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President Ernest Bai Koroma comfortably wins 2nd term

Posted on March 21, 2013 at 03:16:00 PM AEDT

President Ernest Bai Koroma comfortably wins 2nd term

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Sierra Leone’s incumbent president handily won re-election and was sworn in by the country’s chief justice as the capital of the war-scarred country erupted in drumming and celebration.

Ernest Bai Koroma won 58.7 per cent of the vote. His closest rival, opposition leader and retired Brig. Gen. Julius Maada Bio, came in second with 37.4 per cent, according to results announced Friday by National Electoral Commission chairwoman Christiana Thorpe. Eight challengers attempted to unseat Koroma in the Nov. 17 election, the third presidential poll since 2002. “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 late Friday. “The time for politics is over … This is the time for all of us to embrace each other.”

“I will make sure the fruits of the agenda for prosperity are equality distributed in every district of the country and enjoyed by all. The work starts today,” he added. Koroma polled 1,314,881 out of the 2,350,626 valid votes cast, and Thorpe said that 97.6 per cent of votes had been counted. Bio received 837,517 votes. To avoid a runoff, the winning candidate needed to get at least 55 per cent of the vote. Turnout was high, with more than 87 per cent of the 2.6 million registered voters casting ballots.

The 59-year-old president was first elected in 2007 on a ticket of change, and he says he has visibly improved the country’s quality of life. His supporters point to newly paved roads and a government health care reform program that has provided free medical treatment. A White House statement Friday congratulated Koroma on his election, saying, “This election demonstrates the progress that Sierra Leone has made in strengthening its democratic institutions since the end of the civil war in 2002.” It said that any grievances should be resolved through the judicial system.

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