Polls in Sierra Leone have opened as the public vote for a new president, after an inconclusive first round last month.
This is the first chance for residents to select a new leader since UN peacekeepers withdrew from the country two years ago, and after a decade of war that ended in 2002. The elections take place on Saturday, amid a campaign where political rivals had clashed, leaving dozens injured. Ernest Bai Koroma, the opposition leader, is running against Solomon Berewa, the vice president, who is to take over from Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the current president. During the first round in August, both candidates did not achieve the 55 per cent needed to win. |