Sierra Leone accuses U.S. of election interference

The president of Sierra Leone has claimed that the United States asked him to stop the release of the June election vote tally which he won.

"When the elections were at the height — of calling the results — this is when the problems started," President Julius Maada Bio said on Friday, during a speaking event at American University in Washington, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

"I was now requested to stop them from calling the result by the United States," Bio said, referring to the Election Commission of Sierra Leone.

"I declined, and I said I have never called this institution, I am not going to call them now," he added, without naming the person who made the request.

Bio, 59, won with 56.17 percent of the ballot, just above the 55 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

In a joint statement following the election, delegations from the US, European Union, France, Ireland and Germany said they shared the concerns of national and international observers "about the lack of transparency in the tabulation process."

On 31 August, the US State Department announced visa restrictions on those "believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Sierra Leone," including through vote rigging or intimidation of election observers.

The names of those targeted were not made public.

  WITH AFP