The main opposition party thinks popular dissatisfaction with severe economic suffering will derail President Julius Maada Bio’s reelection attempt in Sierra Leone’s Saturday election.
After a campaign marked by tensions that led to the cancellation of rallies in the last days and confrontations at an opposition rally on Wednesday, 3.4 million people are scheduled to vote in the presidential and legislative ballot.
Bio, 59, has 12 opponents for reelection. The incumbent and Samura Kamara of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), who narrowly lost to Bio in 2018, are anticipated to compete closely.
The APC has bet on an ongoing cost-of-living crisis to win the presidency in the West African nation’s recent history. 2022 inflation reached a 20-year high, and the Leone currency fell by 60%.
First-time voter Abu Koroma, 23, arrived two hours before polls started at a hilltop voting site in Freetown.
“We have been yearning for change,” he remarked, still in line mid-morning. “We’ve had different leaders since gaining independence, but we are yet to have sustainable electricity, sustainable health, all these things a young person like me needs.”
Economic growth has stagnated after the 2014 Ebola pandemic and the 1991–2002 civil war. The World Bank reports that over half of the population is underemployed and poor.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war are blamed for Bio’s economic woes. Kandeh Yumkella, who finished third in 2018, supports him.
Two days before the vote, Information Minister Mohamed Rahman Swaray said if Bio retains the presidency, he will focus on job creation and agricultural development to boost growth and living standards.
“We will do a lot more things to ensure people are comfortable,” he told Reuters in a Freetown cafe.
Last year’s violent price demonstrations sparked political upheaval. Bio and Kamara claimed small-scale attacks on their supporters before election day, and the APC’s questioning of election officials’ independence has increased tensions.
Both sides urge calm. However, the situation could worsen if no candidate receives 55% of the vote and a runoff is held two weeks after the first-round results.
Kamara told Reuters on Friday that vote-rigging worried him. He said, “It’s not me.” We will listen to the people because they must accept it.
