Sierra Leone celebrates a general election this Saturday in which the president aspires to a second term

The polls suggest that Bio and Kamara will reissue their hard-fought dispute in 2018 with the economic crisis as the central axis of the campaign

June 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The population of Sierra Leone is called to the polls this Saturday for general elections in which the current president, Julius Maada Bio, seeks re-election for a second term, amid the deepening of the economic crisis and after the protests registered in August in the capital, Freetown, due to the rising cost of living.

Thus, the country will host what will be its fifth elections since the end of the civil war (1991-2002), a day in which the members of the next Parliament and local councils will also be elected, for which they are called to vote about 3.4 million people.

In total, thirteen people have presented their candidacy for the Presidency, although the favorites are Bio, leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and president after his victory in the 2018 elections, and Samura Kamara, who came in second. in said elections.

Bio, a retired Army officer who already headed the president of the Supreme Council of State between January and April 1996 after a coup against the military government of Valentine Strasser, has focused his campaign on improving the economic situation and food security in the country, while rejecting criticism of his administration.

In this sense, he has blamed a large part of the economic situation that the African country is going through is due to the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, although the opposition has turned this serious crisis into the main horse of battle to undermine his image and try to remove him from power.

Kamara, who was Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, as well as Governor of the Central Bank, appears as his main rival and has placed special emphasis on an economic program to revive the country focused on job creation and curbing the rise in prices. of basic products, a special source of discomfort among the population.

However, his candidacy has been marred by the decision in March of a court to open a case for alleged corruption against him, after being charged in December 2021 for the alleged embezzlement of some 2.3 million euros when he was minister of Foreign Affairs during the Presidency of Ernest Bai Koroma.

The case, attributed by the leader of the All People’s Congress (APC) to “a deliberate attempt at defamation”, has been planned during the campaign because, if he had been convicted, he could not have appeared at the polls or held office. official positions, although the courts finally determined that he could attend the elections.

The electoral commission has authorized eleven other candidacies, including only one woman, Iye Kakay, a candidate for the Democratic Alliance Party (ADP). Kakay became the first woman to lead the party since its founding in 2015 by Mohamed Kamarinba Mansaray, a former APC member who distanced himself from Kamara.

Bio ratified a law in January that requires all public or private organizations to have at least 30 percent of women, also in leadership positions, to address the discrimination they suffer and the absence of women in decision-making positions decisions in the African country.

To be declared the winner, one of the candidates for the Presidency must obtain at least 55 percent of the total votes. In case this situation does not occur, there will be a second round between the two most voted, as happened in 2018 between Bio and Karama.

On the other hand, the parties of Bio and Kamara also appear as the main favorites for the parliamentary elections, in which 135 seats are in dispute that will be chosen based on a controversial system of proportional representation, with a distribution by region — 32 for the east, 26 for the north, 21 for the northwest, 30 for the south and 26 for the west–.

KEY MOMENT FOR THE COUNTRY

The vote will take place at a time for the country due to rising political and economic tensions, as well as some violent incidents during the campaign, including the death of one person in incidents outside the main opposition party’s headquarters.

Following the incidents, the European Union (EU), the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ireland issued a joint statement expressing their “concern” about “conflict-related violence” ahead of the vote, thus who called for “everyone to avoid violence, respect the political choices of others, and reject the language of division and hate.”

In this sense, they pointed out that the agreement signed in May by the candidates and the political parties to commit to a peaceful campaign and resolve any dispute through the courts was an important point, while supporting “transparent, inclusive, credible elections and peaceful that reflect the will of the population”.

Thus, the ‘think tank’ Institute for Security Studies recently stated that “despite a legacy of competitive elections and a peaceful transfer of power, the elections come at a crossroads for the country”, although it stressed that “the vote will be competitive”.

The ISS asserted that youth unemployment is around 60 percent, one of the highest rates in West Africa, while those under 35 also account for 60 percent of the census, so it remains to be seen. impact of this social unrest at the polls and in the situation after the vote.

The economy is also being weighed down by a slow recovery from the Ebola crisis in 2014 and the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation worsened by the war in Ukraine, which has led to year-on-year inflation in February reaching a record 42 .7 percent, while the price of fuel has doubled.

The situation led to a series of protests in August 2022 that were harshly responded to by the security forces, which resulted in the deaths of 21 protesters and six agents. After the same, Bio proceeded to reorganize the military leadership, a step that he described as “correct”.

In this context, the World Bank pointed out in March that “Sierra Leone’s recovery after the pandemic has been affected by internal and external ‘shocks’ that have exacerbated existing macrofiscal vulnerabilities”, while warning that “the risks to debt sustainability have intensified” in the country.

“Macroeconomic management remains weak. Fiscal pressures have gradually intensified, the debt burden has worsened and inflation has skyrocketed,” explained the World Bank, which noted that “the increase in the cost of living, combined with weak growth and falling macroeconomic bases threaten to increase the level of poverty in a context of inadequate social safety nets”.

Lastly, the agency argued that Sierra Leone “continues to face the daunting challenge of improving transparency in the management of its natural resources and creating fiscal space for development,” in a country where “problems of weak and widespread impoverishment at the rural and urban levels persist, despite significant drives and reforms”.

For all these reasons, this Saturday’s vote and, especially, the repercussions that it may have at a political and economic level, will mark the short-term future of the African country, which aspires to consolidate the democratic advances obtained in the two decades that have passed. since the end of the war, financed to a large extent by the so-called ‘blood diamonds’ and which left around 120,000 dead.