women’s issues were front and centre on the national agenda and more women had space to participate:
- Created a coalition of women’s organisations and a Women’s Solidarity Fund to support women candidates across the country;
- Driving public fundraising efforts to support female candidates campaigns;
- Supporting a national workplan designed to ensure women are included in the governance framework;
- Providing strategic and timely information, for example the gender mapping of initiatives to support female candidates and the case studies of female candidates in the nomination process;
- Giving voice to women and people with disabilities to participate, including:
- Four Talking Drum Studio national radio programmes;
- Air time on 21 IRN member radio stations;
- Articles in the newspapers; and video and TV coverage for female candidates;
- Training women candidates in public speaking and campaigning skills.
SFCG Contribution and Results:
- Women’s participation was a key issue in local council election;
- Broad public support for women in leadership roles was seen;
- 18% of successful candidates were women;
- Civil society solidarity and coordination mechanism for gender issues was successful and strengthened.
Providing Credible Information
According to SFCG’s own surveys, radio is the main vector for the population of Sierra Leone to receive information on the electoral process. Organising with radio partners, providing more media time for candidates, supporting analysis and alternative viewpoints and providing a voice to citizens to engage with the issues and their candidates are all ways of using information and communication to stimulate an active citizenry. The Local Council is the main development engine for the country, as it is the provider of basic services and it is crucial for people to participate in that discussion. SFCG used a variety of media tools to provide credible information, partnering with NEC and the IRN as well as using its own Talking Drum Studio programmes.
“I don’t know what NEC is up to. I want to hear the results for Bonthe Island because the APC guys are saying the results are going to be called in their favour. Please, for the sake of peace, let the result reflect the voice of the people.”
- IRN listener text message
SFCG supported two major platforms for voter education and elections reporting. One through its own media programming from Talking Drum Studio featuring the popular Atunda Ayenda and Salone Uman. The second platform was SFCG-IRN collaboration with a national live daily broadcasts from IRN for one hour in the evening in the lead up to the election and the weekly production called Parliament Bol At. These media programs are a means to react quickly to the contemporary issues, including violence and intimidation. When the instances of harassment of women independent candidates rose during the campaign, SFCG and IRN reacted quickly with new spot messages and radio programming that got this issue out in the open. Eventually President Bai Koroma and First Lady Sia Koroma to added their voices to the debate, decrying this violence.
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In the 2007 election process, SFCG held public
debates, marking the first time candidates and their
constituents could directly interact on issues of concern.
At these debates candidates presented their platforms
and citizens were encouraged to ask questions. Judging
from the feedback on the radio stations in the areas
where these events were held, the events were highly
successful. Given their success, SFCG conducted similar
debates for the local council elections. Recordings of
these debates will be used by SFCG and IRN members
to stimulate discussions on roles and responsibilities of
elected representatives and accountability towards
promises made in a citizen report card format.
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SFCG and IRN together provided full radio coverage of the events in the months leading up to, during and after the elections:
- Starting in April, IRN provided daily live coverage of the local council elections, totaling 38.5 hours, broadcast on 20 network member stations
- As in 2007, IRN was on the air all day on election day and the day after, airing reports from around the country’s polling places.
- SFCG Talking Drum Studio radio programs such as Salone Uman, Parliament Bol At and Atunya Ayenda added another 30 hours of election themed drama and news programming, broadcast nationally on 24 partner stations in the three months prior to the election.
- In the month after the election, IRN and TDS programing continued to cover the election, the results and their aftermath.
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SFCG’s post elections survey revealed that nearly 80% agreed or strongly agreed that IRN was a credible news source (left), and
75% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that IRN had helped reduce violence during the elections (right).
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Spotlight: Alieu Sesay
Part of SFCG’s goal in supporting IRN is to help build the skills that enable radio journalists like Alieu Sesay to fulfill independent media’s promise as a conduit between the government and the governed. Despite two years of experience, Alieu entered IRN with no formal journalist training and few radio production skills. During the training he learned how to use the computer for editing, how to do effective on-the-street interviews, and how to package a program. With his eagerness to learn and the IRN staff’s willingness to teach, he turned into a quick study. As a result of the training, he became a very valuable member of the IRN reporting team. Alieu brings these new skills to his current job at Radio Democracy which has improved the quality of his, and the radio station’s, programming. According to him, “One thing I like about IRN and TDS staff is that they are always ready to teach somebody as long as they want to learn.... Plenty of people who come out of college don’t know what I now know. I have gotten the experience.”
Search for Common Ground in Sierra Leone
Talking Drum Studio
44 Bathurst Street
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Phone: +232 (22) 223-479
Fax: +1 (202) 232-6718
E-mail: ffortune@sfcg.org |
