Sierra Leone:Sierra Leone's opposition leader Ernest Bai Koroma has been declared the country's new president after winning more than 50 per cent of the votes in an election run-off.
The newly formed National Election Commission said Koroma had won with 54.6 per cent of valid votes, defeating his rival, vice-president Solomon Berewa, who polled 45.4 per cent.
The run-off followed an inconclusive first-round vote on August 11th, in which Koroma's party, the All People's Congress, gained a parliamentary majority. The elections, the first since UN peacekeepers departed in 2005, were widely considered a test of stability for the war-ravaged west African nation. Voter turnout was around 68 per cent.
Koroma, a 53-year-old former insurance executive who was runner-up in the 2002 presidential election, faces stiff challenges as president.
Last year Sierra Leone ranked second last on the UN's human development index. A recent International Crisis Group report warned that many of the conditions that triggered the country's civil war were still present, concluding that a lasting peace was possible only if the new government acted promptly to tackle corruption, poverty and unemployment.
Former Irish minister for justice Nora Owen, who led an election observer mission from the US-based National Democratic Institute, said the election results pointed to a strong desire for change.
In an interview with The Irish Times following the first-round ballot, Koroma said fighting corruption would be a priority if he became president.
"I want to ensure there will be nobody above the law," he said, pledging to review anti-corruption legislation.