As Sierra Leone begins the long road toward its 2028 national elections, the country’s political machinery is shifting into gear. Parties are drafting strategies and vetting potential candidates, yet a significant portion of the electorate finds itself once again on the periphery of power. For those living with disabilities, the cycle of being welcomed as voters but excluded as leaders remains an entrenched reality.
The push for meaningful political representation for persons with disabilities in Sierra Leone has reached a critical juncture. Despite the country’s democratic progress, advocates argue that the current system treats people with disabilities as symbols of charity rather than capable architects of public policy. This exclusion is particularly stark given the demographic legacy of the country’s eleven-year civil war, which left thousands with permanent physical impairments.
Samuel Alpha Sesay, a Freetown resident living with a physical disability, has made it his mission to bridge this gap. Recalling the 2023 general elections, Sesay noted a total absence of candidates with disabilities vying for government positions. In response, he founded the All Political Party Disability Association in 2025 to challenge the systemic barriers that maintain disabled citizens out of the core leadership of political parties.
The Gap Between Population and Power
The scale of exclusion is highlighted by the disparity between population data and parliamentary presence. According to the 2015 Population and Housing Census, approximately 93,129 people in Sierra Leone live with a disability, accounting for 1.3% of the population. However, a 2018 Integrated Household Survey suggested a much higher figure, estimating that 310,973 persons—roughly 4.3% of the population—are living with disabilities.
Despite these numbers, advocates say actual representation in governance does not even reach one percent. This lack of visibility is often traced back to the trauma of conflict. Data from the International Foundation for Election Systems indicates that more than 3,000 people in Sierra Leone suffered limb amputations as a direct result of the civil war, adding to a population already affected by congenital conditions, illness, and accidents.
Sylvanus Bundu, a man in his fifties with a physical disability, argues that the primary hurdle is not physical, but perceptual. He contends that society often confuses disability with an inability to lead. “People feel sorry for us, but we do not want sympathy. Disability does not imply inability. We want society to unlearn these perceptions and allow us to lead,” Bundu said.
Lessons From the GEWE Act
Advocates for inclusive leadership point to the recent success of gender-based quotas as a viable roadmap. Before 2022, women’s representation in Sierra Leone’s Parliament hovered around 14.5%. The introduction of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act 2022, which mandated a 30 percent quota for women’s political representation, fundamentally altered the landscape.
Following the GEWE Act, women’s representation in Parliament approximately doubled, reaching between 28% and 30.45%. This shift demonstrated that legislative mandates could overcome deep-seated societal biases that previously justified the exclusion of women from leadership.
| Group | Previous Representation | Current/Proposed Status | Legislative Mechanism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | ~14.5% | ~28% – 30.45% | GEWE Act 2022 (30% Quota) |
| Persons with Disabilities | < 1% | Proposed 5% | Proposed Constitutional Amendment |
Sesay believes the 2028 elections offer a similar opportunity for a transformation in disability rights. He argues that the same logic applied to the GEWE Act—that affirmative action is necessary to break historical cycles of exclusion—should be extended to persons with disabilities.
Legislative Constraints and the Quota Debate
Whereas the desire for a legally binding quota is strong, current laws offer only guidelines rather than guarantees. Eugene Momoh, Senior Outreach Officer of the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC), noted that while the commission promotes inclusion, it lacks the authority to mandate quotas. Section 43 of the Political Parties Regulation Commission Act of 2022 requires parties to “endeavour” to provide positions for persons with disabilities, but it does not set a hard numerical requirement.
This linguistic nuance—the difference between “endeavouring” to include and being “required” to include—is the heart of the current struggle. Ibrahim Dumbuya, Acting Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI), argues that without a mandate, parties often use persons with disabilities for visual optics during events without giving them a genuine platform to contest seats.
To solve this, Bundu and other advocates are calling for a five percent quota to be enshrined in the national constitution and the 2011 Persons with Disability Act, both of which are currently under review. They argue that only a legally backed electoral quota system can ensure long-term, meaningful representation across all regions of the country.
A Regional Model in Uganda
Looking across the continent, advocates cite Uganda as a successful example of structured inclusion. Lilian Namukasa, Programme Manager of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities in Uganda, explained that the country utilizes a reserved seat system. Uganda allocates five seats in Parliament specifically for persons with disabilities, including a seat reserved for a woman with a disability.
According to Namukasa, this structured representation has led to tangible policy outcomes, including dedicated funding for economic empowerment, annual university scholarships, and grants for children with severe disabilities. The Ugandan model suggests that when representation is guaranteed, it directly translates into budgets and laws that reflect the lived realities of the disabled community.
As the 2028 election cycle approaches, the debate in Sierra Leone has shifted from whether persons with disabilities are capable of leading to whether the political system is willing to make room for them. The resolution of this question will likely serve as a benchmark for the country’s commitment to a truly inclusive democracy.
The next significant milestone will be the conclusion of the reviews of the national constitution and the 2011 Persons with Disability Act, which may determine if a formal quota system is adopted before the candidate selection process begins in earnest.
We invite readers to share their perspectives on inclusive governance and the role of electoral quotas in the comments below.
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