Fear of violence heightens ahead of Sierra Leone polls – says new report

By Chernor Alimamy Kamara

A nation -wide poll published by Sierra Poll has indicated increased fear of violence in the upcoming elections slated for June 24^th, 2023 by 36% percentage points following the recent killing of Assistant Superintendent of Police Matthew Gbanya in Makeni.

The fear in the minds of Sierra Leoneans increased from 20% in February of 2023 to 56% in April 2023 according to the report which was published on the 20^th of April, 2023.

SierraPoll also surveyed voters’ trust in political parties in seven public policy areas for which the results are mixed. The opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party and the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) are almost tied to voter trust in managing the economy where the APC scored 32% and the SLPP 31%.

The APC is more trusted to manage road infrastructure where it scored 37% compared to the SLPPs 29%, while voters have more confidence in the SLPP to manage education getting 45% to the APCs' 21%.

The SLPP and APC got 33% and 28% respectively in the area of national unity, with the poll also showing SLPP scored 33% in agriculture, and APC 29%. Sierra Leoneans have more confidence in the SLPP to provide electricity for the country with a score of 34% to the APCs 30%.

However, the poll further indicated that the citizens have more trust in the SLPP to protect women and girls with a score of 47% compared to the APCs' 20%.

The SierraPoll survey also indicated that if the Mayoral elections were to be held anytime soon before the 24^th June elections, former Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of the APC is favored to retake the Freetown City Council seat with 47% , Mohamed Gento Kamara -the SLPP aspirant 39%  whilst 14% don’t know or might not vote.

The Methodology used in the SierraPoll survey indicated that 1,200 (one thousand, two hundred) face-to-face interviews were conducted between the 13th and 19^th of April 2023, with a 50% Gender Split.

Sierrapolls is an opinion poll by the Institute for Governance Reform, a civil society organization in Sierra Leone.  

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