The Sierra Leone Police confirmed it arrested several individuals and used tear gas to disperse protesters at the  All People’s Congress (APC) headquarters on Tuesday, October 15 2024. 

A police spokesperson said the APC leadership requested their presence for a meeting with diplomats. 

“We had an intel that a faction of the party had intended to cause chaos during the meeting, so we had to be there to ensure law and order,”  he said. 

The protesters allegedly threw stones at the officers, injuring one. The police have not confirmed the number of arrests but stated that those detained will face charges of riotous conduct. 

APC’s Publicity Secretary, Sidi Yayah Tunis, said the party was meeting with a moral guarantor from the Agreement for National Unity. This agreement was signed last year to resolve the electoral dispute between the Government of Sierra Leone and the APC.

APC’s letter to the Sierra Leone Police

What Led to the Protests?

Protesters opposed the party’s leadership and demanded “electoral justice.” 

“We are here today to ask our party leadership for the electoral justice they promised us,” a protester said.

After the 2023 general elections in Sierra Leone, which re-elected President Julius Maada Bio,  APC officials boycotted governance. The APC claimed the election was flawed.

Both international and local observers criticized the election for lacking transparency. However, the APC did not challenge the results in court. 

The governance stalemate, which lasted about four months, ended through a mediated dialogue by Sierra Leone’s Peace Commission and international partners. The “Agreement for National Unity” made eight recommendations. One recommendation created a tripartite committee to review the electoral systems. 

The committee examined past elections, starting with 2023. Its recommendations were meant to be actionable. At the signing of the committee’s Terms of Reference, the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and APC disagreed on whether it could recommend a rerun. APC leadership did not clarify this either. 

Dr. Kaifala Marah, APC’s co-chair, urged supporters not to preempt the investigation’s outcome. 

At the end of the committee’s six-month mandate, the anticipated rerun elections did not occur. This fueled discontent among APC supporters, who felt betrayed by their leadership.

Supporters blamed the party’s flag bearer, Dr. Samura Kamara, for his perceived inaction. On Wednesday, Tunis announced that Kamara had stepped down as flagbearer, following the party’s constitution.