The Leader and Presidential Candidate of the All People’s Congress, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, has stated that “the APC party would not and shall not accept any skewed, manipulated and unverified results”. He also states that, “the APC will not accept any results which have not been satisfactorily vetted by our party representatives”.
He adds that, “the APC seeks a smooth transition” and urges the [Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone] ECSL and all other stakeholders in the electoral process, including the security forces, to facilitate this”.
Dr Samura Kamara believes that, “the APC is on an irreversible path to an overwhelming victory”, and further urges the “ECSL to respect the due process, adhere to international best practice as well as to what we agreed at Bintumani on the transparent, inclusive and accountable counting and tallying of results”.
The above statements were contained in a statement issued by the APC Leader and Presidential on Sunday 25 June 2023.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Sunday 25 June that [Dr] Samura Kamara…had gathered his supporters, party staff and local officials at the headquarters in Freetown [on Sunday afternoon] to sift through data from Saturday’s vote when the military surrounded the building and fired at the crowds gathered outside”.
A New York Times reporter at the scene reportedly “saw a truck loaded with soldiers carrying semiautomatic weapons, and others holding tear-gas launchers. Reports of live ammunition being fired could not immediately confirmed. Drone footage showed the building engulfed in smoke, with tear gas canisters thrown around it…”
The paper quoted a Sunday police statement to have claimed that, “As the situation became unbearable, the police had to fire tear gas canisters so as to disperse the crowd, which was harassing people on the road.”
It could be recalled that over the past year, inflation has reached its highest level in two decades. The national currency, the Leone, is one of Africa’s weakest and Sierra Leone has one of West Africa’s highest youth unemployment rate.