STAKEHOLDERS PUSH HISTORIC REFORMS TO END “WINNER TAKES ALL” POLITICS IN SIERRA LEONE

The National stakeholders in Sierra Leone have on Friday, 12^th June 2026, advanced historic electoral and institutional reforms to replace the polarising "winner-takes-all" governance model. The effort seeks to address long-standing ethnic and regional divisions, reduce "zero-sum" political tensions, and ensure that governance is more inclusive, meritocratic, and reflective of the entire population. Legal reforms led by the Attorney General aim to restructure and depoliticize strategic management bodies.

This includes formalizing a nine-member selection panel for electoral commissioners, establishing new merit-based eligibility criteria, and ensuring state institutions are insulated from partisan patronage. Speaking at the august gathering, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alpha Sesay reflected on the Edmond Kwan Constitutional Review Committee which was set up by the former president of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, noting that the Committee carried out its mandate from 2013 to 2017 in which they undertook over 10,000 public consultations with over 150 position papers and had over 20,000 hours of airtime to enhance broader engagement across the country so that it would serve as a roadmap for the new constitution. According to Sesay, one thing that was abundantly prominent in the Kawan report after looking at best practices across the board recommended that Sierra Leone should transition to permanent Proportional Representation (PR). “This is not the current government’s creation.

This is not President Bio’s invention. This was a recommendation made by the Kaman Constitutional Review Committee after extensive consultations between 2013 and 2017,” he revealed. Minister Sesay also referred to the Women’s Manifesto which also listed 16 recommendations in the Kaman Report that became known as the Women’s Manifesto, proposing for the transition to the PR System to ensure there is peace and cohesion for all, reiterating that the above recommendation is also not the creation of Bio Administration. To justify his argument, Sesay intimated that over 130 countries across the globe use the PR System, disclosing that the First-Past-the-Post is not the most popular electoral system since there are fewer than 55 countries across the globe that use it for elective representation.

According to Sesay, “Of the ten countries ranked on Human Freedom Index 2024, an index which measures 86 indicators of economic freedom, nine out of those ten are countries that use the PR System of elective representation. Similarly, nine of the ten countries classed as full democracies on the Democracy Index in 2023 use the PR elective representation.”

On his part, the Presidential Spokesperson, Honourable Alpha Khan, declares the current "winner-takes-all" model acts as a divider. He advocates for the PR system as a unifier that guarantees representation and political stability. Dr Kanu stated that the goal of constitutional reform is to transition the country away from adversarial politics, describing the PR system as a "path to peace, inclusion, and political stability" that ensures minority groups and marginalised voices are heard.

He emphasised that constitutional reforms alongside PR are vital for extending power-sharing to the executive branch and ensuring fair representation for women, youth, and persons with disabilities. “While 'winner-takes-all' divides, the PR system ensures that every vote counts, and every voice matters. These reforms reflect broader goals stemming from the launch of the Government's White Paper on Constitutional Reforms, which aims to modernise democratic governance in the country,” he asserted.

The minister of Information and Civic Education, honorable Chernor Bah argues that PR systems discourage tribalism, ensure broader legislative inclusion, and prevent the winner-takes-all mentality, noting that the Cross-Party (Tripartite) Committee formed following the 2023 elections, brought together the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), the opposition All People's Congress (APC), and international mediators to review Sierra Leone's electoral architecture, foster transparency and trust.