FREETOWN (Reuters) – Sierra Leone’s electoral commission on Tuesday approved President Julius Maada Bio’s candidacy for the June general elections in which he will seek a second term.
The commission has also approved the main opposition party’s nominee Samura Kamara, the runner-up in the last presidential vote in 2018.
Bio will be running after a first term marred by economic hardship and rampant inflation in a country still recovering from the 2014 Ebola outbreak before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Frustration over financial distress and a perceived failure by the government to cushion the impact of rising prices stoked rare anti-government protests in August last year, which left dozens dead.
Kamara, 72, said the West African country had “systemic challenges”.
“Sierra Leone can still not feed itself, we cannot light up the country. We cannot have sustainable progressive economic development, economic growth [and] no serious infrastructure,” he told Reuters during an interview this week.
Bio, 58, said he intended to continue his push to improve access to public education, which he made free at primary and secondary level during his first term, and boost agricultural production to improve food security.
Voters in June will also elect members of parliament, mayors and local councillors.
(Reporting by Umaru Fofana; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Aurora Ellis)
