Sierra Leone's Bio leads in presidential election count

Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone's incumbent president, called for peace and calm on Monday after the latest count released by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone indicated that he is leading the presidential election count by 60 percent.

Bio, who represents the Sierra Leone People's Party, contested the elections held on Saturday for a second term against 12 opponents. His biggest rival is the All People's Congress' candidate Samura Kamara, who narrowly lost to Bio in the last election in 2018.

Mohamed Konneh, chief electoral commissioner, announced on Monday that Bio was leading with 1,067,666 votes, followed by the APC's Kamara with 793,751 votes. Konneh reiterated that provisional results are partial and do not represent the complete outcome of the presidential election.

While addressing the nation via state television, Bio asked his countrymen to keep the peace and continue to respect all laws while awaiting the announcement of the final results by the chief electoral commissioner.

"We each have a stake in maintaining peace during and after the announcement of the results of these elections. Citizens must not incite violence or associate with violent actions," Bio said.

"For our sakes, we must avoid all provocative and retaliatory actions. Let us individually and collectively maintain and promote peace in our communities and among the social and political groups with which we are affiliated."

This year's election is the fifth since the end of Sierra Leone's civil war in 2002, and voting during presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections was mostly peaceful. However, the main opposition party claimed that their representatives were attacked and intimidated in three districts on election day.

On Sunday, the police released a statement stating that they had fired tear gas at supporters gathered at APC headquarters in the capital Freetown, after a crowd that had gathered there turned rowdy.

Lansana Dumbuya, APC's national secretary-general, said in a statement that his party's agents were not allowed to verify and certify provisional results prior to their release that is contrary to due process and best practice. He urged the electoral commission to refrain from announcing further results until the figures are mutually and satisfactorily verified.

According to the country's constitution, an outright winner will be announced if one of the 13 candidates secures 55 percent of the votes cast, and failure of which will have the top two candidates proceed to a runoff.

The announcement of the election results, which is expected in a few days, is seen as a significant milestone for Sierra Leone as the country seeks to maintain stability and progress following years of political instability and civil war.