The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) says it is preparing to conduct elections for village heads across the entire Western Area Rural District in the coming weeks.
“The conduct of the said election is part of the constitutional mandate of the ECSL.”
ECSL asserts it enjoys administrative independence which “aims to achieve high level of effectiveness, accountability, neutrality and efficiency necessary to ensure autonomy as mandated by law” in conducting the said election.
“In light of this, the Commission has therefore advertised several vacancies for the conduct of village head election.”
The ECSL notes that all positions in the ECSL are advertised on an equal opportunity basis and also states that “women and persons with disabilities that have the requisite qualification and experience are encouraged to apply.”
It could be recalled that the conduct of the said election has sparked controversy across the board recently. A public notice written and signed by the Chief Administrator of the Western Area Rural District, Raman Tom Farmer warned that campaigns for the forthcoming village head election must be stopped. His public notice had instructed acting village heads to continue until otherwise was decided. The village head election which was supposed to hold earlier this year was deferred as a result of the conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections.
The ECSL in consultation with the ministry of local government had postponed the said election to October of this year.
