President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone took the oath of office on Tuesday evening to begin a second five-year term after being proclaimed the victor of the election on June 24.
With 56.17 percent of the vote, Bio, 59, who campaigned for reelection on the platform of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), narrowly defeated Dr. Samura Kamara of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) and avoided a run-off.
The 72-year-old Kamara, who received 41.16 percent of the vote, has disputed the results, saying they do not reflect the preferences of the Sierra Leoneans.
As soon as Mohamed Konneh, the chair of the electoral commission, declared Bio the victor, he was sworn in.
“This has been a peaceful electoral process that has produced an incontestable result that truly reflects the will of the people,” the President said after the swearing-in presided by Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards in Parliament.
Reports of delays and sporadic violence in several regions of the nation tainted the poll, and the opposition suspected ballot stuffing among other irregularities.
Twelve candidates contested Bio’s validity. However, the contest was mostly between him and Kamara, a former foreign minister who made his maiden run for office in 2018.
“It is a sad day for our beloved country. It is a frontal attack on our fledgling democracy. These results are not credible and I categorically reject the outcome so announced by the electoral commission,” Kamara said in a statement issued immediately after the results were announced.