Sierra Leone’s electoral commission has announced and declared President Julius Bio as the winner of the presidential election.

The chief electoral commissioner Mohamed Konneh announced on Tuesday that Mr Bio was reelected with 56.17 per cent of the vote to serve a second term, according to a report by Voice of America (VOA).

His main rival, Samura Kamara, of the All People’s Congress (APC), came second with 41.16 per cent.

APC rejected the results in a statement Monday alleging that the process lacked inclusiveness, transparency and responsibility by the electoral commission.

The party pointed to the lack of information about which polling stations or districts the ballots were coming from.

It had said it “will not accept these fake and cooked-up results.”

In a follow-up statement, it alleged “overvoting” in some areas and said the party “continues to reject” the “fabricated results” and “reaffirms our victory.”

International observers, including the European Union observers, also said the process lacked transparency and communication by the electoral authority had led to mistrust in the electoral process.

The monitors said they witnessed violence at polling units during voting hours and the closing and counting stages.