“In accordance with Sections 53, subsection (2) (a) of the Elections Act, a by-election was conducted on 12 March 2015 at Janjanbureh Constituency in order to fill the vacant positionof National Assembly Memberfor the said Constituency,” a press release sent yesterday to this paper by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) stated.
It continued: “Mr Ebrima M. Sarjo of the APRC polled 741 votes whilst Mr Kebba Yorro Manneh of the NRP polled 110 votes.”
In accordance with Section 81 subsection (2) of the Elections Act, IEC Chairman Alhagie Mustapha L. Carayol declared the results, “and Mr Ebrima M. Sarjo duly elected Member of the National Assembly for Janjanbureh Constituency,” the release concluded.
By retaking the Janjanbureh seat, the APRC has restored its previous number of parliamentary seats of 39, whilst the opposition NRP maintains one seat and the Independents five seats. There are five nominated members of parliament, which makes the total number of National Assembly Members 50.
The Janjanbureh by-election was necessitated by the demise of Honourable Foday Jabani Manka, the erstwhile National Assembly Member of Janjanbureh constituency.