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The Incumbent President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio declared the winner of the country’s presidential elections. Bio was re-elected for a second term with 56.17% of the vote
The Incumbent President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio declared the winner of the country’s presidential elections. Bio was re-elected for a second term with 56.17% of the vote.
The runner-up to the election Samura Kamara categorically rejected the result. He came second with 41.16 percent of the vote according to final results announced in Freetown.
Vote tallying had already been disputed by Kamara’s All People’s Congress (APC), which condemned an alleged lack of inclusiveness, transparency, and responsibility by the electoral commission. The party pointed to the lack of information about which polling stations or districts the ballots were coming from and asserted that it would not accept the fake and cooked-up results. It also alleged that there was over-voting in some areas and said it would continue to reject the fabricated results.
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While the allegations are running thick and fast from the Opposition, Bio’s supporters welcomed the result. European Union observers said a lack of transparency and communication by the electoral authority had led to mistrust in the electoral process. The monitors said they witnessed violence at seven polling stations during voting hours and at three others during the closing and counting stages. About 3.4 million people were registered to vote in Saturday’s election.
Bio, 59, a former coup leader in the 1990s, has championed education and women’s rights in his first civilian term. Kamara, 72, a former foreign and finance minister, had assailed the electoral commission throughout the campaign period over alleged irregularities and delays.
