Freetown, Sierra Leone – In a letter addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, Dr. Dennis Bright, former chairman and leader of the National Grand Coalition Party (NGC), has expressed his views on the proposed post-election dialogue between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Government and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC).
In his letter dated September 30, 2023, Dr. Bright, identified by his National Identification Number (NIN) FRIG8TVR and voter ID number 7762931, commended the Commission for its historic initiative and called for a well-structured approach to the dialogue.
Dr. Bright emphasized the need for a two-stage dialogue process. The first stage, he argued, should focus on establishing the truth about the election results. He pointed to the fundamental question at the heart of the current political stalemate: “WERE THE OFFICIAL RESULTS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL RETURNING OFFICER, MR. MOHAMED KONNEH, CORRECT?”
Dr. Bright’s letter underscores the importance of a comprehensive and transparent dialogue process in Sierra Leone to address the ongoing political tensions and pave the way for effective governance and national unity.
See letter below:
The Executive Secretary,
Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion,
C/o Lamina Sankoh Street,
Freetown.
30th September 2023
Dear Sir,
A citizen’s perspective on the proposed dialogue between Government and the Opposition
I write in my capacity as citizen of the Republic of Sierra Leone with National Identification Number (NIN) FRIG8TVR and voter ID number 7762931 to share my perspective on the proposed post-election dialogue between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Government and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC).
Let me first of all congratulate the Commission for this historic initiative and I pray that your efforts and the support of external mediators will restore good governance and tranquility to our country. However, I would like make a few observations on the Dialogue which I hope will be of some help to the conversation and would at least clear my conscience.
It is my humble opinion that if this dialogue is not framed properly it will most likely end up in failure. Right now, the dialogue is being carved as a straight conversation between the Government of the SLPP and the opposition All People’s Congress party. Not yet! There should be two stages in this dialogue: 1) establishing the truth about the election results and 2) now that we are here what do we do?
Stage one: the truth about the results.
The fundamental disagreement on the outcome of the June 24th multi-tier elections that is responsible for the current stalemate in the governance process can be summed up in one question:
WERE THE OFFICIAL RESULTS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL RETURNING OFFICER, MR. MOHAMED KONNEH, CORRECT?
