Sierra Leone re-elects Ernest Bai Koroma as president

Capital of war-scarred country Freetown erupts in drumming and celebration after president beats eight challengers

The Guardian, Associated Press in Freetown, Saturday 24 November 2012

A supporter of the ruling All People's Congress celebrates the election result
in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Tommy Trenchard/AP

Sierra Leone's incumbent president was re-elected and sworn in on Friday night by the country's chief justice as Freetown, the capital of the war-scarred country, erupted in drumming and celebration. Ernest Bai Koroma won 58.7% of the vote.

His closest rival, the opposition leader and retired brigadier general Julius Maada Bio, came in second with 37.4%, according to the results announced by the National Electoral Commission chairwoman, Christiana Thorpe.

A total of eight challengers attempted to unseat Koroma in the election on 17 November, the third presidential poll since the end of Sierra Leone's horrific civil war in 2002. The 11-year war, which was dramatised in Blood Diamond, the 2006 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, left tens of thousands dead and wrecked the country's economy.

Rebels were known for hacking off the arms of their victims, asking them if they preferred "short sleeves" or "long sleeves", and the country is dotted with visual reminders of the war, including a league of amputee soccer teams.

"The people have spoken and their collective will has prevailed. This is a win for every Sierra Leonean," Koroma told the nation in his acceptance speech. "The time for politics is over ... This is the time for all of us to embrace each other.

"Let every All Peoples Congress member embrace every Sierra Leone Peoples party member," he said, naming his party and that of his main challenger.

The 59-year-old president was first elected in 2007 on a ticket of change, and says he has visibly improved the country's quality of life. His supporters point to newly paved roads and a government health care programme that has provided free medical treatment although there are serious concerns about its sustainability.

But his opponents argue that not enough progress has been made in the decade since the end of the war, drawing attention to Sierra Leone's dismal statistics, which include one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.

Thorpe announced that anyone who contested the results had seven days to appeal to the country's supreme court.