MOSCOW, September 16 President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio said the United States tried to force him to interfere in the counting of votes during the presidential elections in June, AFP reports.
In the general elections in Sierra Leone on June 24, Bio, as the incumbent president, won the first round with more than 56% of the votes and a turnout of more than 80% of voters. After the results of the vote were announced, in a joint statement, the delegations of the US, EU, France, Ireland and Germany said they shared the concerns of national and international observers about the lack of transparency in the tabulation process.
“The Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) … did all its calculations, comparisons, all processes. At that moment, from the US side, I was asked to stop them from announcing the results. So I don’t know who is blaming whom for interference,” the agency quotes the president’s words from his speech at the American University in Washington.
He noted that he then refused to contact the election commission. US officials then said they simply wanted to force a second round of voting.
According to the president, Sierra Leone still maintains “excellent relations” with Washington and hopes to maintain them.
Sierra Leone police have arrested senior army officers suspected of plotting an “attack on state institutions” in the country following controversial elections. It was reported that the suspects, who included military personnel, were planning to use the supposedly peaceful protests from August 7 to 10 as cover for attacks.
