Julius Maada Bio, a 59-year-old former soldier, was sworn in for his second and final five-year term as president of Sierra Leone on 27 June. With 56% of votes cast in the election on 24 June, Bio was declared winner ahead of his main rival, Samura Kamara, who polled 41%.
Kamara rejected the result and international election observers have highlighted some problems with the way votes were counted. There has been relative calm across Sierra Leone since Bio was sworn in. Earlier, the opposition All People’s Congress alleged that the police had killed one of its supporters by firing live shots into their party offices a day after the polls. Police have denied this.
