AWE Media Sierra Leone

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson 29 years old Isatu Kanu, a mother of two, says voting on Saturday, June 24 for the first time in the general elections of her country was “bitter-sweet.” Kanu who whose current age makes her eligible to would have first voted since 2012 said she could not exercise her franchise although eligible to vote in her nation’s last two general elections because of pregnancy and hunted by fatigue to show up at registration centres for the successive voter registrations. Thankfully, when the voter registration started for the June 24, 2023 election I was not pregnant this time, I was excited and had to show up early at the registration centre in my area and registered then showed up also for the verification and as early as 6:45am on Saturday, I had already joined other eligible voters at the Baptist primary school, Lady’s Mile, Makeni in readiness to vote, but my experience here today is a memorable one, Kanu explained. “Although I arrived early at the centre to vote ...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson Yesterday, June 24, during the voting in Makeni city, hundreds of eligible voters queued to vote across their respective centers but Sinnah Koroma and her 8-month-old child were spotted by AWE-Media.SL queuing for over three hours before she voted. Moved by her courage to wait that long on the queue together with her child, I waited patiently after she had successfully casted her vote at the Church of God, Makeni polling center 4190 and approached her for an interview about what kept her strong while queuing anxiously with her child waiting to vote, among other things. In her response, Koroma, 41 said spending hours at the center which is the largest in Bombali district comprising 8 polling stations never borders her. “While I was in the queue waiting to vote I was praying silently to God for my preferred candidates to emerge victorious, so I didn’t even noticed I had stood longer in the queue because I was also excited to take part in the 5th general electi...