The Electoral Fee of Sierra Leone (ECSL) released nationwide election outcomes Tuesday, which confirmed incumbent President Julius Maada Bio gained over 56 p.c of the nationwide vote. Chairman of the ECSL Mohamed Konneh introduced the outcomes to a room of individuals, together with Bio and his supporters. The outcomes imply that Bio obtained the minimal variety of votes to keep away from a runoff underneath Sierra Leone’s electoral system. Nonetheless, opposition supporters accuse Konneh of being a partisan of Bio’s political celebration, Sierra Leone Individuals’s Occasion (SLPP).
Bio’s primary challenger from the opposition celebration, All Individuals’s Congress (APC), was Dr. Samura Kamara. Kamara took to Twitter on Tuesday to query the integrity of the election. Kamara stated, “[T]hese outcomes aren’t credible and I categorically reject the result so introduced by the electoral fee.”
Election observers just like the Carter Center famous irregularities within the election. ECSL was unusually slow to launch unofficial polling station counts over the weekend. Unofficial polling counts are sometimes used to cross-verify ultimate outcomes. Jonathan Rubin, a JURIST supply embedded inside the opposition, claimed that APC’s inside celebration vote counts indicated victories in districts that had been assigned to SLPP by the electoral fee.
The election noticed a rise in rigidity between Sierra Leone’s two primary political events, in addition to some instances of violence. The evening earlier than the election, regional actors mediated discussions between APC and SLPP. The discussions resulted in some concessions from SLPP. These included the release of 30 political prisoners. But on Sunday, members of APC barricaded themselves of their Freetown workplaces whereas authorities forces fired stay bullets and tear fuel inside. Regional actors just like the African Union urged peace and restraint within the aftermath of the election.
