A supporter of Sierra Leone’s All People’s Congress presidential candidate Samura Kamara cheers during a campaign rally on March 5. Photographer: Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images
Sierra Leone will hold elections on Wednesday in which an unprecedented number of political parties will compete as discontent over the government’s handling of an economy battered by the Ebola outbreak has soared.
Double Shock
“Patience is wearing thin,” King said. “The lack of jobs tends to be citizens’ primary concern, particularly in urban areas, but poor public service and high prices for basic goods are also pressing issues.”
In 2012, Sierra Leone was sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing economy as Chinese and U.K.-based investors began developing its iron-ore reserves. But the double shock of a commodity price slump and the worst-ever Ebola epidemic the following year triggered the collapse of the two iron-ore miners in the country and left the economy in ruins.
Economic growth was about 6 percent last year, from a contraction of 20.5 percent in 2015, according to the IMF.
While Koroma scored some successes — he improved electricity supply and implemented free health care for children under five — his government has been dogged by corruption allegations. Millions of dollars in foreign donations to fight Ebola went missing during the first six months of the outbreak, according to an internal audit. Last year, two Ebola survivors filed a lawsuit at a regional court in Nigeria, accusing the government of misusing funds. Almost 4,000 people, including more than 200 health workers, died of the disease.
Huge Mudslide
There have also been concerns about the management of relief funds for the victims of a huge mudslide last year that killed more than 1,100 people in the capital, Freetown. And this year, the International Monetary Fund delayed a payment that’s part a five-year credit facility due to the government’s “weak budget revenue outlook.”
“The key issues that have been dominating people’s everyday discussions are things around the economy,” Jamie Hitchen, an independent analyst, said by phone from Freetown. “There’s a lot of unemployment, there’s a lot of daily struggles for survival, or at least to have a decent income. It will be a big challenge for whoever wins to address those issues.”