Liberians Warned Off S/Leone Elections

Monday, 05 March 2012 13:20

Written by Boima J.V. Boima

As presidential and parliamentary elections in neighboring Sierra Leone draw nearer, the main opposition Sierra People’s Party is reiterating warnings against the “ferrying” of individuals from Liberia to register in order to possibly vote in those impending elections.
SLPP leader (rtd) Brigadier Julius Maada Bio repeated: “I said it previously and let me repeat again that I am not in support of those saying that  ‘once you are in the country’ you can register at any area.
“I am saying this because it has security implications. If you allow about 2000 persons from Liberia to come and register in this small Gendema, there would be a security nightmare that police might not be able to handle on election day.”
Speaking in Krio at Gendema border town Friday, Brigadier Maada Bio cautioned,  “Those people brought over are strangers who don’t even know what will happen.”
It was reported a fortnight ago that the Sierra Leone embassy here was recruiting Liberians to register and vote in Sierra Leone’s elections set for later this year.
Officials of both the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) and the Sierra Leone embassy here confirmed the report at a meeting in Gendema but insisted that those recruited were Sierra Leoneans and not Liberians.
“Yes I brought people here to register, but they are not Liberians. They are Sierra Leoneans who have the rights to vote here and I am doing my own civic responsibility as a citizen,” the press officer at the Sierra Leone embassy said.
“Registration is a civic responsibility that we all should exercise if you have attained voting age. But, we will not allow people who are not from here (Sierra Leone) to register. If you are here or resident in another country, you should go to the area where they know you had resided prior to your departure, to register,” Bio said.
“I was in Gendema two weeks before the last war began and I know what that war did to all of us. We fought the war and we know how many people died. I had therefore vowed to be a peace advocate for the rest of my life. We will therefore resist anyone who will attempt to bring chaos in this country,” he stressed.
“We should all ensure that this election is peaceful. Never again, never again, should we sit in this country and allow anyone or group to do about anything that could bring war in this country,” he stressed.