BY SAHR IBRAHIM KOMBA (232news.com)
Girls Out Loud (GOL) with support from Plan International has sensitized first time voters on voting process in the fourth coming multi-tier elections. The theme of the training is Youths as pillars of peaceful building and conflict prevention in Sierra Leone.
The event took place at Peace Museum Special Court New England Ville on Monday 19th June, 2023.
Girls out loud is a social enterprise dedicated to raising the aspiration of teenage girls in Sierra Leone aiming to empower them in finding their voices.
Speaking at the event, the Internal Outreach of Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone Albert Massaquoi educated first time voters on the voting process.
He encouraged youths to embrace peace during and after elections adding that everyone has the responsibility to maintain peace because peaceful election is a basic tenet of democracy.
He informed the public that they will do their work within the ambits of the law. ‘’We have done everything possible as per law’’ he said.
He said that Proportional Representation gives women the opportunity to represent their communities in the forth-coming multi-tier elections noting that 37% of the candidates are females.
He also disclosed that there are 11,832 polling stations across the country and ECSL has trained staff to manage those stations.
Janet Fatmata Sannoh a participant said that before now, she was aware about the voting process but the event has help her understand the process in the fort-coming elections. She appealed to young people to embrace peace during and after elections and called on political parties not to use the youths to perpetrate violence. Sierra Leone is the only country we have, she said.
The head of media Building a Nation campaign Pharm Buya Nabie Bangura encouraged the youths to use social media correctly adding that misinformation or disinformation misleads the masses. He further encouraged first voters to fact check and cross check information before sharing. Social media is important but we should use it correctly, he noted.
