FREETOWN: Sierra Leonean presidential candidate Samura Kamara has accused security forces of attempting to assassinate him, a day after tense elections in the West African country, reported German news agency (dpa).
Police officers on Sunday night surrounded the headquarters of the opposition APC party, whose candidate Kamara is considered the only promising challenger to incumbent President Julius Maada Bio.
“Live from my party office. People laying on the floor and the military has surrounded the building. Live bullets fired at my private office at the party’s headquarters. This is an assassination attempt,” Kamara wrote on Twitter.
He shared images of holes in a wooden panel and people sitting on the floor of a room. Police did not initially comment.
The alleged assassination attempt occurred as Kamara was giving a press conference while his supporters celebrated in front of the party building. Earlier, both the APC and Bio’s ruling SLPP party had claimed victory in Saturday’s election, each citing its own numbers.
Official results of the vote, which also elected parliament and local councillors, are not expected for several days.
The election in the country of about 8.8 million people is a tight race between the two largest parties, each of which has support among different ethnic groups and regions. In 2018, Kamara, who was a minister in the current government, was narrowly defeated by Bio in a run-off.
Polls saw the populist former military officer Bio ahead again this year, although the economic situation in the small coastal state has deteriorated significantly. Almost two-thirds of all young people are unemployed.
Last August, more than 20 demonstrators and six police officers were killed in a violent crackdown on protests by state security forces.
Even before polling opened the APC suspected irregularities and called for protests.
Delays in the arrival of election materials affected voting on Saturday, and in some cases people were unable to vote. The head of the election commission acknowledged this on Sunday, but said only a small number of polling stations were affected. He called on the parties not to give their supporters “false hope”. – BERNAMA-dpa
