Claim: An online media platform Sierraloaded has alleged on Facebook that 100 ballot papers had “gone missing” at the FSSG polling centre.
Findings
DUBAWA’s fact-checker was present at the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG), Centre No: 1676 – Brookfields. Contrary to claims that 100 ballot papers had “gone missing,” our fact checker found that the papers were rather in short supply in polling centres 7 and 8. There are a total of nine polling stations in that centre.
The polling centre managers would not speak to the fact-checker. However, Ibrahim Kolleh Bangura and Sylvester Sumaila, who are party agents of the two main parties, APC & SLPP, confirmed to DUBAWA that the ballot papers were in short supply. According to them, instead of 300 ballot papers for each station, the ECSL officials supplied 200 each, meaning both stations had a shortage of 100 each.
DUBAWA equally spoke to an Observer representing the Council of Churches Sierra Leone (CCSL), a credible religious institution in the country, who refused to disclose his identity. The observer said the papers were not “missing;” what occurred was a shortage of ballot papers. However, the ECSL officials brought the remaining 100 ballot papers each for both polling stations.
VERDICT: Misleading
