Sierra Leone President Leads Vote Count Disputed By Opposition
Written by Teniola Akerele on June 27, 2023
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio was leading the results of country’s presidential election with 60 percent of votes counted, the electoral commission said Monday, in a process disputed by the opposition.
Bio had garnered 55.86 percent of ballots cast, more than the 55 percent required for victory after Saturday’s first round of voting, the commission said.
The incumbent’s 1,067,666 votes put him ahead of his main rival Samura Kamara, who had 793,751 votes or 41.53 percent, it said.
Final results were expected within 48 hours, according to election commission chief Mohamed Kenewui Konneh.
The tally is already being disputed by the opposition All People’s Congress (APC), which denounced in a statement 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 said it “will not accept these fake and cooked up results”.
In a follow-up statement, it alleged “overvoting” in some areas and said the party “continues to reject” the “fabricated results” and “reaffirms our victory”.
On Sunday, Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) said in a statement that it was confident of victory.
