The World Briefly

June 29, 2023

By the Numbers

Sierra Leone

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Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio was sworn in Tuesday, shortly after electoral officials confirmed his victory in Saturday’s general elections amid protests from the opposition, CNN reported.

The country’s election commission said Bio won more than 56 percent of the vote, while his rival Samura Kamara of the All People’s Congress (APC) party secured 41 percent of the vote.

His victory was immediately disputed by Kamara and the APC.

The opposition group rejected previous provisional results that showed an early lead for Bio as “cooked-up figures.” They accused Sierra Leone’s electoral body of failing to be transparent in the tallying of the ballots.

APC officials also complained that its agents “were neither allowed access to participate (at voting centers) nor were they allowed to verify results prior to the announcement.”

Meanwhile, international monitoring groups, including the US-based Carter Center, alleged the counting process “lacked adequate levels of transparency.”

The election commission countered that Saturday’s polls were relatively peaceful, but acknowledged instances of violence and delays in some areas.

On Sunday, a woman died after security forces fired shots and tear gas at the APC’s headquarters in the capital, as voters waited to hear the official election results, the Guardian noted.

Kamara described the event as an “assassination attempt,” but police denied firing live rounds.

Saturday’s vote was the fifth election since the end of the 2002 civil war. Key among voter concerns were high inflation rates, unemployment levels, political violence and corruption.

This story originally appeared in the June 29, 2023 newsletter, Cracks in the Foundation.