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Tag: Maada Bio

  • Maada Bio sworn in as president of Sierra Leone

    Maada Bio sworn in as president of Sierra Leone

    Maada Bio, the president of Sierra Leone, was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, just hours after the country’s electoral body recognised his victory over competitors’ protests.

    Samura Kamara of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party came in second with 41% of the vote, while Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) garnered approximately 1.6 million votes, or 56.1% of the total ballots.

    “By the authority granted to me… President Bio Julius Maada has been legitimately elected, I hereby certify, said Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Konneh.

    Just hours after the results was announced, Bio was sworn in at the State House where he gave a speech thanking citizens for their “trust and dedication.”

    “Our triumph belongs to every Sierra Leonean,” he added.

    Kamara however rejected the results and described it as a “frontal attack on our fledgling democracy.”

    His APC party had on Monday rejected provisional results that showed an early lead for Bio, describing then as “cooked-up figures.”

    APC alleged a lack of transparency by the electoral body in tallying the ballots, adding that its agents “were neither allowed access to participate (at tally centers) nor were they allowed to verify results prior to the announcement.”

    The vote count was fraught with controversies and some international observers expressed concerns about the integrity of the process.

    “Carter Center observers reported that the tabulation process lacked adequate levels of transparency,” the observer group said in a statement ahead of the declaration of the final results.

    “Carter Center observers directly observed instances of broken seals and inappropriately open ballot boxes in three of the five tally centers,” it added in its preliminary report issued Tuesday.

    The electoral commission described the weekend poll as relatively peaceful but acknowledged pockets of violence and delays in polling in some areas.

    On Sunday, Kamara’s APC party accused the country’s security forces of laying siege to its head office in the capital Freetown, and firing live rounds into the property while it held a press conference after the polls.

    He described it as an “assassination attempt,” however police denied firing live rounds.

    The June 24 vote was the fifth election since the end of the country’s brutal civil war in 2002. Key among voter concerns were high inflation rates and unemployment levels, as well as political violence and corruption.

  • President of Sierra Leone pulls ahead in the heated election contest

    President of Sierra Leone pulls ahead in the heated election contest

    Based on the preliminary results, Maada Bio, the president of Sierra Leone, has gained the lead in the race for the position.

    The Sierra Leonean Electoral Commission (ECSL) stated that it has so far counted roughly 60% of the total votes and anticipated announcing a winner within the following two days.

    President Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), who is 59 years old, and Samura Kamara, the leader of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, who is 72 years old, are widely regarded as the two front-runners in the election.

    Bio has so far polled more than a million votes and currently leads Kamara with over 200,000 votes, according to ECSL.

    Earlier, Bio’s SLPP party said it was “greatly anticipating a landslide victory” following an internal review of its performance in the elections.

    To be declared winner, a presidential candidate must secure 55% of the total votes. If this is not achieved in the first round of voting, a run-off election will be held between the two candidates with the highest votes. Kamara

    The electoral commission described the weekend poll as relatively peaceful but acknowledged pockets of violence and delays in polling in some areas.

    On Sunday, Kamara’s APC party accused the country’s security forces of laying siege to its head office in the capital Freetown, and firing live rounds into the property while it held a press conference after the polls.

    In a series of tweets, Kamara said his party’s headquarters had been surrounded by government forces and live bullets had been fired at the door of his private office.

    “This is an assassination attempt,” he added.

    Another opposition leader, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, who is seeking reelection as the mayor of Freetown, posted photos from inside the surrounded building and wrote: “I am in the APC Party office and we are under fire. It is tear gas and what sounds like live rounds. There are about 20 of us on the ground in one office. The shots are still being fired. We need help please!”

    The police accused the APC party of carrying out a procession and claiming victory in the polls ahead of an official declaration by the electoral commission, in a statement made available to CNN.

    It added that officers were forced to fire teargas canisters when the “situation became unbearable,” but did not include details about whether shots were fired at the APC’s head office.

    The statement accused APC party members of “harassing passers-by”, including those thought to be members of the ruling SLPP party and “announcing to the public that they had won the just concluded elections.”

    Voting was carried out Saturday under heavy security presence and armored tanks.

    Ahead of the polls, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at supporters of the APC, during a demonstration that called for the resignation of Chief electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Konneh, following allegations of electoral fraud.