Julius Maada Bio - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

Sierra Leone allows ex-president Koroma to leave country on medical grounds

A Sierra Leone high court allowed ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma, charged this month with treason, to travel abroad on medical grounds. Koroma, 70, was charged with four offences for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the West African country's government in November. There are concerns Koroma's indictment could stoke tension brought by a contentious election in which President Julius Maada Bio was reelected for a second term in June 2023. The main opposition candidate rejected the results and international partners questioned the vote. Months later, on November 26, gunmen attacked military barracks, a prison and other locations in…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone’s ruling party wins 60% of parliamentary seats in contested vote

NEWS

UMARU FOFANA THE ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party has won 60% of the seats in a parliamentary election, the election commission said, as the main opposition party demanded a rerun of the vote that also saw President Julius Maada Bio win a second term. The SLPP won 81 seats while the opposition All People’s Congress won 54, according to the results read by the commission's chairman Mohamed Kenewui Konneh. The results showed the ruling party made significant gains in the bellwether diamond-rich district of Kono, winning seven of the 10 seats where they had none previously. They also made gains…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone election observers flag ‘statistical inconsistencies’

NEWS

EUROPEAN election observers in Sierra Leone said there were "statistical inconsistencies" in the presidential results published by the electoral commission, which declared President Julius Maada Bio the winner of Saturday's vote. The European Union Election Observation Mission called on the commission on Wednesday to promptly publish disaggregated results data per polling station to allow for public scrutiny of the results, without which it said transparency was compromised. Sierra Leone's chief electoral commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, told Reuters the disaggregated results would be uploaded to the website "in due course" but that it would take time. Bio was re-elected to a second term…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone election observers urge transparent tallying as unrest simmers

NEWS

COOPER INVEEN SIERRA Leone counted votes in a tense presidential election following violence and the death of an opposition party volunteer at the weekend, as international observers voiced concern about a lack of transparency in the tallying of ballots. Provisional results are expected within 48 hours of Saturday's vote, in which incumbent President Julius Maada Bio ran for a second term against a backdrop of public frustration over growing economic hardship in the West African nation. The head of the main All People's Congress (APC) opposition party, Samuel Kamara, is seen as Bio's main rival. Police fired tear gas at supporters…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone opposition leader decries lack of access ahead of Saturday’s vote

NEWS

SIERRA Leone's main opposition candidate said the lack of election campaign access to some strongholds of the ruling party and unsupervised distribution of ballots could open the door to rigging. Some 3.4 million Sierra Leoneans are expected in the polls on Saturday for a general election in which Samura Kamara of the opposition All People's Congress (APC) is seen as the main challenger against incumbent President Julius Maada Bio. Kamara, a former foreign minister, narrowly lost to Bio in the 2018 presidential race. Tensions in the last days of the campaign have led to the cancellation of rallies and clashes at an…

Jun

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

From conflict to regional peacekeeping: The steady rise of Sierra Leone

NEWS

SIERRA Leone has made remarkable progress in overcoming a tumultuous past marked by conflict and has emerged as a leading force in promoting peace in the region. On June 6, the tiny West African country was, alongside Algeria, elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in a voting session of the UN General Assembly. Other countries elected included Guyana, the Republic of Korea, Belarus and Slovenia. Sierra Leone's seat will be taken up later this year. The election of Sierra Leone, whose candidacy was backed by the African Union, is significant as it represents the country's successful…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone anti-graft body summons ex-president Koroma for questioning

NEWS

UMARU FOFANA SIERRA Leone's anti-corruption body has summoned former President Ernest Bai Koroma for questioning under oath over allegations of graft while in office, it has announced. The summons by the anti-graft commission is the latest move in a campaign by Koroma's successor, President Julius Maada Bio, to call to account the previous administration that Maada Bio says took the country to the brink of economic collapse. His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, 20 January 2020 It concerns alleged wrongdoing in connection with mining, construction and procurement contracts, and…