Sierra Leone elections
Updated on 11 August 2007
Voters in Sierra Leone have been taking part in the country's first elections since peacekeeping forces left two years ago.
Thousands of voters queued for hours today to elect a new President and parliament.
The poll's being seen as a test of whether power can be peacefully transferred after 11 years of civil war, from 1991-2002.
People queued throughout the country's ramshackle cities and jungle villages to cast their votes for a new president and 112 parliamentarians.
In the capital Freetown, hopes were high that the elections marked a watershed in the country's recovery from civil war since UN peacekeepers left two years ago.
"Maybe now things are going to get better," said Freetown resident Abubakar Kamara, before heading off to vote in the west of the city. "We must vote in peace and show the world that Sierra Leone is a peaceful country."
At one polling station in the second city of Bo, 250 km (155 miles) southeast of Freetown, a quarter of registered voters had already cast their ballots two hours after the polls opened.
In the presidential race, Ernest Bai Koroma of the opposition All People's Congress (APC) is expected to mount a strong challenge to Solomon Berewa, the country's vice president and candidate for the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, re-elected on a wave of post-war euphoria in 2002, is stepping down as required by the constitution amid anger at corruption and a failure to supply jobs, electricity or roads in one of the world's poorest states.
Berewa has vowed to curb graft if he wins the polls, in which 2.6 million Sierra Leoneans -- roughly half the population -- are registered to vote. If no candidate wins more than 55 percent, a runoff will be held, probably in early September.
"This is an activity that is going to make or break us as a nation," said Christiana Thorpe, head of the National Electoral Council. "Please let us give ourselves another chance."
