Stand-off continues in Sierra Leone: Will massive army / police presence on the streets thwart big demonstrations planned for today ?

Since the announcement of the June 24 election results by the National Electoral Commission which gave President Bio a marginal victory over the opposition APC presidential candidate – Dr Samura Kamara, the elected APC MPs and councillors have boycotted all engagement with the ruling SLPP, claiming that the elections have been rigged by the electoral commission to favour President Bio’s SLPP.

Election observers and the international community have all said that the election results lacked transparency and credibility.

 

The country’s National Election Watch (NEW) said that no single party had won the presidential election which therefore ought to have triggered a run-off between President Bio and Dr Samura Kamara.

But also central to the opposition APC’s demands is that the electoral commission must publish all polling station disaggregated results.

As the talks between APC and the government gets underway, a street protest is being planned by a group of Sierra Leoneans to take place Monday, 11th September. But the leadership of the APC are distancing the party from the planned protest at the rising costs of living in the country.

 

COCORIOKO has however been told that the press release denouncing the demonstration and asking APC members not to join the protests is fake. The APC has not made any further statements to say whether the press release was fake or genuine.

However, the city of Freetown and some towns looked like a police state this weekend as the SLPP government has sent out hundreds of soldiers and police in fearsome battle gears and riding armored vehicles to try to frighten the public from carrying out the protests.

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*In Sierra Leone: Government spends billions to prevent peaceful protest*

*By Pa-Dikali & Sibo 125*

Reports reaching We Yone suggests the self-imposed government of Julius Maada Bio for the past days has spent billions of Leones to prevent peaceful protest called by popular social media commentator, Abdul Will Kamara, popularly known as ‘Adebayor’.

The Government, We Yone can confirmed, have engaged several groups and organizations with the view to stall the peaceful popular call of the people.

Adebayor has vehemently served as voice of the voiceless in Sierra Leone, an effort the government, consider to be a harsh call for national development.

Adebayor has called on all Sierra Leoneans to take to the street because of the harsh economic conditions of the state, saying the central government is not making effort to address the problems being confronted by the state.

Many believe the economic failures of the state are man-made given the huge wage bill, the political instability and the recent theft of the people’s mandate. Many Sierra Leoneans are willing to go out but police have deplored presence with military personnel ahead of the slated peaceful protest.

Sierra Leone has witnessed 11 years civil war. Political observers have been saying signs of the war are still visible across the country.

©️ *APC We Yone Press Online*

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