By Mahmud Tim Kargbo
Saturday, 14 March 2026
Political narratives often travel faster than documentary evidence.
In Sierra Leone’s post-election political landscape, the Agreement for National Unity has become the subject of competing interpretations. Some commentators have portrayed the Tripartite reform process created under the agreement as stalled or ineffective.
Yet a careful reading of implementation reports, institutional reform plans, and diplomatic records suggests a very different picture.
The documentary record indicates that the Tripartite process has moved from negotiation to implementation across multiple state institutions.
At the centre of that process stands David Moinina Sengeh, Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, who served as the Government’s chief negotiator during the dialogue that produced the Agreement for National Unity and now chairs the Tripartite Steering Committee responsible for coordinating its implementation.
Far from being static, the reform programme is unfolding through the institutional stages typical of complex democratic reform.
A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT THAT RESTORED POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
The Agreement for National Unity emerged at a moment of heightened political tension following Sierra Leone’s 2023 elections.
The temporary withdrawal of opposition participation from governance institutions raised concerns about the possibility of legislative and administrative paralysis.
Diplomatic engagement by regional and international partners helped facilitate negotiations that ultimately restored political participation and reopened channels of dialogue.
Among the organisations involved in mediation were the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations.
The agreement therefore succeeded in stabilising Sierra Leone’s democratic system at a critical political moment.
THE NEGOTIATOR AT THE CENTRE OF THE PROCESS
The Government’s chief negotiator, David Moinina Sengeh, brought an international profile shaped by experience in innovation policy, science, and development.
Before entering public service he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, focusing on technology-driven solutions for social development.
His recognition as an Eisenhower Fellow and participation in global leadership initiatives helped establish credibility during the Tripartite negotiations.
That credibility proved valuable during a period when restoring political trust was essential to preventing institutional stalemate.
A COMPREHENSIVE ELECTORAL REFORM BLUEPRINT
One of the most important outcomes of the Agreement for National Unity was the establishment of the Tripartite Committee tasked with reviewing Sierra Leone’s electoral system.
The committee conducted an extensive diagnostic review and produced eighty reform recommendations addressing key aspects of electoral governance, including:
electoral transparency
results management systems
institutional independence
legal frameworks
electoral technology
administrative procedures
This process represents one of the most detailed examinations of Sierra Leone’s electoral architecture in the country’s modern democratic history.
Diagnostic consensus of this nature is typically the first stage of comprehensive electoral reform.
IMPLEMENTATION HAS ALREADY BEGUN
Implementation reports produced by the Tripartite Steering Committee Secretariat indicate that the reform programme has already entered the operational phase.
Several initiatives are currently underway across state institutions, including:
development of electoral transparency policies
creation of a national electoral cycle planning system
independent functional review of the Electoral Commission
technical studies on voter registration systems
integration of civic education into university curricula
collaboration with the National Civil Registration Authority on voter registration reforms
integration of reform priorities into the Electoral Commission’s 2026 planning framework
These activities demonstrate that the reform programme is moving from design to execution.
EVIDENCE OF CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL IMPLEMENTATION
The Tripartite Steering Committee Secretariat implementation report dated 12 March 2026 provides further insight into progress already achieved.
According to the report, several state institutions are currently involved in implementing elements of the Tripartite recommendations.
These include:
Electoral Commission Sierra Leone
Political Parties Regulation Commission
Office of National Security
Independent Police Complaints Board
Independent Media Commission
Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation
The report records a series of follow-up meetings conducted by the Secretariat with these institutions to review implementation progress and establish timelines.
Such coordination illustrates that the reform programme is structured as a multi-institutional effort, rather than a single legislative exercise.
WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION DOCUMENT CONFIRMS
One of the most revealing sources on the current status of the Tripartite process is the Tripartite Steering Committee Secretariat Implementation Update dated 12 March 2026.
The document provides a structured assessment of how the Tripartite Committee’s recommendations are being implemented across government institutions.
Rather than presenting reform as a single legislative event, the report shows implementation unfolding across several stages of institutional development.
Among the key initiatives documented in the report are:
development of formal consultation frameworks governing electoral regulations
regulatory guidelines clarifying the Electoral Commission’s rule-making authority
transparency procedures for electoral documentation and record management
coordination between electoral authorities and civil registration institutions
civic education initiatives integrated into university programmes
the design of a comprehensive national electoral calendar covering the entire electoral cycle
The report also confirms that implementation responsibilities have been distributed across multiple state institutions responsible for electoral governance, security oversight, media regulation, and political party supervision.
Equally significant is the monitoring framework used in the report.
Recommendations are classified into three categories:
completed
ongoing or partially implemented
scheduled with defined timelines
Many initiatives currently listed as ongoing are accompanied by projected completion timelines during 2026.
In institutional reform monitoring systems, this classification indicates that reforms have already entered the implementation phase and are progressing through policy, administrative, and legal stages required before full operational completion.
Taken together, the document reinforces an important reality often overlooked in political debate: electoral reform is not a single legislative moment but a structured institutional process involving multiple agencies of the state.
THE MISLEADING “TEN PERCENT” ARGUMENT
One frequently repeated claim is that only ten percent of the Tripartite recommendations have been implemented.
Such arguments often measure progress solely by counting enacted legislation.
However, institutional reform typically progresses through several stages:
diagnostic review
consensus building
recommendation development
policy design
legislative amendment
institutional implementation
The Tripartite process has already completed several of these stages.
Evaluating progress only through the final stage of legislation produces a misleading picture of the broader reform process.
ELECTORAL REFORM IS A MULTI-YEAR PROCESS
International experience demonstrates that electoral reform programmes rarely move from recommendations to full implementation within a single year.
Countries such as Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria have undertaken electoral reform programmes that unfolded over several years, involving legislative amendments, administrative restructuring, and technological upgrades.
Viewed within this international context, Sierra Leone’s reform timeline appears consistent with democratic practice.
MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT THE TRIPARTITE PROCESS
Several narratives circulating in political debate do not withstand careful scrutiny.
Claim: Nothing significant has been achieved.
Evidence: The Tripartite Committee produced the most comprehensive electoral reform blueprint in decades.
Claim: Only ten percent of reforms have been implemented.
Evidence: Many reforms are currently underway across multiple institutions with defined timelines.
Claim: The reform roadmap was abandoned.
Evidence: Implementation reports demonstrate continued institutional engagement.
Claim: Political stability resulted from the opposition boycott.
Evidence: Stability emerged through diplomatic mediation and negotiated settlement.
Claim: International observers declared the election illegitimate.
Evidence: Observation missions recommended dialogue and reform rather than annulment.
Democratic reform is rarely immediate. It unfolds through negotiation, study, institutional adjustment, and gradual implementation.
The Agreement for National Unity restored political participation at a moment when Sierra Leone risked sliding into prolonged political paralysis. The Tripartite Committee that followed produced a detailed electoral reform blueprint, and implementation of that blueprint is now underway across multiple state institutions.
Debate over the pace of reform will continue, as it should in any functioning democracy.
But the claim that the process has achieved nothing cannot be sustained when measured against the documentary record.
What the evidence ultimately reveals is a reform programme that is deliberate, institutional, and progressing step by step.
And at the centre of the negotiations that launched that process stood David Moinina Sengeh, whose role as chief negotiator helped transform political confrontation into dialogue and a structured pathway toward reform.
In democratic governance, institutions, not rhetoric, are what ultimately shape the future. Sierra Leone’s reform process is still unfolding, but the record already shows that it is moving forward.