APA-Freetown (Sierra Leone) Gunshots have been reported in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown on Sunday, a day after the country went to the polls to elect a new president, MPs and local councillors.
According to officials of the main opposition All People’s Congress party, government soldiers had fired shots as its leader was briefing journalists about Saturday’s polls.
The APC believe it was an attempt on the life of their leader Samura Kamara.
They claimed the shots were fired inside the APC headquarters in Freetown where the situation is said to be still tense following pre-poll violence last week in which one opposition supporter died.
The government has not commented.
To avoid going into a second round the winner of Sierra Leone’s presidency must garner at least 55 percent of the vote.
Kamara who had lost the 2018 presidential run-off vote, is seen as the main challenger of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s Julius Maada Bio who is seeking a second mandate amid an economic crisis blamed on corruption and government ineptitude.
Bio’s government says the torrid economic times were caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Some three million Sierra Leoneans were registered for the polls, the results of which is expected in the next few days.
Although polling passed off peacefully, both the SLPP and the APC have released statements making rival claims of winning the election.
The national electoral commission has not yet announced the full results.
WN/as/APA