{"id":15343,"date":"2023-07-03T18:27:15","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T17:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=15343"},"modified":"2023-07-03T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T17:27:18","slug":"u-s-embassy-dissociates-itself-from-viral-tweet-about-sierra-leone-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/u-s-embassy-dissociates-itself-from-viral-tweet-about-sierra-leone-election\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy dissociates itself from viral tweet about Sierra Leone election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: The Government of the United States of America and the U.S. Embassy in Freetown will not endorse the recently announced presidential poll results that declared the incumbent president of Sierra Leone the winner of the June 24 2023, polls.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict<\/strong>: False. Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the GoUSA has issued any statement discrediting the results of June 24, 2023, presidential polls announced by the country\u2019s electoral body Chief Commissioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sierra Leone \u2013 a small State located in West Africa, held its sixth democratic multi-tier elections on Saturday, June 24 2023<\/a>, in which 13 political parties contested for the highest seat in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incumbent President Julius Maada Wonnie Bio<\/a> of the ruling Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party (SLPP), was declared \u2018winner\u2019 of the controversial polls. The country\u2019s National Returning Officer, Mr Mohamed Kenewui Konneh<\/a>, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, announced Dr Bio <\/a>winner of the election. He defeated his closest contender for the second time, securing 56.17 per cent leaving the main opposition party\u2019s leader \u2013 Dr Samuara Kamara<\/a>, who secured 41.16 % of the votes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened after the announcement of the presidential results?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the declaration, some presidents sent congratulatory messages to the re-elected President Bio, as evidenced here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the contrary, congratulatory messages from opposition political parties in the country have not been forthcoming; even the main party in the political race, the All People\u2019s Congress (APC) party, has denounced President Bio\u2019s re-election<\/a> tagging it as a \u201cstolen victory.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the former Interim Chairman of the APC Transitional Committee<\/a>, Alfred Peter Conteh, congratulated the re-elected incumbent, President Bio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The controversy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hours after the announcement of the election\u2019s results by the Chief Commissioner of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL)<\/a>, \u201cJeffrey Smith @Smith_JeffreyT<\/a>\u201d tweeted that the Government of the United States of America and its Embassy in Freetown had not endorsed the presidential elections\u2019 results announced by the national returning officer. He added that the US reps would not attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Bio.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tweet reads in part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAppears the U.S. Government and embassy in SierraLeone won\u2019t endorse the election result as announced, which declared incumbent president Bio as the winner (with 1% over the required threshold).\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Twitter user also states that the United States Representatives in the country have resolved not to attend the official swearing-in-ceremony of the president-elect \u2013 Dr Maada Bio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUS reps will not attend the swearing-in<\/em>,\u201d the release indicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Due to the crucial subject matter of the tweet and the pace at which the tweet has been circulated on social media, DUBAWA decided to verify the contents of the tweet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States Embassy in Freetown’s response to @Jeffrey’s claim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA contacted a member of the U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Alhassan Jalloh<\/a>, who vehemently dissociated the Embassy from the said statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On WhatsApp, he told DUBAWA that the Embassy would issue a statement in due time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of the WhatsApp conversation between the Embassy staff and the DUBAWA Researcher.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Embassy’s position concerning the outcome of June 24 2023, presidential poll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researcher also discovered the official statement issued jointly on behalf of the US, UK and EU, as seen here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the verification, m@Smith_JefferyT does not officially represent the position of the U.S. government or the Embassy in Sierra Leone.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: The Government of the United States of America and the U.S. Embassy in Freetown will not endorse the recently announced presidential poll results that declared the incumbent president of Sierra Leone the winner of the June 24 2023, polls. Verdict: False. Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the GoUSA has issued any statement discrediting the results of June 24, 2023, presidential polls announced by the country\u2019s electoral body Chief Commissioner. Full Text Sierra Leone \u2013 a small State located in West Africa, held its sixth democratic multi-tier elections on Saturday, June 24 2023, in which 13 political parties contested for the highest seat in the country.\u00a0 The incumbent President Julius Maada Wonnie Bio of the ruling Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party (SLPP), was declared \u2018winner\u2019 of the controversial polls. The country\u2019s National Returning Officer, Mr Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, announced Dr Bio winner of the election. He defeated his closest contender for the second time, securing 56.17 per cent leaving the main opposition party\u2019s leader \u2013 Dr Samuara Kamara, who secured 41.16 % of the votes.\u00a0\u00a0 What happened after the announcement of the presidential results? Shortly after the declaration, some presidents sent congratulatory messages to the re-elected President Bio, as evidenced here and here. On the contrary, congratulatory messages from opposition political parties in the country have not been forthcoming; even the main party in the political race, the All People\u2019s Congress (APC) party, has denounced President Bio\u2019s re-election tagging it as a \u201cstolen victory.\u201d However, the former Interim Chairman of the APC Transitional Committee, Alfred Peter Conteh, congratulated the re-elected incumbent, President Bio. The controversy Hours after the announcement of the election\u2019s results by the Chief Commissioner of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL), \u201cJeffrey Smith @Smith_JeffreyT\u201d tweeted that the Government of the United States of America and its Embassy in Freetown had not endorsed the presidential elections\u2019 results announced by the national returning officer. He added that the US reps would not attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Bio.\u00a0 The tweet reads in part: \u201cAppears the U.S. Government and embassy in SierraLeone won\u2019t endorse the election result as announced, which declared incumbent president Bio as the winner (with 1% over the required threshold).\u201d  The Twitter user also states that the United States Representatives in the country have resolved not to attend the official swearing-in-ceremony of the president-elect \u2013 Dr Maada Bio.  \u201cUS reps will not attend the swearing-in,\u201d the release indicated.  Verification  Due to the crucial subject matter of the tweet and the pace at which the tweet has been circulated on social media, DUBAWA decided to verify the contents of the tweet.   The United States Embassy in Freetown’s response to @Jeffrey’s claim DUBAWA contacted a member of the U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Alhassan Jalloh, who vehemently dissociated the Embassy from the said statement. On WhatsApp, he told DUBAWA that the Embassy would issue a statement in due time, U.S. Embassy’s position concerning the outcome of June 24 2023, presidential poll The researcher also discovered the official statement issued jointly on behalf of the US, UK and EU, as seen here. Conclusion From the verification, m@Smith_JefferyT does not officially represent the position of the U.S. government or the Embassy in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[5,1571,1268],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3442],"class_list":["post-15343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-fact-check","category-sierra-leone"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-3Zt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3442,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"fayia-j-moseray","display_name":"Fayia J. 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