Sierra Leone to hold delayed presidential runoff on March 31

Sierra Leone's electoral body has announced that the presidential run-off will be delayed until Saturday, after losing days of preparation due to a court order.

The High Court had earlier lifted an injunction imposed on Saturday that halted the run-off until further notice, after considering a fraud complaint filed by a lawyer linked to the ruling All Peoples' Congress (APC).

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) said more time was needed "due to logistical delays resulting from the injunction" and called on voters to cast their ballots "in an environment of peace".

Aside from their main legal complaint, the APC further alleged on Sunday that the electoral commission was working with a different voter registration list to calculate results than the one officially published.

First round

Opposition leader Julius Maada Bio, from the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), took 43.3 per cent of votes in the first round, while Samura Kamara of the incumbent APC took 42.7 per cent.

Sierra Leone emerged from a brutal civil war in 2002 and has remained largely peaceful since then.

However, flare-ups occur around election time, and memories of a conflict in which more than 50,000 died remain potent.

The APC's first-round loss fuelled allegations by the opposition that it was seeking to derail the final outcome through the courts.

"The motivation behind the APC injunction is very clear: they do not want a run-off presidential election to proceed because they know the verdict of the overwhelming majority of the Sierra Leonean electorate will not be in their favour," Bio told a press conference on Sunday.

A group of civil society organisations said on Saturday the court decision was "frustrating and depressing", as the March 7 vote had been declared credible by observers.