Freetown, Sierra Leone – A coalition of more than fifty civil society organizations has called on Parliament to investigate what it describes as grave irregularities, lack of transparency, and unexplained utilization of donor funds by National Elections Watch during the ongoing lower-level elections.
In a formal complaint dated March 30, 2026, the National Consortium on Public Accountability addressed the Honourable Speaker, urging Parliament to invoke its oversight mandate over the electoral body. The coalition described NEW’s conduct of the chiefdom to district elections as “fictitious, untraditional, unaccountable and lacking transparency.”
The NCPA, which describes itself as a coalition united in its commitment to public accountability and corporate governance, said the situation represents a profound breach of democratic principles, fiduciary responsibility, and public trust.
According to the complaint, the consortium had previously written to key international partners—the European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)—urging them to discontinue their financial and technical support for the NEW process pending an independent review.
The coalition noted that these institutions are the primary backers of the electoral process currently being conducted by NEW.
The NCPA stated that its complaint to Parliament is not an isolated action but follows earlier efforts to draw attention to what it termed a deepening crisis surrounding NEW’s electoral process.
The consortium expressed hope that Parliament, as the custodian of the nation’s laws and overseer of donor-funded institutions, would take up the matter with urgency.
