The results of Sierra Leone’s disputed presidential election were announced in front of a banner that bore, among other things, the logo of Irish Aid.
Just over 2.8 million votes were cast in Saturday’s poll, which saw incumbent Julius Maada Bio re-elected as president of the West African country, with what the electoral commission said was 56.17 per cent of the vote. The 59-year-old, who leads the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), was sworn in at Freetown’s State House about an hour later.
Partial results had been released on Monday afternoon, with Sierra Leone’s electoral commission saying 60 per cent had been counted and Bio was already in the lead with 55.86 per cent – just above the 55 per cent he constitutionally needed to avoid a run-off.
The opposition party, All People’s Congress, rejected this, calling the partial results “fake”, “cooked up” and “a daylight robbery of the will of the people”. In a statement, it said: “We will deploy every effort within the law to stop this.”
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APC presidential candidate, Samura Kamara, got just over 41 per cent of the final vote, according to the electoral commission.
On Monday evening, the European Union observers’ mission shared various concerns about the electoral process. During a press conference in Freetown’s upscale Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, the EU’s preliminary statement – in which it said the electoral commission had operated with “insufficient transparency” and a lack of timely communication – was revealed by officials.
The statement mentioned widespread delays on election day, saying that all but two polling stations which the EU observed opened late. “Intimidation and violent incidents were reported by police, media, citizen and international observers in six districts, with live ammunition being fired in Port Loko, Freetown and Koinadugu,” the statement said.
It also spoke about the “highly polarised and volatile sociopolitical environment” the election was taking place in and said that during the campaigning period, “violent incidents” were reported in six of Sierra Leone’s sixteen districts.
Roughly 100 EU observers, including at least two Irish people, had been sent out to various parts of the country to monitor polling stations.
When asked whether the new government will have the mandate of the people, chief EU observer, Evin Incir, replied that it is “not up to any election observation mission, the EU or any other to decide on [that]. That is up to the people.”
National Election Watch, a coalition of civil society organisations observing the elections, said in advance of the final announcement that it was confident, on the basis of the partial results, that no presidential candidate would meet the 55 per cent requirement needed to prevent a run-off.
Sierra Leone’s electoral commission billed the elections as the “2023 saful elections” – saful roughly translates from Krio as “take it easy”.
Press conferences and results announcements have taken place in front of banners with this emblazoned across them, along with the Irish Aid logo. An Irish Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said this was because Ireland had contributed to a UN project which aimed to enhance the capacity of Sierra Leone’s institutions, including the electoral commission, as well as supporting a range of other groups including human rights monitors, religious groups and media associations, to encourage peaceful and inclusive elections.
The election was Sierra Leone’s fifth since its devastating 11-year war ended in 2002 and investment across the country was clear by the dedication of voters who queued for hours, despite the delays and threat of rain, to cast a ballot.
Violence in the lead-up to the vote, and afterwards, however, alarmed citizens and observers.
An opposition supporter was killed on Sunday after the APC opposition party headquarters in Freetown was surrounded by security forces who fired tear gas and, potentially – as the opposition party alleged – live ammunition. Another man died last week during protests called by the opposition party over alleged electoral irregularities.
Last August, at least 28 civilians and six police officers were killed during protests related to the ongoing cost of living crisis, with families telling The Irish Times how traumatised they were in the aftermath when the state refused to return the bodies of their loved ones to them, instead burying them en masse months later.
