Sierra Leone gears up for presidential election amid economic crisis

With mounting frustration due to an ailing economy, rising unemployment and looming deadly protests, Sierra Leoneans are heading to the polls on Saturday, June 24, to select their next president.
Thirteen people are vying for the top job in the west African country. But experts say it’s likely to be a two-horse race between incumbent President Julius Maada Bio – elected in 2018 and fighting for his second term – and Samura Kamara, the head of the All People’s Congress Party, Sierra Leon’s main opposition camp.
The winner needs 55% of the vote to clinch victory in the first round or it goes into a runoff within two weeks.
More than three million people are registered to vote in the coming week. This would mark the country’s fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war – more than two decades ago – which left tens of thousands dead and destroyed the country’s economy.