While the ballot was generally calm, a clash with the armed forces broke out on Sunday evening at the headquarters of the APC.
With our correspondent in Freetown, Marine Jeannin
There are still many gray areas. Several dozen people were inside the headquarters of the opposition APC party in central Freetown when the clashes erupted at the party headquarters around 6:20 p.m. UT. Activists, elected officials, but also international journalists were on site. The trigger is still unknown, but the Sierra Leonean armed forces surrounded the building and sprayed it with tear gas.
Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, an APC affiliate, called for help on Twitter at 6:32 p.m. Universal Time. ” I’m in the party office and we’re being shot at. It’s tear gas and live ammunition. We are about twenty on the ground in an office. The shootings continue. We need help, please! »
APC candidate Samura Kamara was absent from the premises when the clash broke out. He’s talking about ” live ammunition fired at his private office at party headquarters “, which would constitute, according to him, ” an assassination attempt “.
Differing versions of the causes
Photos and videos are circulating on social media. Reuters reports one victim, a seriously injured woman. The authorities, they dispute the existence of victims, and affirm that it was only tear gas.
On the causes of the confrontation, the versions diverge. On the side of the presidential party, the SLPP, it is argued that the APC wanted to celebrate the victory prematurely based on partial and unverified results. But on the opposition side, there is talk of a rally in reaction to a statement by the secretary general of the SLPP, who predicted a victory ” resounding from the first round.
The ballot took place relatively calmly on Saturday 24. 3.4 million voters were called to the polls on Saturday for the presidential, legislative and local elections. The vote was successfully completed and the operations to centralize the results are still in progress. The results are not expected until next Tuesday.