By Nyima Sillah
Deputy Speaker of National Youth Parliament, Ndegen Jobe has disclosed that the Election Watch Committee (EWC) observers who were deployed in all constituencies have witnessed political parties conducting campaigns before the official campaign period.
Ndegen Jobe, who was speaking at a press briefing held at PAG headquarter in Kanifing last Thursday told members of press that the Election Watch Committee observers have disclosed that 24 of 52 constituencies can be confirmed conducting campaign activities in their constituencies before the official time as scheduled by IEC.
“During the reporting period, observers noted that NPP held campaign activities in 17 constituencies, UDP in 16 constituencies, GDC in 9 constituencies and independent candidates in 12 constituencies before the start of the official campaign period,”
“However, observers reported witnessing or hearing some violation of the code of campaign ethics for parties. For instance, observers in 4 constituencies heard of an instance where voters were offered money for their voter’s cards. As well, in five constituencies observers witnessed political parties or candidates distributing cash or other gifts to voters,” She added.
The Deputy Speaker went on that the pre-campaign period has been largely peaceful but 4 of 52 observers reported hearing the use of hate speech or inflammatory language during campaign activities. Adding that, the only notable violence was the rejection of UDP candidates in the West Coast Region (Busumbala).
Meanwhile, she said among other recommendations of the EWC is that The IEC and the IPC should closely monitor the actions of political parties to ensure they comply with the code of conduct, the EWC reminds political parties to refrain from vote-buying.
The IEC should give detailed reasons for the rejection of candidate’s nomination; the IEC should allocate more time for public scrutiny and ensure greater transparency; political parties should refrain from hate speech and adhere to the Covid-19 measures; IEC, NCCE, and CSO’s should redouble civic education; security forces should ensure they have sufficient presence. And also, security forces should fully investigate the incident in Brikama and sanction the officers who used excessive force. They should ensure all officers are fully trained on proper crowd control and de-escalation tactics.
However, the EWC encouraged all citizens to continue to peacefully engage during the campaign, while the rejected candidates are equally urged to utilize the courts to pursue their grievances.