Julius Bio Re-elected As Sierra Leone President

The incumbent President of Sierra Leone, Julius Bio, has been declared as the winner of the election in the country by the country’s Election Commission.

Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, stated on Tuesday that Bio was re-elected with 56.17 percent of Saturday’s election vote.

His top challenger, Samura Kamara, of the All People’s Congress (APC), came second with 41.16 percent.

The announcement comes after supporters of both parties had claimed to have won in recent days, with Kamara saying that he was on an “irreversible path to an overwhelming victory”.

He also alleged that security forces had opened fire on a celebration at his party’s headquarters, though police denied having fired live bullets.

Vote tallying had already been disputed by the APC, which condemned in a statement on Monday 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.

It had said it “will not accept these fake and cooked up results”.

In a follow-up statement, it alleged “over-voting” in some areas and said the party “continues to reject” the “fabricated results” and “reaffirms our victory”.

European Union observers said, at a press conference on Monday, that 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.