2008 Elections in Sierra Leone - Final Report

Following an invitation from the Chairperson of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Sierra Leone on 13 May 2008 to the Secretary-General requesting a Commonwealth Observer Mission for the Sierra Leone Local Government Elections, the Commonwealth Secretary-General constituted a Commonwealth Expert Team comprising of four persons. The Team was supported by three officers from the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum.

Members of the Expert Team were as follows:

Ambassador Dolores Balderamos Garcia - Former Minister of Human Development, Women and Civil Society, Belize

Mr Milton Brown - Mayor of May Pen and Chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities, Jamaica

Mr Vuyo Mlokoti - Chairperson, Municipal Demarcation Board, South Africa, and member of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF’s practitioners’ data base)

Mr Kanor Sanakey - Executive Council Member of NALAG and Presiding Member of Dangme East District Assembly, Ghana

The Team was assisted by:

Ms Julie Broadbent, Assistant to Observers

Ms Zippy Ojago, Assistant to Observers

Mrs Nyasha Simbanegavi, Assistant to Observers

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference as defined by the Secretary-General were as follows:

The Commonwealth Expert Team for the Local Government Elections shall observe the preparations for the election; the polling, counting and results process; and the overall electoral environment.