A former military junta leader educated in the U.S. was sworn in as Sierra Leone’s new president after a narrow election victory, and now faces the task of rebuilding a resource-rich economy racked by a global slump in commodity prices and the Ebola epidemic.
Opposition leader Julius Maada Bio, who briefly ruled Sierra Leone in 1996, won 52% of ballots in a hotly contested runoff against the ruling party candidate, the country’s electoral commission said late Wednesday. The 53-year-old was immediately sworn in as head of state in the seaside capital of Freetown to prevent a power vacuum, in line with the constitution.
Dressed in traditional white robes, Mr. Bio said his victory represented “the dawn of a new era.”
Rich in diamonds, iron, bauxite and other minerals, the transfer of power to the opposition could help Sierra Leone attract new investment just months after devastating floods left 500 people dead around the capital. The result adds to the growing list of democratic handovers across the continent in recent years, as democrats and autocrats jostle over which model delivers more sustainable economic development.
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Though marred by sporadic clashes and a stalemate between candidates over vote counting, international observers hailed the election as largely peaceful, a boon for a country still carrying the scars of civil war in the 1990s and the Ebola outbreak earlier this decade.
“Tolerance is deeply rooted in Sierra Leone,” said Ngolo Katta, a spokesman for local activist group National Election Watch. “This is a people’s victory.”
Mr. Bio, a retired general, ruled the country for three months after a coup before emigrating to the U.S., where he lived and studied for a decade, earning a master’s degree from the American University in Washington.
His primary test will be delivering on his central campaign pledge: kick-starting Sierra Leone’s moribund economy. For years, Sierra Leone was rated one of Africa’s most dynamic economies but it has slowed sharply since 2014, weighed down by the Ebola outbreak and a global commodity price decline.
After contracting 20% in 2015, Sierra Leone’s gross domestic product growth picked up last year, reaching 5.4%, according to the World Bank. But despite signs of recovery, discontent soared across impoverished cities and the countryside, allowing the opposition to get an upper hand in hitherto ruling party strongholds, observers say.
As former President Ernest Bai Koroma’s second term approached its end, his supporters launched a campaign to void term limits and allow him to seek re-election, before backing off under domestic and international pressure.
Mr. Bio secured more votes than Mr. Koroma’s chosen successor, Samura Kamara, during the first-round vote last month, rattling the ruling party. In the days leading to the runoff, the ruling party accused the electoral commission of aiding its first-round defeat. The party pointed a finger at the U.K., accusing the former colonial power of leading “an international conspiracy to effect regime change.” The U.K. Embassy in Freetown dismissed the allegations, describing them as baseless.
European Union observers said the ruling party’s allegations of fraud weren’t backed with genuine evidence.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com