Sierra Leone’s presidential election has been declared won by incumbent Julius Maada Bio, although the opposition has challenged the results.
According to official estimates, Mr Bio received 56% of the vote. Samura Kamara, his major rival, fell far behind with 41%.
Dr. Kamara branded the first round of results “daylight robbery” when they were announced on Monday.
International election monitors have raised concerns about the lack of openness in the tallying process.
The vote on Saturday took place under tension, but President Bio urged Sierra Leoneans to “keep the peace.”
The 59-year-old former soldier is about to begin his second and final five-year tenure.
During the country’s civil war, the former army brigadier took part in a military coup in 1992, only to depose the military dictatorship in 1996 and pave the way for free elections that year.
Scenes of joy have been described in the capital, Freetown, with Mr Bio’s supporters carrying his banner and marching through the city’s drenched streets.
The contest between him and Dr. Kamara, 72, was a re-enactment of the 2018 election, which went to a second round.
This time, Dr. Kamara, the All People’s Congress (APC) candidate, claims that his election operatives were not allowed to verify the ballot counting.
The APC has complained about the electoral commission in the run-up to the election. The commission, on the other hand, insisted on having processes in place to ensure a fair vote.
The presidential, legislative, and local council elections followed a tumultuous campaign marked by multiple violent incidents.
The APC claimed last week that one of its followers was shot dead by police, which the authorities rejected.
According to the party, another of its supporters was slain on Sunday as security agents attempted to disperse a throng at its offices in Freetown.
Members of Mr Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have claimed that opponents attacked them during the campaign.
The campaign took place against the backdrop of a struggling economy, rising living costs, and concerns about national unity.
Mr Bio, who previously blamed the country’s ills on foreign forces such as the coronavirus outbreak and the Ukraine crisis, is now in charge of resolving these issues.
The election is Sierra Leone’s seventh since the country’s 11-year civil war ended in 2002. It was a particularly horrific fight, with 50,000 people killed and thousands of people having their arms and legs amputated.
According to Marcella Samba Sesay, chairperson of the non-governmental organization National Elections Watch, the country has had a tradition of mainly peaceful, free, and credible elections since then.
