Sierra Leone Oppo Picks Pres Candidate

FILE: Sierra Leone's All People's Congress presidential candidate Samura Kamara waves to supporters during a campaign rally in Mekeni, northen Sierra Leone, March 5, 2018. Kamura has been picked once again by his party for the 2023 presidential contest

Sierra Leone's main opposition party has named Samura Kamara, the runner-up in the last presidential election, as its candidate for the next vote in June 2023.

Kamara's All People's Congress (APC) party elected him to run again in the next presidential election on June 24, in which incumbent Julius Maada Bio will seek to win a second term.

Kamara narrowly lost to then opposition candidate Maada Bio in 2018.

"The work has just begun... I appeal to all to bury the hatchet, avoid backbiting and work as a team", Kamara said at a crowded APC party headquarters in the city of Makeni after he won with 85% of votes against 17 other candidates.

"One of our key objectives is to work together for peace within the party... Nobody is an enemy," he said.

Sierra Leone's anti-corruption commission indicted him on corruption allegations in 2021, when he was foreign minister, along with five other officials.

The six are charged with various counts of corruption involving $4.2 million meant for the renovation of Sierra Leone's chancery building in Manhattan.

Kamara himself is charged with two counts including misappropriation of public funds amounting to $2,560,000 meant for the chancery building's reconstruction.

The trial is ongoing and he has denied wrongdoing.