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Politician Entry, Selection, and Performance Project in Sierra

Leone

FINAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Period covered: 1 October 2017 to 30thJune2018

Contacts:

Joseph Jimmy Sankaituah Charline Burton

Country Director, Sierra Leone Regional Program Manager West Africa

[email protected] [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Politician Entry, Selection, and Performance Project– Final Report (1 October 2017– June 30, 2018)

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Table of content

1. Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 3

2. Project Activities implemented.......................................................................................................... 3

I. Project launch workshop ................................................................................................................ 4

II. Identify and Recruit Moderators ................................................................................................... 4

III. Identify and Sign Memorandum of Understanding with Radio Stations ..................................... 5

IV. Identify and Recruit Community Mobilizers ........................................................................... 6

V. Mobilization of logistics............................................................................................................... 7

Organize 46 Intra Party Town Hall Debates. ................................................................................ 7

VI. ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

VII. Organize and film 45 Parliamentary Candidates Debates ..................................................... 8

VIII. Organize Public Debate Screenings and Post-Debates Dialogue Sessions in 90

Communities. ....................................................................................................................................... 9

IX. Facilitate Cinema Hall Screening of Inter Party Parliamentary Debates. ................................. 10

X. Broadcast Debates on Community Radio Networks .................................................................. 13

XI. Organize Social Media Debate Platforms using Facebook and WhatsApp .............................. 14

XII. Organize Retreat for Debates Projects ..................................................................................... 15

3. How Challenges, Risks, Ethical Concerns and Problems faced were mitigated ............................. 16

4. Key outcomes achieved under the project ....................................................................................... 19

5. Success Stories captured under the project ...................................................................................... 19

6. Financial Reporting Results ............................................................................................................. 21

7. Appendices ........................................................................................................................................ 1


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1. Summary

This project spanned from October 2017 to June 2018 and was implemented by Search for Common Ground

(Search) in Sierra Leone with funding from Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

This final narrative report summarizes the implementation of the project’s activities, their outcomes and

results; with highlights of success stories and achievements. It also covers how risks, problems and ethical

concerns encountered during the course of the project were mitigated and rectified.

Search, during the course of this project had the goal to “contribute to better governance of constituencies

through citizens’ participation in the electoral process in Sierra Leone”. This goal was achieved through

a collaborative action done in partnership with the Innovation for Poverty Actions, the International Growth

Centre(IGC) and the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC). In order to achieve the goal, the

main focused was on achieving the two outcomes below:

1. Citizens influence party candidates’ selection in their constituencies

2. Voters are better informed of their candidate’s policy plans in targeted constituencies

Working to achieve the first outcome, Search and its partners organized 43 Intra Party Town Hall Debates

at the constituency level in the presence of party supporters and executives. This activity was intended to

facilitate voters ability to make informed decision on who to select as their parliamentary candidate for the

general and presidential elections on 7th March 2018. These town hall debates targeted 75 audience

participants each, to witness the process but ended up attracting far more than that number. Search in order

to actualize the second outcome, took the lead to organize and film 45 Parliamentary candidates debates

in 45 randomly selected constituencies. Search also organized public screenings of these debates were held

in 94 communities within 45 targeted constituencies followed by a facilitated dialogue after each screening.

Within the project duration, Search reached about 818,039 direct and indirect beneficiaries through town

hall debates, public screening and radio. From this figure, 35,797 were assumed to be directly beneficiaries

either through the intra party town hall debates or through the public debate screenings. In further

disaggregation, the outreach sessions reached out to about 3,738 males and 1,694 females who were in the

audience of the Intra party Town Hall Debates. Also, through radio broadcasts of the debates, an

approximate total of 782,242 citizens were reached in 88 constituencies; 43 Intra party and 45 inter party.

While Search and partners were successful in implementing all planned activities, there were some

challenges and hitches faced in the process of the implementation. This did not come as a surprise because

of the nature and time bound constraints of the project. Search and its partners were strong to brace through

these challenges together swiftly to achieve the ultimate goal of project.

2. Project Activities implemented

The two major activities in this project were; the conduct of intra party Town Hall Debates for political

parties’ primary selection process and the Inter party parliamentary candidates debates. However, there


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were a host of other sub-activities that were put together in a single implementation package to ensure that

the goal for which this project was implemented be achieved with little challenges. Details of these activities

have been provided in the November to December 2017, January to 15th March 2018 and 16th to 31st March

2018 reports already submitted to IPA.

i. Project launch workshop

On 9th November 2017 Search organized its project launch protocol as an inception discussion of the debate

project. The project launch workshop has been a practice in Search to give project staff and stakeholders

the orientation they need to improve their understanding of the project logic, contract terms and budget.

The meeting was facilitated by Search’s Regional Programme Manager who was in the country to support

programme management. The participants of the workshop include programme staff of Search Sierra

Leone and representative of IPA and IGC. Primarily, the meeting was set to achieve the follow outputs:

- To orientate the new project staffs and other stakeholders about the overall logic of the project,

the terms of the contract and the available budget

- To ensure that all stakeholders – Search, IPA and IGC have the same understanding of the entire

scope of the project

- To review project activities and match them against implementation strategy

To clarify all doubts that might be on the minds of stakeholders, the project launch workshop set the stage

for an open conversation between Search and its partners. It also provided useful guidance and

highlighted the activities and deliverables to be achieved. Finally, the workshop clarified the

implementation strategy, the importance of meeting deadlines in light of the sensitivity of this project.

Search’s project launch protocol terms and condition was fulfilled, and the outcome documented

ii. Identify and Recruit Moderators

On the 10th and 11th of November 2017, Search engaged thirteen (13) local media practitioners from various

radio and television stations across Sierra Leone in a two days comprehensive workshop on debate

moderation and facilitation. Aside from the two days training, these Moderators went through a profile scan

using their curriculum vitae to ensure they were not partisan and that they were credible enough to be

viewed as neutral in the discharge of their roles as political debate moderators. In the recruitment process,

orientation meetings were held at Search with the moderators, where their expected roles of impartiality

were discussed. A memorandum of understanding was signed with these moderators to further concretize

the agreement of maintaining non-partisan stance

when executing their duties. The training also

attracted 10 PPRC staff from the regions as

participants and also stakeholders given the role of

PPRC in the elections.

Table 1: Participants for Moderators Training

# Activity Date Location Participants


5

Total Male Female Youth PWDs

1

Identify and Recruit

Debate Moderators

Nov 10,

2017

Javouhey

House 23 14 9 5 0

Search also conducted a refresher training for moderators and facilitators in the second half of the project.

This event had to do with the Parliamentary Candidate debates that were filmed and later screened.

Inasmuch as they were trained as far back as in November and also because the methodology and or

approach used in the intra party was slightly different from the Inter party, Search saw the need to conduct

a fresher training for the moderators which took place on 5th February 2018 at Search’s office. This refresher

training was organized to refresh Moderators and Facilitators of the debates specifically highlighting the

sensitivity of their roles as we move to the elections. It also created an atmosphere for them to share key

lessons from the intra-party debates and reach an agreement on how to mitigate unraveled challenges,

should they surface in the course of the inter party Parliamentary candidate debates. The training had 10

moderators (4 female and 6 male) and 5 facilitators, with Yuen Ho, Chiara Amato of IPA and the Project

Officer, Media Coordinator and Producer of Search to support the process.

Table 2: Participants for Moderators/Facilitators Refresher Training



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Refresher Training of

Moderators and

facilitators

5th

Feb

2018

Search

Office 15 9 6 13 0

iii. Identify and Sign Memorandum of Understanding with Radio Stations

The success of this project was largely hinged on the media; precisely the Independent Radio Network

(IRN) with whom Search for Common Ground had an established partnership. A Memorandum of

Understanding was signed by Search and each of the sixteen (16) Radio Stations of the IRN to pre-record

and broadcast intra party debates and to air the audio version of the parliamentary debates in the targeted

constituencies. Key elements of the part MOU included:

- the stations to nominate one staff to be assigned to Search for the period of the project and be

available when needed

- the stations should share airing schedule of the debates which was used to monitor the airing

- should reason arise to change the airing schedule of the debates for reasons beyond the stations

control, an immediate communication should be made to Search

- if for any unforeseen reason the airing was not made at the agreed time, the assigned station staff

should air the program at the earliest convenient time and ensure the time is shared with Search

immediately

- that Search will monitor the airing of program and share the monitoring report as feedback to the

station Manager.

Table 3: List of Radio Stations and their provincial locations

# Radio Station Regional Location District Location

1 Universal Radio Western Area Freetown

2 Radio Bintumani Northern Region Koinadugu/Falaba


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3 Radio Kiss 104 Southern Region Bo

4 Voice of Kono Eastern Region Kono

5 Radio Mount Aureol Western Area Mountain Rural

6 Radio Modcar Southern Region Moyamba

7 Radio Moa Eastern Region Kailahun

8 Radio Mankneh Northern Region Bombali/Karene

9 Eastern Radio Eastern Region Kenema

10 Radio Galaxy North-west Portloko

11 Radio Kolenten Northern Region Kambia

12 Radio Wanjei Southern Region Pujehun

13 Radio Bontico Southern Region Bonthe

14 Voice of Women Southern Region Matrujong - Bonthe

15 Starline Radio Eastern Region Kenema

16 Radio Gbaft Northern Region Tonkolili

This list above shows that 16 MOUs were signed with radio stations from all districts in the country to

expand the broadcasting coverage and hence reach a larger audience beneficiaries.

iv. Identify and Recruit Community Mobilizers

For the political parties’ primaries, 100 Community/Constituency Mobilizers were identified from the

initial target of 50 constituencies, 2 from each constituency. Search used the established IRN relationship

to deploy Radio station staff in the targeted constituencies to identify willing and able young people who

know their constituencies well enough to function as Community Mobilizers. Upon identification, a short

orientation about the roles and responsibilities before and during the debates was held. Search and its

partners also saw the need for Voter Registration Centre Mobilizers, who were responsible to visit, inform

and alert selected names on the voter register on what was required of them when IPA Researchers

interrogate them during the selection of party representatives for parliamentary elections. Essentially,

because IPA reduced the target from 50 to 46 constituencies, the number of community mobilizers used

was 92 and these Community Mobilizers in turn recruited 294 VRC Mobilizers to provide additional layers

of mobilization.

In another development, Search also identified another set of 45 Community Mobilizers for the Inter party

Parliamentary debates. In the process of recruitment, the 45 Mobilizers were paired with 45 Lingua Franca

translators and were orientated on mobilizing citizens to converge for the screening of filmed debates in the

communities. The role of the translators was largely to ensuring that community people understand the

contents discussed in debates and facilitate the post-debate dialogue sessions. A field visit was conducted

by Search on 24th to 26th January 2018, with four teams in the four regions to identify and explain roles

and responsibilities of these community level partners. Below is the table show the number of mobilizers

and translators:

Table 3: Data of Moderators/Facilitators for intra party and inter party debates




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1 Identify and Recruit Community

Mobilizers for Intra Party Debates

24th

Nov,

2017

Regions 92 73 19

87

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2

Identify and Recruit Community

Mobilizers and Translators for

Inter Party Debates

24th/2

5th

Jan20

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Regions 90 67 23 90 0

v. Mobilization of logistics

The conduct of 43 intra-party, 45 Inter party debates and 94 public screenings can only be successful with

effective logistics and human resource mobilization. In order to successfully implement all activities within

the limited timeframe, Search mobilized 6 teams to conduct 43 intra party debates and 6 teams - including

a mop up team set up by IPA - to conduct 94 screenings in the targeted communities. In addition, 5 filming

crews were deployed to film the 45 debates.

Part of the logistics mobilized was fleet: 15 hired vehicles were engaged throughout the debates process. 5

were engaged separately for the primary elections debates and the filming and screening teams worked on

separate actions and therefore needed another set of vehicles. Search also hired six sets of Public Address

systems, which comprised a two-in-one amplifier and mixer system, generator and mics. Added to this

were:

- 30 pieces of visibility vests designed for field purposes.

- 5 cameras: 3 rented and 2 purchased

- 2 Computers and one DVD label printer

- 500 hundred printable DVDs to burn debates.

- 5 sets of projectors and screens

vi. Organize 46 Intra Party Town Hall Debates.

On 27th November 2017 the first set of intra party debates were conducted in Sierra Leone to inform citizens

and political parties in the selection/awarding of symbols to potential parliamentary candidates. These

remarkable events were replicated in other randomly identified constituencies in the country, amounting to

43. Search and its partners could not reach the target of 46 because both the SLPP and APC parties refused

to hold three debates in constituencies 5, 47 and 52.

Conducting these debates did not only increase citizens’ access to information about their potential

candidates, but also influenced party

candidates’ selection. It was also a

platform for party candidates to

convince citizens and party

executives about their suitability for

the position of Member of

Parliament. In past, political parties

would award symbols to party

members not because they merited it,

but because they either had influence

on party executive or they had more


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money buy their way their political process leaving those who were genuinely qualified to make it on their

party’s ticket.

The intra party debate secondary motive was to ensure the outcome of the survey conducted by IPA is sent

to the political party executives on time so political parties hopefully use it to make their decision-making

easier for candidate selection. Search was able to reach a total of 5,251 beneficiaries (3,577 males, 1674

females, 846 youth males and 311 youth females, exceeding the set target by 1,801).

Table 4: Number of Beneficiaries reached in the Intra Party debates

# Activity Date Location Participants/Beneficiaries


1

Organize 46 Intra Party

Town Debates

27th Nov to

30 Dec 2017

Constitue

ncies 5251 3577 1674 1157 N/A

vii. Organize and film 45 Parliamentary Candidates Debates

Search with support from IPA embarked on organizing 45 parliamentary candidates’ debates in 45

constituencies, in a way to engage both the citizens and the political candidate of select political parties in

information sharing. Due to the sensitivities of the March 7 General and Presidential elections with potential

for violence, the debates between candidates were designed to take place in closed doors with no audience

while the camera focus on the candidates. With the political parties’ consent, the debates were filmed, edited

and later screened in the targeted communities. For that purpose, five debate-filming crews were equipped

and deployed for purpose of going to where the candidates were to conduct the filming.

Search and its teams conducted the filming of debates in 45 constituencies in Bo, Kenema, Kailahun, Kono,

Pujehun, Bonthe, Moyamba,Kambia, Portloko, Karene, Koinadugu, Tonkolili and Bombali. This event

attracted a lot of political parties although the survey aspect of the project did not have rooms for all the

parties that expressed interest. In line with that, a total of 12 political parties participated in the debates with

159 candidates represented.

Table 5: political Parties and their number of representations in the intra party debates

# Political Party No. of Debaters

1 Sierra Leone People’s Party – SLPP 33

2 All People’s Congress – APC 33

3 Coalition for Change – C4C 10

4 Alliance Democratic Party – ADP 20

5 National Grand Coalition – NGC 21

6 Citizens Democratic party – CDP 20

7 People’s Movement for Democratic Change - PMDC 6

8 People’s Liberation Party – PLP 2

9 Independent Candidates 7

10 Unity Party – UP 2

11 UNPP – United National People’s Party 1

12 National People’s Democrat – NPD 4

Due to the tight electoral calendar, which provided limited time for political parties to award symbols,

nominate parliamentary candidates and start their campaigns couple with weak capacity of some political


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parties to have representatives in all 132 constituencies the APC and SLPP were seen dominating the debate

platform.

Table 7: Participants of the Parliamentary Debates

# Activity Date Location Participants/Beneficiaries


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Organize 46 Intra Party

Town Debates

7th Feb

2018

Constitue

ncies 159 149 10 15 N/A

viii. Organize Public Debate Screenings and Post-Debates Dialogue Sessions in 90 Communities.

During peak of the project cycle, elections events had taking over the entire country and tensions were

mounting as the search for information from citizens was growing day by day. Search and its partners,

realizing that the Presidential debate had given so much information to Sierra Leoneans about their potential

Presidents and leaving little room for information about potential parliamentarians, set up 6 screening teams

to cascade the filmed debates to the people in the constituencies as quickly as possible.

Screenings of these debates at constituency level started on 15th February, through to 4th March 2018. There

were 90 screenings conducted within 20 days. In addition, the IPA Research team request rescreening in

four additional communities to enhance their RCT process. This was largely due to poor turnout in the first

set of locations in those constituencies. The research team advice that a separate set of communities in the

same constituencies be used for the four-screening paid for by IPA. This increase the number of screenings

to 94.

In concrete terms, the screenings took place as

follow: The screening teams would enter the

screening locations in the morning and announce

their presence to the local authorities (the Chief, the

police, the youth leader, the religious leaders and the

women). Screenings were scheduled to start at 7:00

pm in each location and because the teams would be

in the communities 8 hours earlier, the Community

Mobilizers and the Lingua Franca Translators would move around the Voter Registration location and its

catchment towns to inform people about the screening. Search would also mount the PA system on the

vehicles to announce around the towns and call people to attend the Screening in the evening. This action

by Search and the Community Mobilizers was repeated twice before the Screening. At 7:00 pm while night

begins to fall, the stage was set with elections jingles been played to remind people of the location and time.

The music would first attract children, whom the elders would send with their benches and chairs and later

they would show up. In some location the town people would speak to the school authorities to bring out

their furniture so that the screening could host more people.

At the start of each screening session, the lead facilitator from Search would explain the purpose of the

screening to the audience and explain to them the purpose of the screening and expectations of the screening

team after the screening. Therefore, before the screening ends, the watching audience knew there would be

a dialogue session, for which some would even note what the speakers say in the debates. After every

screening session in the 94 screening locations, a post screening dialogue session was held with the audience

for a period between 20 to 30 minutes as the case maybe.


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In some instances, the citizens were divided into two groups headed by a community volunteer to lead the

discussions and after they had put together answers to the questions asked by the Screening Facilitators, the

leader of those groups would come forward and present their answers to everyone in the audience. In other

instances after the screening, Search Facilitators would pose questions to the public, using the microphone

and request anyone in the audience to come forward and answer. The process was very interactive as

audience members used the forum to send messages to the candidates. Some participants before answering

questions would declare openly the political party to which they have an allegiance. In other cases,

candidates were hailed for their splendid performance and others were criticize for their poor showing in

the debate. In most, the praise and criticism will depend on who is speaking at the time. Sometimes, it will

depend on which party stronghold the discussion is taking place. There were several dynamics that interplay

in both the screening and the facilitated dialogue. Important elements were the opportunity for citizens to

give feedback about their impression with the performance of the candidates, but also about their policy

priorities as presented.

Table 7: Political Parties Participants in the Parliamentary Debates



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Organize and film 45

Parliamentary

Candidates Debates

14th Feb to

4th Mar

2018

Constitue

ncies 30,365 N/A N/A N/A N/A

The above table indicates the average attendance of viewers to the public screening of debates. The

screening teams could only capture head counts as members of the communities would come and go at any

time during the screening. There was a time during the screening when large crowd would appear and after

a while some would retire home and a new set of people would show up. Based upon this experience, the

teams were instructed to do head count when the attendance was stable for at least 30 minutes. To

disaggregate male from female and youth in an open public event can prove is very difficult as people are

always moving in and out of the audience. On the average, there was around 30, 365 people who were reach

with the debates with a minimum average attendance of 362.

ix. Facilitate Cinema Hall Screening of Inter Party Parliamentary Debates.

The project team found innovative ways to increase the number of viewers of the debates. Owing to the

fact that most community people are of voting age largely engaged with livelihood activities during the day

and would use the time set aside for screening time food for their family, an alternative option was created

– cinema hall screening. Search and partners facilitated two cinema hall screenings in each constituency

when the screening team would have left. The cinema owners were supported with fuel so that they would

screen the debates minimum three times with different audience if possible. The Community Mobilizers’

were tasked with the responsibilities of ensuring that the cinema owners adhere to the three-screening

commitment agreed with them and send a feedback to the Project team.

In addition, IPA also created another set of screening where some citizens of high stature were invited to

an agreed-upon time for a screening. Those invited to the screening were required to answer a set of

structured questions. This provided another layer of information about candidates’ policy priorities for

citizens to choose from.


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x. Organize Post Screening Dialogue Sessions on Inter Party Debates

After every screening session in the 94 screening locations, a post screening dialogue was observed, where

the audience who were present up to the end of the screening were engaged for 20 to 30 minutes as the

situation presented itself. In some instances, the citizens were divided into two groups headed by a

community volunteer to lead the discussions and after they had put together answers to the questions asked

by the Screening Facilitators, the leader of these groups would come forward and present their answers to

everyone in the screening area. In other instances, after the screening, Search Facilitators would pose four

questions to the public, using the microphone to request anyone from the audience to come forward and

answer those questions. The process was very interactive as people use the forum to send messages to the

candidates. Some participants before answering questions would declare openly the political party to which

he has allegiance.

These are a sample of the questions asked during the discussion and feedback document from the

Audiences:

A) The issues to be prioritized as discussed by the Parliamentary candidates are they similar to what

you have in mind as first concerns? If no what are your pressing concerns?

Reported Answers as direct quotes from the participants:

- “The speakers said a lot about education and health, but they failed to touch the most critical part

in both sectors; accessibility of the most vulnerable to these facilities. We need whosoever wins in

Constituency 073 to pay attention to those who cannot afford the means to access health or

education facilities” – Nurse Mariatu Kamara.

- “Community teachers are priority in this MakobaBana Constituency 050. Although the Candidates

have said much about what they would do to improve education, they have not said anything about

Community teachers’ benefit” – Foday K. Kargbo

- “When asked the first question about priority issues, our politicians spoke well to bring education

to our people, failing to realize that most

of the youth in constituency 27 are

miners, education is fine but let them

helps us with fine mining laws so that we

see the fruit of our labour”. Sahr Senesie

Youth leader

In most of the communities, the priorities

outlined by the candidates were in line with what

the audience felt was important to them. The

audiences appreciated the debates because it

provided them a formal platform for the

candidates to speak to them about their plans.

B) “What interest you most in this debate?”

was the second question asked to the audience. Below are some quotes from the attendance:

• “What interest me most in this debate is the issue about the Constituency Development Fund,

I never knew this amount of money is being given to our parliamentarians every year and if

they have been having this money I have never seen or heard about a project they had done

with this money. I want to thank Search and IPA for this screening. I now know what to ask,

whom to ask, where and when to ask about this fund” – KombaKaigbanja Constituency 024,


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Kombayendeh(This response came up in almost all the dialogue sessions conducted after the

debates). It was a surprised to most of the audience members to hear about constitutency

Development Funds.

• “The fact that Sierra Leone has started having forum of such nature, where politicians and the

citizens would have face-to-face discussion, is the most interesting part for me” – AbieBockarie

Constituency 016

• It will be important for Search and IPA to ensure that the candidates are brought to our

community to sit with them and hold them accountable for their commitments.

C) “What did you not know that this debate has brought to your knowledge?” Was the third question

asked, and here are some illustrative answers:

• “I have never met the candidates before and in these debates, I have had one singular

opportunity to see them” – Kaifala Jamiru

• “I never knew about the Constituency Facilitation Fund” – Kaifala Jamiru

• “From this debate I can tell some of the duties of a Parliamentarian, which I did not know

before; thanks to the organizers”.

D) “What do you think about the debate before election?” Was the last question asked to the audience?

Gathering from the field reports, it was clear that citizens had mixed feelings about the debates and

expressed that in different manner. These feeling cannot be quoted but summarized in the following

points:

• It is the best way to bring the plans of the politicians to the people and take the peoples’

concerns to the politicians.

• The debates before elections were generally considered a fine idea but people raised concern

of its limitations; why did the project covered only selected constituencies.

• Other people did not like the screening part of the event but wanted a live show of all the

candidates in their constituencies, so that they have the opportunity to ask them direct

questions.

• They fact that all the political parties were not represented got some audience members

disappointed.

• Having debates before elections is not common it will be appreciated more if local councils

and other constituencies are part of the debate events.

• For accountability purposes, those who will be elected should come back to us so that we can

ask them about the plans that they have outlined

Below are some questions raised from the audience:

• “What measures would Search and IPA take against candidates who did not take part in the

debates?”

• “We have six political parties in Constituency 075, why are only four in the debates?”

• “Why was the debate brought to us at this time, if we had seen and heard this people long before

now, we should not have supported them to represent the party””

• “Are you going to screen the precedential debates as well?”

• “Are you going to screening Local Council Debates as well?”

• “Why are the main political Parties missing in the debates?” (question asked in some debates)


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xi. Broadcast Debates on Community Radio Networks

There was another strategy designed to reach a wide range of listenership across the constituencies through

community radio partners. The intra and inter party debates were aired on several community partner

stations so as to widen the reach of the audience. To ensure that this is achieved, Search for Common

Ground engaged 16 radio stations across the country and one staff of each of these stations was assigned to

Search for the project period. For the intra party debates, the radio station staff was responsible to be

available at the debate location and ensure the debates segment of the event is recorded. In other words, the

opening courtesies that take precedence in any community gathering was not to be part of the broadcast, so

that the listeners would only hear the essential elements of the debates.

These radio station staff had simple instructions not to edit the details discussed but ensure that the back

noise during the deliberations is reduced. Four to five hours before the debates were aired, the anchoring

radio station staff would perpetually announce to the public the time of the airing so that the listening public

will tuned their radio to the station and listen to the debate.

Eighty-eight constituencies were the primary targets for the project (both intra and inter party

constituencies) but one cannot deny anyone outside those targeted constituencies to listen to program that

interest them most. In essence and considering the wide coverage areas which these stations have, we are

with the assumption that more citizens listened than expected to these debates. The very reason why citizens

in other constituencies (constituency executives and other community stakeholders) kept calling Search

office before the debates ended to have their own aspirants and parliamentary candidates ‘debates. Some

radio stations called Search and requested partnership for hosting debate on their station.

Search ensured that at least two stations from each region were engaged to broadcast debates and this

method was employed in order to have citizens from every region in the country to get a feel of the debates

even when they were not part of the targeted constituencies in the project. In line with this, using a data

culled from www.awakonews.com detailing the registered voters’ distribution by district, we realized that

all districts put together in the North amount to 998,760, South 620,826, Western Area 890,152 and East

619,229. Assuming that between 20-25% of the registered voters listened to these debates regionally, the

following could be the assumed number of persons who listened:

- East – 619,229/100x05 = 154,807

- West – 890,152/100x25 = 222,538

- North – 998,760/100x25 = 249,690

- South – 620,826/100x25 = 155,207

Total 782,242

With the above assumption and building on the below graph, we can proudly say that there was a

satisfactory number of people who listen to the debate. This is also true for the fact that Sierra Leone has a

high radio listernership ratio as opposed to other forms of media. There on the about 782,242 who we

assumed listen to the debate. This number is far above our initial projection for both debates. This also true

because we had some of the widely listened to radio station airing the debate. Among this number were the

second voter interview Respondents (V2), those who responded to IPA survey enumerators during the intra

party debates in November and December 2017.

http://www.awakonews.com/


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Figure 1: 2017 voter Registration Chart culled from awoko news website

xii. Organize Social Media Debate Platforms using Facebook and WhatsApp

Debate as part of the election process was totally unfamiliar in our Sierra Leone settings and people’s

response toward it was very slow especially during the run off to the intra party debates. However, the wide

publicity of the presidential debate on forty radio stations and three television stations contributed to setting

the stage for an impressive showing of interest towards the debates. In additional to the publicity, the

presidential debate outcome left in the minds of citizens strong impression that influence citizens and

candidates ‘mobilization for the parliamentary candidates’ debates screening, resulting to positive

mobilization of viewers. During the screening of debates, topics discussed were shared in the social media

platform to provoke other general discussion among Facebook and whatsApp users.

The Debate Project Officer worked with the M&E, Media and Technical Units of Search to facilitate

discussions in the social media platforms about the debates. Search has a Social Media Editorial Committee

which provides editorial support to all social media publication and engagement. They ensure that sensitive

topics, newsletters and other forms of messaging were appropriate and user friendly before been published.

A WhatsApp page for the Debate project was created and monitored by the Project Officer to moderate

discussions around topics or matters arising from the debates (intra party and inter party).

These social media platforms were used as:

● Platforms to enhance the understanding of social media users about the importance of debates

amongst and between candidates

● Forum to publicize the dates and venues of the conduct of debates and screening in specified

Voter Registration Centers in the constituencies.

● Forum to disseminate messages to Community Mobilizers, Screening Facilitators, constituency

Stakeholders and Party executives

● To collect important data about party executives contacts, venues and availability of some

candidates

● To facilitate coordination and information sharing between and amongst implementing partners

and teams in the field

Harvesting citizens’ perspectives and stand points from the discussions on Facebook and WhatsApp, it was

discovered that:


15

● Some people had fixed mindset in relation to the political set up in the country; they believe

that the debate would not change voting by region, race, or tribe;

● Some contributors believed that if the debates could have a nationalistic outlook and be made

a statutory event in the election cycle, then the impact would be greater;

● From another angle, some thought that having debates in Political Parties primary election or

selection for party symbol should have more impact than the inter-party debates;

● Other schools of thought held the view that debates would upgrade our democracy and would

eventually change people’s perception on regional or tribal allegiance to vote representative

into governance;

● The debate was perceived by some as a novelty that can bring a change to the country’s

democracy.

In addition to the Social media platforms, Frontline SMS software was used to send mass messages to

citizens about the debates at one click of a button.

xiii. Lessons learn Retreat for Debates Projects

Over 33 days period, 43 intra party debates were organized involving political aspirants from the same

party. This was aired on 16 partner radio stations. In 15 days, 45 parliamentary candidates inter party

debates were filmed in targeted constituencies and in 18 days these filmed debates were edited, burned to

DVDs and sent to 94 communities for screening follow by a post screening facilitated dialogues within the

same period. The debate was aired on the 16 radio station partners, covering a wide range of listenership.

To reflect on these successes, a team comprising partner representatives of Search, IPA and IGC were asked

to organize a lesson learnt session that would bring all actors together to reflect on the programme,

challenges and lesson for futured engagement around

debates in Sierra Leone political landscape.

On March 28, 2018 a one-day lesson learn session

was held at the Hill Valley Hotel, Freetown. The

meeting brought together representative from the

project partners – IPA, Search, IGC and other projects

that also directly related to debate including the

Presidential Debate Committee chaired by Search, a

USAID Sierra Leone Elections Dialogue Series

project which had town hall style debate for

candidates in forty-five constituencies. Each project

was asked to make a presentation about their strategy,

successes and challenges so that lessons learned can

be documented for future reference. The report is

available upon request. See the table below that

shows attendance:

Table 8: Data for retreat participants



Retreat session IPA, Search and IGC Staff


16

Retreat 28thMarch

2018

Freetown

Hill Valley Hotel 37 32 5 11 0

3. How Challenges, Risks, Ethical Concerns and Problems faced were

mitigated

The project had a range of activities, which could not be carried out without encountering issues along the

process. At the same time, every challenge, problem or risk has a surmounting solution. This is presented

in the below table.

Challenges, Risks, Ethical

Concerns and Problems

faced

Commentary Corrective Action taken

Community Mobilization During the first two days of

Screening, there was poor

communication and audience

due to poor coronation

An urgent meeting was called at Search

Office attended by IPA, IGC and Search

project team to discuss the underlying

reason and decide to address the issue.

In that meeting it was agreed that SMS

messages be sent to the registered voters

two hours before the screening teams

arrived and that all teams should embark

on community mobilization using the

Public Address systems, while the

Community Mobilizers move around

surrounding towns and villages. It was

also agreed that IPA and Search teams

coordinate properly by sharing

information about locations and action

being taken in each locality

Tight timelines The projects activities were

tied to the elections

timetable, some activities

could not begin without

National Electoral

Commission declaring the

start of campaign for example

To allow us to achieve the target of

delivering 45 shooting and 90

screenings, the video shooting, editing

and screening teams had to be increased

Getting some candidates of

the two main political

parties to attend the debates

Most candidates of APC and

SLPP, initially viewed the

debates as a distraction from

their campaign schedule.

Some chose not to attend

The Filming teams had to spent hours

waiting for these two large party

candidates to consent their participation

in both the filming and Survey. Some

were filmed separately and later joined

together during the editing

Using the Lingua Franca as

the medium of

communication in the

debate

Some candidates refused

initially to participate

because the debates were

moderated in Krio

The filming crew used party executives

with whom the project has

communicated to persuade their

candidates to attend

Filming some

parliamentary candidates

separately

Due to the strategy of the

survey, it was mandatory that

SLPP and APC are filmed in

The screening teams were advice to

preview the DVD and if candidates were

merged, they should have time to


17

the Inter party debates

especially when the debates

are in their strongholds. The

filming teams had

instructions to film SLPP and

APC candidates separately if

they had done all they could

to have them together but

failed. The final product was

seeing by some candidates

who did not see these two

parties during the actual

filming as manipulation and

threatening to stop the

screening. They claimed IPA

and Search were partisans

and supporters of these two

big parties.

explain to the audience why a candidate

who was not present during filming was

in the final product. In cases where

candidates protested, the issue was

brought to the attention of the Project

Officer who engaged with the concern

candidate and in some cases, the

candidates were invited to Search office

to view the raw footage.

Timely access to Data like:

list of targeted

constituencies, list of

parliamentary candidates…

The two main political parties

– It was difficult in some

cases to get document from

SLPP and APC intended to

provide information for

planning and execution of the

project

. There were two colleagues- IPA and

IGC in charge of working with these two

parties to ensure that information was

supplied to facilitate planning and

execution of the project

Bias Political Parties

Constituency Executives

Some Constituency

Executives during the Intra

Party engagement, passed on

information about the debates

only to Aspirants they

favoured thinking that if they

kept the information away

from those who they did not

favour, their favoured

candidate would be in the

advantage

Upon receiving such complaints from

the marginalized groups, the Project

Officer would provide all the

information needed for the debates to

the complainants.

When complaints of this nature were

made, the project officer took up extra

time and resources to provide the need

information to the complainants. This is

intended to ensure that the project did

not get off track.

Furious youths stopping

Intra Party Debates

There were isolated cases

where debate teams were

threatening by angry youth

who did not want their

incumbent parliamentarian to

participate in the debate

because they claimed that MP

has done nothing. Their

understanding was that the

debate was meant to award

symbol to candidate so once

they took place, the

incumbent would be

awarded.

Search lead facilitators had to take up

time to explain the nature and scope of

the debate and what the outcome will be

at the end. This provided some level of

assurance to the angry youth to allow the

debate to take place without disruption.


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Risks

Transportation of DVDs to

Screening Teams

At the height of the project

and because of the tight

timeline, the screening team

could not wait until the

debates were edited, they had

to start with available DVDs

and wait in the communities

for the subsequent debates

editions. This was a little

scary, especially in the event

that there was a breakdown

with the editing equipment.

Search and IPA introduced another field

team responsible to transport the edited

debates in DVDs to the Screening teams

pre-positioned in the field.

Traveling across

unanticipated rivers

without protective gears

There were cases where IPA,

Search staff and the

Moderators had to use locally

made canoes to reach debate

locations

Staff who were bold enough went across

to and from the community leaving the

vehicles at the mercy of the jungle.

Hired vehicles with hired

Drivers

Hired vehicle drivers were

reported as not following

instructions from the team

lead. This led to an accident

in the process with one team,

leaving team members

injured in the Bo Districts

area

In this case most of the proffered actions

taken did not solve the problem. In

future Search Vehicle policy would be

given to the vendor and if not followed,

they will be replaced.

Health Issues There were no health

coverage for team members

who were at risk once their

water ran out of stock. In

some cases, team member

had to resort to drinking from

local wells which led to

vomiting and stool

They were advised to locate the nearest

health centre for medical attention and

ensure they return with the bills

Mechanical problems with

vehicles

Due to the quantity of

vehicles that were required

especially during the peak of

the elections period, it was

difficult to carefully assessed

the road worthfulness of

hired vehicles for the

mission. There were tries and

mechanical issues

Drivers and Technical men had to travel

far distances to repair tires and or look

for mechanics to fix vehicle so that the

activities are not delayed

Ethical Concerns

Community Entry

Protocols

Overwhelmed with the

activities in the field, some

teams failed to observe the

traditional community entry

protocols and went straight

Project Officer through WhatsApp

would remind the teams every day dos

and don’ts in a community. Also a form

was developed which IPA and Search

staff had to populate upon entrance in


19

into PA System Community

mobilization

any community. (A checklist to observe

the protocols)

Police Clearance At some point, police would

ask for official clearance

from their Head Quarters,

permitting the field teams to

gather people for political

reasons.

Search’s Country Director did a letter

asking the permission of the Inspector

General of Police, to carry out debate

activities. Copies of this letter were

taken along to the field.

4. Key outcomes achieved under the project

• Approximately 782,242 citizens were indirectly reached through 16 radio stations in separate intra

party and inter party occasions

• At the community dialogue sessions, citizens saw themselves directly involved in the process of

selecting the best candidate. They feel satisfied to get their voices added to the program

• 139 cinema halls screenings were conducted

• Over 30,000 citizens directly benefited from information through the screening of debates

• 12 key political parties participated in the debate and cooperated with the full execution of the

project

• Thirteen (13) seasoned Journalists were given an in-house training for two days. They were housed

for two nights and two days to be acquainted with moderation skills and the scope of the project.

• Refresher training for ten (10) Journalists - 4 female and 6 males in debate moderation and

facilitation

• Debate questions were developed and finalized with all partners and moderators

• 45 Community/Constituency Mobilizers 11 female and 34 males were identified and recruited to

support community mobilization and participation in the debate.

• 45 Lingua Franca translators recruited – 6 females and 39 males to ensure improve understanding

of the issues discussed in the debates

• 43 Town Hall Debates were conducted in selected constituencies.

• 45 debates filmed in 45 constituencies

• 159 Political party parliamentary candidates participated the debates

• 94 Screenings were conducted in 94 communities

• 100 Community/Constituency Mobilizers were identified and recruited but 92 were utilized for the

debates. Added to these, 322 VRC Mobilizers were identified and recruited by the Constituency

Mobilizers but 294 worked in the VRCs.

5. Success Stories captured under the project

The greatest success in all these was to face the challenges, the risks and problems posed by this project

and yet was able to complete the two phases - the intra party and inter events. As mentioned in the third

section of this report, every stage in the implementation process of this project had its own unique challenge


20

but the methodologies, the operation approaches, the individual zealousness and the determination

employed to see the success of the project are indeed commendable.

In spite of the aforementioned effort that culminated our success, some unique stories that emanated from

this intervention are recorded as follow:

Achievement

- Screening of the debates was set for 90 but we did 94, meaning we exceeded the expectation by

4.4%

- We had 100% of filmed debates amidst the challenges

- The percentage score for intra party debates was 93.4%

- During the course of implementation, there had been wide publicity of debates as a means to inform

citizens about their candidates and a way to have citizens participates in the process of selecting

candidates and awarding symbols. This initiative has gained wide appreciation as people advocated

for debate to be held in their constituencies o wards

- The SMS portal as means of disseminating messages to citizens about the debates added value to

the project. Largely, most citizens who received messages before the debates viewed themselves

as integral members of the community, in the sense that Internal NGOs recognized them to the

extent that messages will be sent to invite them to a debate. People felt proud to receive such

messages.

Stories

The debates opened the understanding of citizens to very large extent and to the point that some participants

walked to the screening team in private and made declarations of their allegiances and those who were bold

enough would take the microphone and openly told his mind to the community after watching the screening.

A youth leader in Gandorhun town,Gbane Chiefdom during the community dialogue session was so filled

with information so much so that he had to walk to the screening team and openly declared his for the

Coalition 4 Change (C4C) Party because according to him the APC candidate for whom he had danced did

not impress him in the debates, he seemed not to understand the issues and for him, the APC candidate if

elected would be inactive in parliament. “ I have danced for this party as you can see from the color of

my T-shirt but after watching this screened debate, I don’t think the member my party chose to represent

me in parliament would be able to deliver and represent this area well and therefore I will not vote for

him but for the one that performed well in the debate” APC Youth Leader Gandorhun Village kono District

In another setting, a woman Kabala Constituency 44 Koinadugu District had decided not to vote because

according to her the then ruling government injured her brother in a scuffle between the youth and the

police some few months ago. After watching the video of the debate she came quietly to the screening team

not bold to take the stage and asked to be anonymous. She said “I am so bitter with this government to the

point that my entire family decided not to vote in this election and not to have anything to do with politics

as far as Sierra Leone is conserved but after watching the video my mind is reset, I now know who to

vote and why to vote, from here I will call my family and explain to them what transformed me”.

In this same constituency 44 in Koinadugu, a woman was among the politicians who took part in the debate,

representing the SLPP. This woman was very outspoken and tried her best to speak to every question asked

and issues raised. Her performance ended up buying votes from the viewing crowd as was exemplified by

Assiatou Bah a first time voter who came up to the screening team and said she had been brain washed to


21

vote for the NGC party but being a woman she felt the urge after seeing the video to vote for the only

woman in the panel.

6. Financial Reporting Results

The financial report is attached to this report.

7. Appendices

Appendix 1: Project Activity Implementation Status Summary

# ACTIVITY SET TARGET TARGET

REACHED

REMARKS

OUTCOME 2: Citizens influenced Party candidates’ selection in their constituencies

0 Identify and recruit Moderators

0.1 Identify the Moderators 5 12 Completed

0.2 Hold and acquaintance meeting with

Moderators

1 1 Completed

0.3 Conduct Profile Scan of Moderators with

photos

1 1 Completed

0.4 Vet Moderators with Political Parties 1 1 Completed

0.5 Conduct two days Training sessions for

Moderators

1 1 Completed

0.6 Sign MoUs/Agreement with Moderators 1 1 Completed

1 Identify and Sign MoUs with Radio

Stations

1.1 Identify and select Radio Stations 18 18 Completed

1.2 Sign MoU with Radio Partners 18 16 2 stations did not

show up

1.3 Identify Radio Journalist 18 18 Completed

1.4 Conduct Training for Radio Journalists 18 0

1.5 Ensure Pre-advertisement of Debates

awareness

18 16 2 stations did not

show up

1.6 Ensure airing of Debates 16 16 Completed

1.7 Monitor Airing where applicable 16 16 Completed

2 Identify and Recruit Community

Mobilizers

2.1 Identify and Recruit Community Mobilizers 4 0 Completed

2.2 Invite Mobilizers to Orientation meeting 10 4 Completed

Politician Entry, Selection, and Performance Project– Final Report (November 6– March 31, 2018)

2.3 Identify and Recruit VRC Mobilizers 322 294 VRCs in Bonthe

Could not be

reached

2.4 Identify and Book Halls for Intra Party

Debates

46 43 2 Constituencies

opted out

2.5 Identify Caters for food 46 43 Completed

2.6 Conduct mobilization for Debates 46 46 Completed

3 Mobilization of Logistics

3.1 Rent five functioning vehicles on a long-

term basis – until the end of the debates

5 6 Completed

3.2 Rent five sets of PA systems, generators

etc.

5 6 Completed

3.3 Purchase one video Camera 1 1 Completed

3.4 Purchase 300 DVDs, burn, package and

distribute

300 300 Completed

3.5 Procure T-shirt, caps and Banners 1 Pending

4 Organize 46 Intra Party Town Hall

Debates

SET TARGET TARGET

REACHED

STATUS

Outcome 1:Voters are better informed of

their candidate’s policy plans in targeted

constituencies

ACTIVITY

5 Organize and film 45 Parliamentary

5.1 Identify and Recruit Debate Moderators 5 5 Completed

5.2 Develop Debate Methodology and

questions

1 1 Completed

5.3 Organize and plan meeting with moderators 1 1 Completed

5.4 Mobilization of filming and editing

equipment

1 1 All equipment

mobilized

5.5 Set up and Organize filing and editing

equipment

1 1 All equipment were

set up

5.6 Sign MoUs with Radio Stations for airing

of Debate Audios

16 16 Completed

5.7 Shoot Debates Sessions 45 45 Completed

Politician Entry, Selection, and Performance Project– Final Report (November 6– March 31, 2018)

5.8 Edit Debates Footages 45 45 Completed

5.9 Convert Videos for Screening 45 45 Completed

5.1.0 Package and Label Identification of DVDs 300 300

6 Organize Public Debate Screenings in 90

Communities

6.1 Mobilize Screening Teams and Logistics 5 5

6.2 Refresher Training of Facilitators and

Moderators

10 9 One absent

6.3 Develop and Distribute Messages to

promote debates Screenings and Build

Networks and support from local leader to

support local mobilization of citizens

2 2 Completed

6.4 Identify and Recruit Community Mobilizers

and Lingua Franca Translators to create

additional awareness and mobilize citizens

to turn out for the screenings

90 90 Completed

6.5 Debate Screening in Targeted

Constituencies

90 94 Exceed

Requirement

7 Broadcast Debates on Community Radio

Networks

7.1 Prepare Audio Version of Debates 45 45

7.2 Package and Distribute debates to Radio

stations on DVDs for airing

45 45

7.3 Monitor the airing of Debates 45 45

8 Organize Post Screening Dialogue Sessions

on Inter Party Debates

90 94 Exceed

Requirement

9 Organize Social Media Debate Platforms

using Facebook and WhatsApp

1 1 Completed

9.1 Market SFCG Facebook page and

WhatsApp groups for Targeted

Constituencies

1 1 Completed

9.2 Facilitate discussions on the message from

debates and document key discussion points

for future reference

1 1 Completed

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