Sierra Leone vote in crucial test of post-war recovery

Sierra Leoneans vote Saturday in the country\'s third election since the end of a brutal civil war, a high-stakes poll which will hand the victorious party stewardship of a lucrative mining boom. The presidential, parliamentary and local elections are being closely watched by the international community which has helped the west African nation rebuild after a devastating 11-year conflict ended a decade ago. While still one of the world\'s poorest nations, Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources and massive iron-ore stores are expected to add 21 percent growth in 2012 to its $2.2 billion (1.7 billion euro) gross domestic product, the International Monetary Fund estimates. This raises the stakes for the next five year presidential term which is seen as a two-horse race between incumbent Ernest Koroma (APC) and ex-military leader Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People\'s Party (SLPP). Eight political parties are contesting the presidential vote and ten are taking part in parliamentary elections. The election will be the first to be conducted entirely by the Sierra Leone government, and also marks the first time presidential, parliamentary and local elections are held together. In the capital Freetown, a hodge-podge of new construction, newly paved roads and slums recently ravaged by a cholera outbreak, the stakes are equally high for citizens for whom life is still a daily struggle. President Koroma, 59, of the All People\'s Congress (APC) has been praised for the infrastructure boom, although his detractors say it has been marred by rampant corruption. He hopes to use the impending windfall from mineral resources to finish his government\'s projects. Despite a somewhat murky past as a putschist who briefly held power in 1996, Bio has amassed significant support amongst those who feel Koroma\'s development has not improved grinding poverty and sky-high unemployment levels. Bio, 48, sells himself as the father of Sierra Leone\'s democracy for a peaceful transfer to democracy under his rule and has promised free education and gender equity. His reputation is tarnished by the killing of 29 alleged coup plotters in 1992 by the then-junta of which he was a part. While Koroma is seen as the favourite, Bio has garnered significant support and the vote is expected to go to a run-off. Both parties have tried to cut across a traditionally factionalised political system in which voting tendencies are according to regional and ethnic lines. Bio\'s SLPP is typically supported by the Mende -- one of the country\'s main tribes -- and other southern tribes. Koroma\'s APC is favoured by his Temne tribe and others in the north and west.  It has been a decade since the end of the war which left the world with images of child soldiers and rebels funded by the sale of \"blood diamonds\" hacking off the limbs of their victims. Starting from scratch, its infrastructure devastated in the conflict, Sierra Leone has come a long way in the past decade. Koroma, 59, came to power in 2007. While that election was marked by several incidents of violence, they were followed by a peaceful transfer of power between the ousted Sierra Leone People\'s Party (SLPP) and the APC. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday of the importance of a peaceful election. \"Peaceful elections resulting in a credible outcome are critical for consolidating Sierra Leone\'s hard-won peace and for demonstrating that the tremendous progress the country has made since the end of hostilities one decade ago is irreversible.\" The country\'s 2.6 million voters were registered for the first time on a biometric system to prevent multiple voting and avoid electoral fraud. According to the National Electoral Commission, 55 percent of the vote is needed to avoid a run-off, second round vote. Final results are expected by November 26 and a potential second round of voting is planned for December 8.