By Hasbin Shaw
Eligible persons for this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia will vote before the national elections slated for June 24, 2023, the chairman of the Hajj Task Force said on Thursday.
Alhaji Murtada Sesay told a regular government press conference in Freetown that “there are eligible citizens among the pilgrims who will not be in the country for the forthcoming general elections. Fortunately, this was spotted several months ago and with guidance and support from the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone, we now have a legislative instrument in place that will allow early voting.”
The legislative instrument was enacted when it was noticed that this year’s hajj period coincided with the country’s general elections.
He explained that eligible voters will commence their voting in their respective constituency, and that they will vote only for Presidential Candidates, citing the protocol of the legislative instrument on the early voting system.
He said that after much deliberation on this year’s pilgrimage, the expected number of pilgrims will amount to 640, constituting 65 percent of the country’s quota from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He said that the pilgrims together with members of the Task Force will start leaving the shores of Sierra Leone from t June 17, and are expected to return on the second week of July.
“On the matter of early voting, I should add that a key requirement is the actual issuance of visa, leaving sufficient time for administrative processing by the Electoral Commission,” he said.