Counting begins in Sierra Leone

(Freetown) The counting began on Saturday in Sierra Leone after a calm presidential election despite delays, in a country in the midst of an economic slump where outgoing Julius Maada Bio is seeking a second term against his main competitor Samura Kamara.

Polling stations, open from 7 a.m. (local and GMT), gradually closed from 5 p.m. in Freetown, according to AFP journalists. About 3.4 million people were called upon to choose between 13 candidates, including President Bio.

The first results should be known in the next few hours.

The electoral commission said on Twitter that the vote was done in a “peaceful manner” but was marked by “logistical problems” due to the “late” arrival of electoral materials in areas where the vote was extended.

The secretary general of the opposition Kamara’s party, Lansana Dumbuya, complained to AFP about a vote having started “late, very late” in the strongholds of his formation unlike the areas under the control of power.

choice day

Mr. Kamara himself denounced “the congested voting centers”, in a statement to the press, after his vote in the capital.

“Today is a day of choice, choice of your representative in Parliament, of your municipal councilor and also of your president. Go out to vote and vote without problem,” said Mr. Bio, after putting his ballot in the ballot box in Freetown.

Sierra Leoneans also elected their parliament and local councils on Saturday.

This election is decisive for “the future of Sierra Leone”, said Mr. Kamara.

It is the 2018 rematch between Mr. Bio, a 59-year-old retired military man, and Mr. Kamura, a 72-year-old technocrat and leader of the All People’s Congress (APC). Mr. Bio, candidate of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), then won the second round with 51.8% of the vote.

Since then, Mr. Bio has had to govern one of the poorest countries on the planet, hard hit by COVID-19 and then the war in Ukraine.

The former British colony was already struggling to recover from a bloody civil war (1991-2002) and the Ebola epidemic (2014-2016).

Inflation and exasperation with the government sparked riots in August 2022 that left 27 civilians and six policemen dead.

Expensive life

Mr. Bio has championed education and women’s rights. He told AFP to favor agriculture and reduce his country’s dependence on food imports.

Mr. Kamara, Minister of Finance and then of Foreign Affairs before the advent of Mr. Bio in 2018, told AFP that he wanted to restore confidence in national economic institutions and attract foreign investors.

A candidate must receive 55% of the valid votes to be elected in the first round.

The high cost of living is the common concern of a very large majority of Sierra Leoneans. Prices of staples like rice have skyrocketed. Inflation in March was 41.5% over one year.

“People are struggling to even afford three meals a day,” said a 19-year-old from the Cockle Bay slum in Freetown, on condition of anonymity.

“In addition, the government is violating our fundamental rights, starting with freedom of expression,” he said.

After decades of unrest, coups and authoritarian rule, Sierra Leone has been electing its president since the late 1990s.

Mr. Bio himself was a member of a group of officers who seized power by force in 1992, and leader in 1996 of a new putsch before organizing free elections, then leaving for the States -United.

Risk of violence

Human rights defenders denounce the persistence of serious abuses, including by the government or on behalf of the government. The opening in February of a corruption trial against Samura Kamara, just after his nomination as a candidate, raised questions.

Analysts believe, however, that voters will calculate that the money and the work will go to the regions whose representatives will be associated with the winner of the presidential election.

The risk of violence was one of the major unknowns of the ballot.