Sierra Leone imposes curfew in Kono due to electoral violence
Posted by African Press International on August 29, 2007
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Freetown (Sierra Leone) Koidu, the headquarter town of the diamond-rich Kono District, on Tuesday was covered for the second day by a curfew order imposed by the government of Sierra Leone due to violence between the ruling Sierra Leone’s Peoples Party (SLPP) and the leading opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) ahead of the presidential run-off billed for 8 September. Reports from Kono say the police high command had to impose the curfew so as to save lives and property as the situation was quickly deteriorating as youth of both parties stepped up violence during electoral campaign. Violence began when the poster of the APC leader was destroyed by SLPP supporters which prompted the swiftly intervention by the police which eventually dispersed both party supporters by firing teargas in the air. However the Local Unit Commander in Kono, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Santigie Koroma, in a telephone conversation, told APA that the unit was holding a string of meetings with all stakeholders including tribal authorities and political heads in the district in order to resolve the stalemate. Meanwhile, a similar violent scenario was reported at Waterloo in the outskirts of the capital, Freetown where one person was stabbed and six were severely injured leading to the arrest of three by the police. Published by Korir, API*APN africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932… or +47 63… source.apa |
