2018 Sierra Leonean general election

Last updated

2018 Sierra Leonean general election
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg
  2012
2023  
Presidential election
7 March 2018 (first round)
31 March 2018 (second round) [1]
  Julius Maada Bio - 2020 (cropped).jpg Samura Kamara 2014.jpg
Nominee Julius Maada Bio Samura Kamara
Party SLPP APC
Running mate Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh Chernor Maju Bah
Popular vote1,319,4061,227,171
Percentage51.81%48.19%

2018 Sierra Leone presidential election results by district.svg
Results by district
Bio:      80–90%      90+%
Kamara:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90%      90+%

President before election

Ernest Bai Koroma
APC

Elected President

Julius Maada Bio
SLPP

Parliamentary election

132 of 146 seats in Parliament
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
APC Ernest Bai Koroma 39.9368+1
SLPP Julius Maada Bio 38.9349+7
NGC Kandeh Yumkella 8.694New
C4C Samuel Sam-Sumana 4.808New
Independents 3.973+3
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
2018 Sierra Leonean parliamentary election - Results by constituency.svg
Results by constituency

General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 7 March 2018 to elect the President, Parliament and local councils. [2] Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma did not run for another term, as he was constitutionally ineligible, having served the maximum ten years in office.

Contents

No presidential candidate received the 55% of the vote required to win in the first round, meaning a second round of voting was held on 31 March between the top two candidates, opposition leader Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People's Party and Samura Kamara of the ruling All People's Congress; the two were separated by under 15,000 votes in the first round. Bio was subsequently elected with 51.8% of the vote. International observers hailed the election as being "orderly, free and fair" despite the fact it was "hotly contested." [3] [4]

Electoral system

The President of Sierra Leone is elected using a modified two-round system, with a candidate having to receive more than 55% of the vote in the first round to be elected. [5] If this is not achieved, a run-off will be held.

The 132 elected members of Parliament (increased from 112 in the 2012 elections) were elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting. [6] [7] The remaining 14 seats are reserved for Paramount Chiefs, who are elected indirectly. [8]

Presidential candidates

A total of 16 candidates registered to contest the elections; [9] 14 men and two women. [10]

President Koroma personally selected foreign minister Samura Kamara as the All People's Congress candidate at the party's convention held on 15 November 2017 in the northern city of Makeni. The APC also selected deputy speaker of parliament Chernor Maju Bah as the party's vice presidential candidate.

The main opposition, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) selected former military Head of State, retired Brigadier general Julius Maada Bio as its presidential candidate at the party's national convention held on 15 November 2017 in Freetown. Bio's running mate was businessman Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.

Former Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana is the candidate of the Coalition for Change. His removal from office by President Koroma was challenged at the ECOWAS Court, which in November 2017 ruled that the removal of Sumana was illegal. [11]

Former United Nations senior official Kandeh Yumkella was chosen to be the presidential candidate of the National Grand Coalition (NGC), a breakaway faction of the SLPP. Yumkella's running mate is mechanical engineer Andrew Keillie.

The newly formed Unity Party is fielding Femi Claudius Cole, one of two female presidential candidates. [12]

Former Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Lands Musa Tarawally was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Citizens Democratic Party. [9]

PartyPresidential candidateVice-Presidential candidate
All People's Congress Samura Kamara Chernor Maju Bah
Alliance Democratic PartyMohamed Kamaraimba MansarayIsata Abdulai Kamara
Citizens Democratic PartyMusa TarawallyPaul Alimamy Bangura
Coalition for Change Samuel Sam-Sumana David Bai Conteh
National Democratic Alliance Mohamed BahVictoria Hunter
National Grand Coalition Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella Andrew Karmoh Keili
National Progressive DemocratsPatrick John O'DwyerBlanche Joko Samura
National Unity and Reconciliation PartyJonathan Patrick SandySafiatu Blango
Peace and Liberation Party Kandeh Baba ContehAbu Bakarr Salaiman Tarawally
People's Movement for Democratic Change Charles Francis MargaiIsata Dohra Bangura
Republic National Independence PartyBresford Victor WilliamsSeptimus Mohamed Kemokai
Revolutionary United Front Gbandi Jemba NgobehAnsumama Mambu Porga Fowai
Sierra Leone People's Party Julius Maada Bio Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh
United Democratic MovementMohamed Sowa-TurayAlex Brihim Matthew Kai Kai
United National People's Party Saa Henry KabutaBenedit Lansana Kargbo
Unity Party Femi Claudius Cole Mohamed S.V Jr Tarawalley

Controversy

Due to the fact that the election falls outside of the five-year term plus three months limit, constitutional lawyers have criticised the announcement. [2]

Dual citizenship

The previously dormant issue of dual citizenship was raised during the election. The ruling party, APC, raised the issue citing Section 76(1) of the 1991 Constitution, which states that "No person shall be qualified for election as a Member of Parliament — if he is a naturalised citizen of Sierra Leone or is a citizen of a country other than Sierra Leone having become such a citizen voluntarily or is under a declaration of allegiance to such a country." [13] The dual citizenship debate engulfed three presidential candidates: Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella of the National Grand Coalition (NGC), Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC), and Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP). Yumkella claimed he denounced his American citizenship in 2017, while Mansaray said he has never held any other citizenship. [14] Two cases were brought to the Supreme Court: one filed on 5 February by an activist of the ruling All Peoples Congress party claiming that Yumkella is a naturalised citizen and therefore unqualified to contest the elections; and another filed by Charles Margai, a flag bearer for People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC), claiming that the APC’s standard bearer is unqualified to run for president because he is a dual citizen and did not resign his ministerial position – for which he was paid from the state’s consolidated revenue – long enough to meet the constitutional requirement. [15] The defense of Yumkella appealed to the Supreme Court to have two of the judges removed from the case, then the matter was adjourned until 28 March (after the 7 March election) for the two new judges to study the case. [16] The dual citizenship issue will be remembered by citizens for propagating the slang term two-SIM to describe a person with dual citizenship.

Results

The National Electoral Commission reported 3,178,663 registered voters (of which 1,654,228 were female) and a voter turnout of 2,676,549 (84.2%) across 3,300 polling centres and 11,122 polling stations. [17]

President

CandidateRunning matePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Julius Maada Bio Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh Sierra Leone People's Party 1,097,48243.261,319,40651.81
Samura Kamara Chernor Maju Bah All People's Congress 1,082,74842.681,227,17148.19
Kandeh Yumkella Andrew Karmoh Keili National Grand Coalition 174,0146.86
Samuel Sam-Sumana David Bai Conteh Coalition for Change 87,7203.46
Mohamed Kamaraimba MansarayIsata Abdulai KamaraAlliance Democratic Party26,7041.05
Gbandi Jemba NgobehAnsumama Mambu Porga Fowai Revolutionary United Front 12,8270.51
Musa TarawallyPaul Alimamy BanguraCitizens Democratic Party11,4930.45
Charles Margai Isata Dora Bangura People's Movement for Democratic Change 9,8640.39
Mohamed Charnoh BahVictoria Hunter National Democratic Alliance 8,3440.33
Mohamed Sowa-TurayAlex Brihim Matthew Kai KaiUnited Democratic Movement5,6950.22
Patrick John O'DwyerBlanche Joko SamuraNational Progressive Democrats4,2390.17
Kandeh Baba ContehAbu Bakarr Salaiman Tarawally Peace and Liberation Party 4,2330.17
Femi Claudius Cole Mohamed S.V Jr TarawalleyUnity Party3,8250.15
Saa Henry KabutaBenedit Lansana Kargbo United National People's Party 3,0610.12
Beresford Victor WilliamsSeptimus Mohamed KemokaiRepublic National Independent Party2,5550.10
Jonathan Patrick SandySafiatu BlangoNational Unity and Reconciliation Party2,3180.09
Total2,537,122100.002,546,577100.00
Valid votes2,537,12294.792,546,57798.77
Invalid/blank votes139,4275.2131,6941.23
Total votes2,676,549100.002,578,271100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,178,66384.203,178,66381.11
Source: NECSL, NECSL

By district

Second round
District SamuraBio
Votes%Votes%
Kenema District 27,30811.45211,23288.55
Kono District 34,63627.3991,82372.61
Kailahun District 13,34310.04119,50289.96
Port Loko District 153,60885.0127,08414.99
Kambia District 69,54269.7530,15530.25
Karene District 73,51488.949,14611.06
Tonkolili District 143,50086.3222,74813.68
Bombali District 144,05690.6814,8079.32
Koinadugu District 40,21067.9119,00432.09
Falaba District 22,56257.2316,86242.77
Bo District 26,14510.66219,13189.34
Moyamba District 21,04517.9196,45682.09
Bonthe District 3,8044.7676,11995.24
Pujehun District 6,7018.3973,12191.61
Western Area Urban District 315,76460.98202,04639.02
Western Area Rural District 131,43359.3190,17040.69
Source: NECSL

Parliament

A total of 795 candidates contested the parliamentary elections, of whom 100 were female. [17]

Sierra Leone Parliament 2018.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
All People's Congress 989,43139.9368+1
Sierra Leone People's Party 964,65938.9349+7
National Grand Coalition 215,3158.694New
Coalition for Change 119,0064.808New
Citizens Democratic Party31,5891.2700
Alliance Democratic Party19,8490.800New
People's Movement for Democratic Change 19,0530.7700
National Progressive Democrats5,1730.210New
Unity Party3,7150.150New
National Democratic Alliance 3,5340.1400
People's Democratic Party 2,4280.1000
Peace and Liberation Party 2,2780.0900
United Democratic Movement1,6450.0700
Republic National Independent Party6780.030New
United National People's Party 6200.0300
Revolutionary United Front 4380.0200
National Unity and Reconciliation Party1650.010New
Independents98,4393.973+3
Paramount chiefs14+2
Total2,478,015100.00146+14
Registered voters/turnout3,178,663
Source: EEAS, NECSL

References

  1. "pic.twitter.com/WANZgunLz5". 26 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 President Koroma announces election date – March 7th 2018 The Sierra Leone Telegraph, 15 February 2017
  3. "Sierra Leone heads into hotly contested election runoff | DW | 30.03.2018". Deutsche Welle .
  4. "Sierra Leone Election 2018 – Noslina's Suna Nallo and Kwame Fitzjohn on VOA TV Today". 7 March 2018.
  5. Sierra Leone 2018 elections – taking parliament and losing the presidency The Sierra Leone Telegraph, 11 December 2017
  6. Elections in Sierra Leone: 2018 General Elections Archived 2020-09-13 at the Wayback Machine IFES
  7. Electoral system IPU
  8. Sierra Leone Parliament Inter-Parliamentary Union
  9. 1 2 Sierra Leone elects new president: Profiles of top six contenders Africa News, 21 February 2018
  10. 2018 Sierra Leone general elections: The voting process Africa News, 6 March 2018
  11. ECOWAS Court: Sam-Sumana sack dey illegal BBC Pidgin, 27 November 2017
  12. Koroma, Dusuba (8 November 2017). "Lone Female Presidential Candidate Urges Issues-based Voting". Sierra Leone Concord Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  13. The Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991.
  14. Dauphine, Edna Browne. "Kamarainba denies dual citizenship". Awoko. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  15. Thomas, Abdul Rashid (28 February 2018). "Yumkella at the Supreme Court". The Sierra Leone Telegraph. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  16. Bangura, Bernice (6 March 2018). "Sierra Leone Supreme Court Makes Decision On Kandeh Yumkella". Sierraloaded. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  17. 1 2 "7 March 2018 Elections in Sierra Leone by Numbers" (PDF). National Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.