Sierra Leone: President Bio Sworn in for Second Term

Facts

• Sierra Leone's incumbent president, Julius Maada Bio, was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday shortly after the country's electoral authority declared him the winner of Saturday's presidential polls.¹
• Bio was re-elected with 56.17% of the vote, narrowly clearing the 55% threshold to avoid a runoff, while the leading opposition candidate Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC) came in second with 41.16%.²
• Kamara, a former foreign and finance minister, rejected the election results as "not credible," with the APC alleging "overvoting" in some districts and criticizing the electoral commission for an alleged lack of inclusivity, transparency, and accountability.³
• Supporters of Bio — who was a leading member of the coup that ousted the APC government in the 1990s — claim he provided free education, fought corruption, and his re-election will "fix the economy."⁴
• Bio's re-election in Sierra Leone's fifth election since the civil war — which ended in 2002 and cost an estimated 50K lives — comes as the West African country battles multiple issues, including a rising cost of living.⁵
• More than 3.3M voters, most under 35, were registered to vote for Saturday's election, and according to the electoral commission, the turnout was 83%.⁴

Sources: ¹CNN, ²Al Jazeera, ³Le Monde.fr, ⁴Nation, and ⁵The Point.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Sierra Leone Telegraph. Bio's win is primarily the result of the APC's internal discord and weak leadership. Meanwhile, the country's economy is in free fall, and unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, is at record highs, as is inflation. Sierra Leone has no economic, social, or political hope if the next five years under Bio are anything like the past.
• Narrative B, as provided by SLBC. Through their clear vote, Sierra Leoneans have expressed their confidence in Bio to address the country's challenges. Backed by a strong mandate, the Bio administration can focus on continuing its transformative and inclusive economic and political agenda. Moreover, with the renewed holding of peaceful and democratic elections, Sierra Leone has joined the ranks of stable democracies and serves as a model for young democracies worldwide.