Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has been re-elected with 56.17 percent to serve a second term, the head of the electoral commission announced following a process disputed by the opposition.
Samura Kamara of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) came second with 41.16 percent of the vote.
Final results were announced in Freetown by commission chief Mohamed Kenewui Konneh on Tuesday. The APC had initially disputed results in a statement on Monday after provisional vote tallying was declared.
APC alleged a 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 “overvoting” in some areas and said the party “continues to reject” the “fabricated results” and “reaffirms our victory”.
During a Monday evening press conference, European Union observers said a lack of transparency and communication by the electoral authority had led to mistrust in the electoral process.
The observers said electoral violence was witnessed in about seven polling stations during voting hours and at three others during the closing and counting stages.
