In the wake of the recent publication in the Global Times Newspaper calling on the Executive Director of the Campaign for Good Governance and Chairperson of the National Elections Watch (NEW), Mrs. Marcella Samba-Sesay to heal herself or put her house in order before criticizing government for the Mid-Term Census, members of the public have called on Mrs. Samba Sesay to account for the 1.3 million Euros disbursed to the NEW by the European Union otherwise she must be investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Furthermore as the biblical saying goes, one must remove the log clearly from his/her own eyes before seeing visibly to remove the log from the eyes of others. This is exactly the same for Marcella Samba-Sesay, the Executive Director of Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) and Chairperson of the NEW (National Elections Watch) who has been a civil society activist for more than twenty years and considers herself as a force to reckon with.
Civil Society should be or is expected to be the balefire of openness and accountability. Sadly, Marcella Samba-Sesay and her coalition of local election observers are the exact opposite. After the December 2021 Mid-Term Census provisional results were announced last month, Marcella Samba-Sesay was the first person to jump out of her house to react to the Mid-Term Census Provisional results. She challenged the credibility of the process even without talking to her colleagues in the Civil Society Coalition called. “NEW” (National Elections Watch).
She has always challenged the democratic credentials of politicians, especially the current President, Julius Maada Bio in whom she sees nothing good. The question must now be asked: “Between politicians and the CSO leader, Marcella Samba-Sesay who is more democratic and accountable?
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and Julius Maada Bio for example announced the dates for elections without being coerced by anyone. Ernest Koroma went ahead to conduct elections after a vigorous campaign by his supporters for more time. Marcella Samba-Sesay stands accused of violating the NEW (National Elections Watch) constitution. She has overstayed in office for years and has no plans to conduct elections. She continues to condemn African leaders who choose to stay in office after their tenures had ended. Yet, she refuses to look in the mirror to see the real culprit in her.
In spite of controversies around audit reports, APC and SLPP leaders conduct and publish official annual audit reports on a timely basis. Those reports are accessible to Sierra Leoneans and International Institutions around the world. This is not the case with Marcella and NEW. Only Marcella and her few hand-picked cronies know about donor funding to their coalition. Coalition members are in total darkness about income and expenses of NEW.
President Bio’s democratic credentials have been hailed by many within and outside his party. He calls general meetings for his SLPP to discuss party affairs and even elect leaders in line with his party’s constitution. On the contrary, NEW has not convened a general meeting of its members for years. Marcella runs a government of a few, by a few and for a few. NEW has no credibility to dictate the standards of governance it is failing to uphold. It remains a one-woman show even after the European Union has invested nearly 1.3 million Euros to restructure the Coalition and support its activities.