Freetown, Sierra Leone — "Free and fair and free of fear and violence," appears to be the consensus on the general elections in Sierra Leone, after Tuesday's enthusiastic voting for a new president, a new parliament and peace after more than ten years of civil war.
Sierra Leoneans are congratulating themselves, the United Nations, the British and all those who helped them reach the day when they were able to put a bitter conflict behind them and take the country forward.
The war was declared officially over in January. Less than five months later, hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans queued patiently to cast their ballots in searing sunlight. Turnout is thought to have been high, with long lines and massive attendance at polling stations throughout Sierra Leone on Tuesday.
"Voting has gone off very peacefully. Now is a very, very, critical time of national reconciliation. What we should equally be very, very watchful about is the aftermath when all the results are in and winners have become clear and losers have become clear," was the warning from Oluyemi Adeniji, special representative of the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, and head of the UN's mission in the country, Unamsil.
The UN dispatched 17,500 'blue helmet' troops to keep the peace in Sierra Leone, under the banner of Unamsil, the largest UN peacekeeping operation in the world.
Adeniji, a Nigerian, who himself witnessed the vote in different parts of the country, said the elections were a "contest about the confidence of Sierra Leone. It is not a contest about a war. This is a question about who and who at a particular time managed to convince the people."
He appealed to all the political parties "to be gracious in defeat, and those who come out on top to be very, very generous and magnanimous in victory."
If no presidential candidate reaches the 55 per cent threshold to win the first round outright, there will be a run-off between the two leading contenders in two weeks.
Parties need to gain at least 12.5 percent of the vote to win any of the 112 seats in parliament.
The National Electoral Commission, NEC, said results should be expected after 72 hours, that is from Saturday, four days after the elections.
Election officials noted some irregularities on voting day, but no violence. The most serious infraction reported was one presiding officer at one polling station apparently thumb-printing an untold number of ballot papers. Adeniji said a vigilant party agent had noticed this and reported it to the authorities. He said balloting at that voting centre had to begin afresh, but was unable to confirm whether all the early voters were identified.
Under-age voting, attempts at multiple voting and confusion about who could vote where were the only other problems encountered, other than impatience and bad temper.
One universal complaint, by international and local observers, is that more civic voter education was needed. Despite a phenomenal poster campaign, sponsored by the United Nations and other organizations, many voters still did not know how to fill in their ballot papers. This caused some delays, compounded by a late start at some polling stations.
But the newly-trained Sierra Leone police, supported by the UN peacekeepers, did an admirable job calming tensions and reassuring and talking to voters.
The transparent ballot boxes from Canada were packed full in most areas by the end of voting day. Hundreds of bottles of indelible ink from India, were used to paint voters' thumbs and big toes (for amputees without hands).
Polling stations closed promptly at 17h00 (local time and GMT) on Tuesday evening, with the long lines early in the day thinning considerably late into the afternoon. It appeared that most people had chosen to vote early, to avoid the hot noonday sun. Counting began immediately after voting ended.
Many Sierra Leoneans said they considered their ballot a vote for peace and democracy.
They had nine presidential candidates to choose from, including the incumbent Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, 70, of the governing Sierra Leone People's Party. He was first elected in 1996 in partial polls, held in government-controlled areas of Sierra Leone during the war.
In initial returns, Kabbah, was reported to have taken an early lead.
Behind Kabbah was Ernest Bai Koroma, 48, the candidate of the former ruling All People's Party, APC. Koroma is thought to stand the best chance of unseating Kabbah, especially if the presidential election goes to a second round run-off and political alliances are made.
Among the other presidential challengers was the only woman, Zainab Hawa Bangura, of the Movement for Progress (MoP). Bangura created a pressure group, the Campaign for Good Governance, in the 1990s to fight corruption and end military rule in Sierra Leone, before she turned to full-time politics.
The former rebel Revolutionary United Front - now a fully-fledged political party, the RUFP - fielded Alimamy Pallo Bangura, 53, as its flag bearer. But Bangura's candidature was disputed within the ranks of the RUFP, with many young members unhappy that their original leader, Foday Sankoh, who launched the civil war in 1991, is still in prison facing murder charges and unable to contest the presidential election.
Bangura himself has a colourful and varied political history, ranging from senior rebel, to jailbird, to foreign minister under a military regime and diplomat - Sierra Leone's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994-1996.
The RUFP hopes to win seats in parliament and become a political force in Sierra Leone, but early indications from the presidential poll are that they may have failed. Observers conclude that it may be too early for Sierra Leoneans to forgive the former rebels for the amputations, rape and pillage they inflicted on the civilian population during the brutal ten-year conflict.
Johnny Paul Koroma, a one-time youthful military junta leader, is another presidential hopeful. Koroma headed the coup that ousted Kabbah in 1997, the year after he was elected president. West African political will, expressed through West Africa's regional force of Ecomog troops, reinstated Kabbah within nine months. Koroma represents the Peace and Liberation Party, PLP.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
'JP', as Koroma is known, is now a born-again Christian. Several commentators have remarked that he may pick up a 'religious' vote. But Koroma may also be hampered in his political ambitions by a questionable past and abiding civilian memory of Koroma's combatants, known as the West Side militia, who were considered as brutal as the RUF rebels and similarly responsible for committing horrific atrocities.
Another contender in the race for the presidency, who analysts consider has little chance of success, is John Karefa-Smart, a medical doctor-turned politician now in his eighties. He stood against Kabbah in the 1996 elections and polled 40 percent of the vote. Leading the United National People's Party, Karefa-Smart's UNPP has been wracked by divisions.
Another candidate hoping democratically to unseat the president is Raymond Bamidele Thomson, a lawyer from an established political dynasty. He has lived in the United States for years. Thomson heads Citizens United for Peace and Progress, CUPP, a party which split from Karefa-Smart's UNPP. The CUPP party symbol is a drinking mug.
The remaining two candidates trailing behind the main presidential front runners are Andrew Turay, 52, an agricultural specialist with World Bank project experience, who campaigned on the ticket of the Young People's Party, YPP and Raymond Kamara, also an agriculturalist, of the Grand Alliance Party. Touray says he wants to arrest the 'moral decline' in Sierra Leone.
