By Richmond B. Tholley
Ten people have been declared eligible to contest the Paramount Chieftaincy election of Mayepoh Chiefdom in Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone.
The elections are scheduled for October 10th, 2024, in Mayepoh town, the chiefdom headquarters. The ten men were declared eligible by the Provincial Secretary of the Northeast region in a tense but peaceful Declaration of Rights Ceremony held sometime last week.
By law, one is only allowed to contest for a Paramount Chieftaincy election after being declared eligible at a Declaration of Rights Ceremony. During that occasion, the aspirant must be able to convince the authorities that he/she is a member of one of the ruling houses that has existed in the said chiefdom before 27th April 1961.
It was at the said ceremony that the ten men were declared fit to run for the Mayepoh Chiefdom’s highest traditional title.
According to the authorities, the ten men were able to convince them, and the tribal authorities have in turn admitted that they’re members of the ruling houses they all claimed to have hailed from.
They were therefore declared the candidates of the forthcoming Paramount Chieftaincy elections in Mayepoh Chiefdom.
The chiefdom was once with three other chiefdoms put together and called Gbonkolenken until it was split. The Chiefdom has been under the authority of a caretaker chief called the Regent Chief since the time it was de-amalgamated.
As it stands now, campaigns have started, and the tribal authorities, who are the electorates, are waiting to cast their votes for who they think is the next Paramount Chief of Mayepoh Chiefdom among the ten candidates.
The authorities have called for peaceful campaigns and elections and also urged candidates to unify their people.
