Three of the four candidates in the forthcoming Paramount Chieftaincy Election in Port Loko District, have cried foul and have described the process leading to the election as biased and unfair in favor of a particular candidate, Mr. Daniel Morry Kamara.
The leading contender who many have described as ‘the people’s choice’, Mr. Mohamed Kamara has claimed that even though he won the previous election but the election’s results were turned down by government officials in favor of one Mr. Daniel Morry Kamara.
“I believe in my peoplee, I have done tremendous work in Bureh Chiefdom and they are in high sprit to elect me as Paramount Chief to give them a solid representation this time round,” he claimed, adding that, officials of the government have bent on in denying his rights by planning to manipulate the results in favor of their candidate.
He further called on the authorities supervising the activities of the election to play by the rules, referencing the Chieftaincy Act, No.10, 2009. Part2 7(1) and 7(2) make it clear that:
“In any Paramount Chieftaincy election the responsibility of the government is limited to only the facilitations of the process, so as to ensure that the election is conducted in a fair and transparent manner,” he said, adding that 7(2) also stated that ‘No government minister or other officials, and no political party, weather collectively or otherwise shall promote or show support or preference for the candidature of any particular contestant in a Paramount Chieftaincy election’.
In response, Mr. Daniel Morry Kamara denied the allegations, claiming that “his opponents are just making frivolous claims to cause confusion in the election’s process. He also bragged that he is the most popular candidate in the forthcoming election. He also claimed that the youths and elders in Port Loko District are strongly behind him. He further described the claims of his contenders as unfortunate and fabricated to dent his reputation and that of the government of the Republic of Sierra Leone. “I do not trust the government as they are not been fair, but I will personally call on credible institutions like AYV, Watch and Calabash to cover our forthcoming Chieftaincy election,” he said, stating that he is ready to expose whosoever wants to cause unwarranted distraction in the election. He further added that any attempt to disrupt the election, he will stage a peaceful protest in the chiefdom. Mr. Kamara further called on Sierra Leoneans, civil Society activists, Anti-Corruption Commission and National Election Watch (NEW) to be very cognizance and vigilance in the upcoming Chieftaincy election in Port Loko District.
