A Commonwealth Expert team will observe the 5 July 2008 local elections in Sierra Leone, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma announced today. Mr Sharma said that the Team of four, supported by three Commonwealth Secretariat staff, will be led by Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia(photo), former Minister of Human Development, Women and Civil Society of Belize.
The team, which arrived in Sierra Leone on 27 June, will remain in the West African country until 12 July 2008. It has been constituted at the invitation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone.
The full composition of the Commonwealth Expert Team is:
Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Former Minister of Human Development, Women and Civil Society, Belize
Mr Vuyo Mlokoti, Chairperson, Municipal Demarcation Board, South Africa,
Mr Milton Brown, Mayor of Clarendon and Chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities, Jamaica
Mr Kanor Sanakey, Executive Council Member of NALAG and Presiding Member of Dangme East District Assembly.
The Secretariat support staff team will be led by Julie Broadbent, Political Officer in the Political Affairs Division.
“The Commonwealth is very pleased to have been invited to these elections and to send a team back to Sierra Leone. We were very encouraged by the conduct of the 2007 national elections, which were conducted in a credible and transparent manner, enjoying the confidence of stakeholders. This was in no small measure due to the capacity and independence of the Electoral Commission,” Mr Sharma said.
The Secretary-General added that the mandate of the team is to observe preparations for the election; the polling, counting and results process; and the overall electoral environment.
Prior to their departure from Sierra Leone, the team will submit a report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, assessing the overall conduct of the process and making appropriate recommendations for future strengthening of the electoral process in Sierra Leone.
The Expert Team will act impartially and independently and shall conduct itself according to the standards expressed in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation to which the Commonwealth is a signatory.
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